The usury pill
| The usury pill | |
|---|---|
| description | anti-Semitic weekly newspaper from Mainz |
| Area of Expertise | newspaper |
| language | German |
| publishing company | WE Windecker (Germany) |
| First edition | November 11, 1882 |
| attitude | June 26, 1886 |
| Frequency of publication | weekly |
| Editor-in-chief | Wilhelm Emanuel Windecker |
| ZDB | 1433299-1 |
The usury pill was an anti-Semitic weekly that was published in Mainz from 1883 to 1886 . The subtitle was: Popular weekly paper for readers of every Christian confession. Against presumption, usury and systematic exploitation in town and country . The sheet was published by the publisher and editor-in-chief Wilhelm Emanuel Windecker. The font appeared "across the empire".
history
The first issue of the magazine, a sample number, appeared on November 11, 1882. Three more sample numbers followed until the first regular issue appeared on January 6, 1883. From then on the magazine appeared weekly. In 1884 the paper merged with the Patriotische Zeitung from Liegnitz in Silesia . From issue 5/1883, a supplement with prose texts and caricatures was added to the magazine : Der Jux. Humorous-witty, satyrical-anti-Semitic sparks . In 1883 an illustrated book was published containing anti-Semitic caricatures. The exact number of copies is no longer verifiable. According to its self-portrayal, Die Wucherpille was one of “five purely anti-Semitic papers in Germany”. The paper was distributed in Mainz and Rheinhessen and was available both in magazine shops and by subscription . The last edition appeared on June 26, 1886.
ideology
The usury pill saw itself as an anti-Semitic weekly that purported to educate people about Jewish greed , usury and exploitation . In terms of its self-portrayal, the paper was non-denominational and made use of anti-Judaistic clichés from Christianity, such as the legend of the ritual murder , as well as anti- Talmudic criticism according to August Rohling . The paper is primarily oriented towards modern anti-Semitism, which is based on racial theories . The French Revolution was considered a victory for Judaism. The usury and the alleged economic superiority of the Jews were also taken up. Accordingly, the paper shifted to denouncing economic competitors.
content
The usury pill consisted of an average of six pages, with one or two pages reserved for advertisements. The front page contained the editorial To our readers! that kept repeating the same principles. In addition to the subtitle of the magazine, it was
- Against all exploitation of a greedy character
- For reporting any reasoned complaint against Jewish arrogance
- As a defense against the incidents of Semitic attacks and systematic exploitation
- Against the contempt for Christian customs in Judaism
- to the fearless fight against the extremely Jewish racial character and the presumption and exploitation associated with it all too often
The front page also featured the features section , which consisted of reprints from other newspapers and mostly contained essays or sequel stories with an anti-Semitic character. Editorials were added in later editions. In the inner part of the magazine under the heading “Conditions”, later “Rundschau”, short reports from other cities at home and abroad were published, including alleged misconduct by Jews or reports about anti-Semitic gatherings. Court proceedings against publisher and editor-in-chief Wilhelm Emanuel Windecker, who has been fined several times for insulting, are also documented. The sheet also contained reviews of anti-Semitic writings.
The guest authors of the weekly come from the anti-Semitic spectrum of Hesse, including well-known names such as Otto Böckel , who at the end of 1885 / beginning of 1886 under his pseudonym “Dr. Capistrano “ when will the Jews come to their senses? printed in two editions. In the Berlin anti-Semitism dispute , the paper took the position of Heinrich von Treitschke .
Supplement "The Jux"
The joke. Humorous-witty, satyrical-anti-Semitic sparks appeared from February 3, 1883 in initially irregular, then monthly series as a supplement to the weekly on four small-format pages. The Jux was conceived as a humorous-satirical sheet that contained anti-Semitic prose, jokes and caricatures .
Interested parties
The paper was primarily aimed at craftsmen and farmers, whose economic situation deteriorated due to ongoing industrialization and for whom the magazine scapegoated the capitalist Jews. Another target group were the Christian workers.
From the fourth sample number onwards, the paper printed two pages of advertisements with advertisements from Mainz and the surrounding area. But also individual specialist shops as far as Berlin advertised in the magazine. For the most part, however, the circle of advertising customers consisted of shops that mostly also had Die Wucherpille on offer. The publisher's brochures were also advertised on the advertising pages. In the headline was the call "Buy only from Christians!"
literature
- Hans Berkessel: Anti-Semitism in the Kaiserreich and the Mainz weekly newspaper 'Die Wucherpille'. 'Eliminatory Anti-Semitism' or 'Successful Integration'? In: Mainzer Geschichtsblätter 13 (2004) (= Nazi rule, persecution and resistance. Documentation of the series of events “Mainz in the time of National Socialism” ), pp. 160–192.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wucherpille of April 3, 1886, quoted in Berkessel 2004, p. 185
- ^ Regina Schleicher: Anti-Semitism in the caricature: On the picture journalism in the French Third Republic and in the German Empire (1871-1914) . Peter Lang, 2009, ISBN 978-3-631-58020-2 , pp. 54 .
- ↑ Schleicher 2009, p. 66.