‘new Jews’ Explain Positions in Reich Since Hitler’s Advent

The position of the large number of German Jews who have thrown themselves into Jewish activities since the advent of the Hitler regime and now find themselves looked at askance in many circles is explained in a letter written by a “New Jew,” to the C.-V.-Zeitung, the organ of the Central Union of German Citizens of Jewish Faith.

He writes: “We may be termed ‘new Jews,’ we may be ironically described as ‘March victims.’ We may justly be reproached with never having taken heed of Jewish things until the occurrences in 1933 drove us in that direction. But now we want to join in rebuilding German Jewry. And in this work everyone of good will should be welcome.”

EARNEST DESIRE TO HELP

“The reproach against the ‘new Jews,’ with its implication that they have no right yet to express an opinion in a Jewish community of which they have previously known nothing, would not be so important if it affected only a few people,” the letter continues. “But it is hardly necessary to explain that more than half of the 500,000 or so Jews of Germany lived their lives in a way that was only slightly related to things Jewish externally and even less so internally. And there are hundreds of thousands of us, who have come now with an earnest desire not only to learn, but actively to help Jewry. Have they no right?

“What is the use of embarking now on a moral probe of our past when every effort is needed to shape the future?

“This is the only sensible attitude to adopt towards those who are now returning to Judaism.

“As for the reasons that kept us away in the past from things Jewish, there were several. What are the influences that shape the life of a young man—the parental home, the school and the earliest experience of real life. The parental home as it happens was in no way different from the ordinary German home, except for the Mezuzah on the door, the observance of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and the kindling of the candles on Chanukah. But our life was German. Our most vital experiences were the war, the revolution and inflation, experiences that we shared with every other German, with the whole German nation. We grew up in the midst of them. We were not confronted by any specific Jewish problems. The fact is that there was no time even to think of them. Membership in a Jewish organization was something appropriate for the father of the family, an office of dignity. We were busy finding our feet.

“Then suddenly came April 1, 1933. Very few of the German Jews who saw their world collapse that day about them have adopted an attitude of resignation and inactivity. The overwhelming majority very soon found a new basis of life. They felt themselves taken out of one community and placed into another by no act of their own. They became ‘new Jews.’ Judaism, which hitherto was a not very much observed element in their lives, now became dominant and significant, and what to others were experiences taking years and decades, were by these ‘new Jews’ passed through very rapidly. What had been slumbering in them awoke. They realized what it means to be a Jew, what a cost and what obligations it involves. And as soon as they were able to collect themselves, they came forward with plans and readiness to work. We want to join in the work. And we feel that the question that is paramount today is whither, not whence.”