Puzzled by the survival of the Jews as a “nation” for thousands of years despite their lack of a national home, leading Nazi scientists gathered here embarked today on an exhaustive effort to ferret out the solution.
The solution, it was decided, must be found in the Talmud (voluminous text of and commentary on Jewish civil and canonical law) and in the particular manner of “casuistic thinking” in which it explain the Jews.
Announcement of the decision was made by two professors of Tubingen University following a closed session held at the conclusion of the ceremonious opening yesterday of the Jewish research section of the Institute for the History of New Germany.
One of the professors, George Kithel, advanced in the announcement the theory that Jews’ belief in themselves as the “chosen people” was largely responsible for their “refusal” to disappear or assimilate.
Wilhelm Grau, one of the Institute’s leaders, announced the Jewish department will be divided into twelve sections, each to concentrate on a particular aspect of Jewish history. One or more sections will study the Talmud and Jewish life in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia.
A 12,000-mark essay contest on the Jews, open to “Aryans” only, was announced last night. Three prizes of 4,000 marks each will be awarded for the best essays on the history of Jewish bankers in the Austrian Imperial court and in the courts of the princes of Southern and Northern Germany.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
