Nazi propagandists habitually allege that Jews have played a preponderating part in German political life since 1918.
From 1919 until January 30, 1933, the day when Hitler became Chancellor, the German Republic had twenty cabinets. About 200 different men were cabinet ministers during this period, amongst whom not more that seven were of Jewish descent (Preuss, Rathenau, Schiffer, Gradnauer, Dernburg-who is half a Jew-and Hilferding).
O course, it is often impossible to ascertain the exact ncestry of any particular politician. Now for the first time Germans are anxiously consulting their ancestral origin and scanning with alarm their genealogical tree. But evan if we conced a Jewish great-grandmother in doubtful cases, the presence of seven Jews among two hundred ministers does not prove the allegation of Jewish predominance.
In the German Federal States there were still fewer Jewish ministers. Since 1920 neither Prussia, the largest state, nor Bavaria, the second largest state, had a single minister of Jewish descent. The same was the case in most of the smaller Federal states.
Incidentally it may be remarked that in civilized countries the presence of Jewish members of the cabinet is taken as a matter of course and excites no particular comment: rather in times of crisis are their services welcomed. The inclusion of such distinguished public servants as Lord Reading and Sir Herbert Samuel in the National Government of England formed in 1931 was regarded as a proff of a desire to make use of the best talent available, and any suggestion of Jewish influence would rightly have been regarded as ludicrous.
In support of this, reference may be made to the speech recently delivered by Mr. Ormsby-Gore, a member of the British cabinet, at Geneva. “It has always been a cardinal principle of the British Empire that no person shall be debarred from holding any office under the Crown or from occupying posts in any profession-to quote the famous words of Queen Victoria in the Prociamation to India-by reason of race, color or creed.’ That is fundamental.”
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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.
