Chapter 2: Gospels of Hate

Question 1

When the German Empire was founded there were approximately __________ residing Jews which constituted approximately _____ of the population….

Answer 1

600,000 Jews; 1% of the population of German Empire

Question 2

Due to various forms of informal discrimination, Jews in the German Empire began to do the following…

Answer 2

Change names to become more Christian sounding.

Marry into families of non-Jewish ancestry.

Emigrate to other countries (approximately 100,000 to United States).

Question 3

Despite various forms of informal discrimination, by the end of the 19th century the position of Jews in German Empire had largely improved due to…

Answer 3

Their associated with modern and progressive elements of society, culture and the economy.

Question 4

One of the early espousers of antisemitic views was this Berlin school headmaster who was fired from his job for stealing Christmas Party funds. He sought someone to blame for his frequent misfortunes so he targeted the historically marginalized Jewish population.

Answer 4

Hermann Ahlwardt

Question 5

In 1873 this occurred which led Catholic and Conservative journalists to blame Jewish financiers.

Answer 5

1873 Economic Depression also known as the ‘Long Depression’

Question 6

Adolf Stocker created this party that ran on an antisemitic platform and sought to win back the support of the working class from Social Democrats.

Answer 6

Christian Social Party

Question 7

Despite being convicted for espousing false information regarding Jewish financiers being responsible for German financial misfortunes, Hermann Ahlwardt never served his time because…

Answer 7

He was elected to the Reichstag by peasant farmers in his rural constituency in Brandenburg and those elected to Reichstag were immune to prosecution.

Question 8

The beginning of antisemitic views becoming normalized in German society occurred when this mainstream political party held a vote in 1893 to include a demand to combat ‘widely obtruding and decomposing influence Jewish influence on popular life’…

Answer 8

The Conservative Party; upon feeling pressure from rural districts held a successful vote to adopt antisemitic policy to their program.

Question 9

Why were the Jews a target for German antisemitism?

Answer 9

Traditional antisemitism has its political power rooted in biblical sanction; the New Testament blames the Jews for Christ’s death.

Question 10

This man founded the ‘League of Antisemitism’ and was one of the first to argue that it was racial differences that separated the Germans and the Jews as opposed to the historic religious divide…

Answer 10

Wilhelm Marr - ‘There must be no question here of parading religious prejudices when it is a question of race and when the difference lies in the blood’

Question 11

Prior to the First World War, antisemitic views were prevailing more significantly in other areas of Europe. In particular, this incident in France led to the false conviction of a Jewish Military officer…

Answer 11

The Dreyfus Affair - Captain Alfred Dreyfus convicted and eventually acquitted of charges.

Question 12

This was an ultra-nationalist group in Russia that supported the Romanov dynasty and were responsible for the assassination of two Duma delegates of Jewish heritage…

Answer 12

The Black Hundreds

Question 13

Julius Langbehn authored this popular book in which he claimed Dutch artist Rembrandt was a classic northern German racial type and called for German art to return to its racial roots - an idea that was later focused on by the Nazis.

Answer 13

Rembrandt as Educator (1890)

Question 14

The popular text ‘The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century (1900)’ was a fusion of antisemitism and Social Darwinism and presented this mans argument that history was a struggle between the only remaining racially pure groups of the Germans and the Jews.

Answer 14

Houston Stewart Chamberlain

Question 15

Ludwig Woltmann argued that the _________ or German race represented the height of humanity. He also stated that Germans needed more living space or _______.

Answer 15

Aryan; Lebensraum

Question 16

This man argued that inferior specimens should be sent to the front if a war came, so that the unfit would be eliminated first. He also believed that a panel of doctors should be present at every birth to determine if a baby was fit for survival or should be killed.

Answer 16

Alfred Ploetz

Question 17

This man argued that capital punishment should be used on a large scale to eliminate criminals from the line of heredity. He also advocated for euthanasia of the mentally-ill.

Answer 17

Ernst Haeckel

Question 18

These were the foundations of the Racial Hygiene Movement…

Answer 18

Heredity plays a significant role in the determining of human character and behaviour.

Society, led by state, should manage population in order to increase national efficiency.

The ‘fit’ should be persuaded to breed more; the ‘unfit’ to breed less.

Question 19

This famous sociologist referred to the 1871 German unification as a ‘Youthful Prank’ stemming from the ‘liberal, bourgeois’ attitudes of the late 19th century.

Answer 19

Max Weber

Question 20

Despite the frequent perversion of his views and ideas, this man was a deep opponent of antisemitism and the worship of power.

Answer 20

Friedrich Nietzsche

Question 21

This Indian symbol was adopted by the Germanic Order, a youth movement brought about by the writer Hans Bluher.

Answer 21

Swastika