The question of national minority rights for the Jews of Germany is the most important one of the day for the Jewish population and is being considered by all elements of German Jewish life. Some of the reactions to the question are to be seen in answers to a questionnaire circularized among Jewish leaders by the Israelitisches Familienblatt of Hamburg.
The replies to this questionnaire concern themselves almost exclusively with the question whether minority rights are acceptable to the Jews of Germany. The Central Union of German Jews, the Jewish War Veterans’ Association and the Agudath Israel, orthodox organization, oppose acceptance of minority rights. Georg Kareski, of the Jewish Party, declared himself in favor of the proposal.
Heinrich Stern, liberal leader, argues that since the systematic exclusion of the Jews from the German nation is “historically, politically and humanly unjust and unbearable, we must concentrate on the removal of existing disabilities, because the restoration of citizenship rights, which it is possible to secure as a national minority, is not sufficient. We demand also moral and spiritual equality as part of the German nation.”
Alfred Hirschfeld, of the Central Verein, declares that being a national minority is a “utopia” for German Jews who are lacking in the usual minority characteristics such as a different language, and their own living culture.
“Our prospects at the present are of the slightest in determining political decisions, but none can foretell the developments in the next few months,” he stated. “Meanwhile it is essential to prevent complete collapse of the economic life of the Jews.”
Ludwig Freud, leader of the war veterans, rejecting the national minority principle, urges that an endeavor be made to divorce the spirit of national revival from enmity to the Jews and their expulsion from their positions.
Pinchas Cohn, Agudath leader, points out that apart from political considerations, religious Jews are always anxious to organize Jewish life within the framework of existing laws. He calls attention to the religious consideration that a national minority would include converts and grandchildren of Jewish origin with whom the Jews have nothing in common.
Kareski, the Jewish party leader, urges the facing of realities and declares that when an overwhelming German majority decides on a revaluation of the conceptions of citizenship it is necessary for the Jews to give way, however difficult it may be after a hundred years of emancipation.
“Even as a minority among another nation, the Jew can be a useful, respected citizen. It is not a misfortune if the veil is torn which concealed existing German-Jewish relations. It is of greater importance to solve the economic problem of the Jew and to re-establish the declassed.”
He outlines the possibility of emigration to Palestine with the assistance of German Jewish capital, provided the consent of the German Government can be obtained for transfer to Palestine of the possessions of the emigrants.
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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.
