Gerhard Kittel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gerhard Kittel (born September 23, 1888 in Breslau ; † July 11, 1948 in Tübingen ) was a German Protestant theologian (New Testament scholar) and active anti-Semite .

Grave in the Tübingen city cemetery

Life

Kittel was the son of the professor for Old Testament Rudolf Kittel . He visited in Leipzig King Albert Grammar School and studied at the University 1907-1912 theology and oriental languages. Further study locations were Tübingen, Berlin and Halle. In 1913 he received his doctorate and completed his habilitation in Kiel. During his studies he became a member of the Association of German Students in Tübingen .

During the First World War , Kittel served as a naval pastor , in 1917 he became a private lecturer in Leipzig and headed the ecclesiastical religion teacher seminar until he became an associate professor in 1921. In the same year he was appointed full professor for the New Testament in Greifswald and in 1926 took over the chair of Adolf Schlatter in Tübingen . Here he published studies and essays on historical and comparative religious research on ancient Judaism and early Palestinian Christianity . Interest was less “the racial or political issue, but… the religious one… the relationship between Israel, Judaism and Christianity”.

When the National Socialists came to power, he joined the NSDAP in May 1933 and was a member of the university's leadership council. In 1933 he took over the publication of the Theological Dictionary for the New Testament , a standard work, the first four volumes of which Kittel published until 1942 and which, following Gerhard Friedrich's successor with volumes 5 to 11, was not completed until 1979. With the book Die Judenfrage , published in 1933, he took part in the National Socialist policy of exclusion of the Jewish population and was opposed by both the Jewish ( Martin Buber ) and Christian ( Ernst Lohmeyer ) sides .

In 1935, Kittel was one of the founders of the Reich Institute for the History of the New Germany and had worked in the Munich branch of the Institute for Research into the Jewish Question since 1936 . From autumn 1939 to April 1943 he also held the chair of theology in Vienna .

The theology professor Hermann Sasse from Erlangen characterizes Kittel and his work in a letter dated August 28, 1944 to the Bavarian regional bishop Hans Meiser as follows: “Kittel is one of the most cunning theological businessmen of our time, which I know from years of working on his dictionary. His pacts with the DC of all directions have always been a serious challenge to us, e. B. that he never booted Mr. Grundmann , a gravedigger from our church in Thuringia. This lecture is a document of his activities in the 'Reich Institute for the History of New Germany', which has to provide the scientific basis for the current Jewish policy. Kittel helped to make Protestant theology jointly liable for this through this lecture. "

In 1945, Kittel was arrested by the French occupying forces, removed from office and interned in Balingen . In 1946 he was released again. Until 1948 he was banned from staying in Tübingen.

From 1946 to 1948 he was a pastor in Beuron . Shortly after he was allowed to return to Tübingen, he died before the arbitration chamber proceedings began .

Tübingen "Scientific Anti-Semitism"

Together with Karl Adam , Karl Georg Kuhn , Hans Fleischhacker and the head of the Lecturer Association, Robert Wetzel , Kittel was one of the protagonists of the so-called “scientific” anti-Semitism at the University of Tübingen, for whom “anti-Semitism is not a riot (...) but rather a matter of serious scientific knowledge ”. In his work Die Judenfrage , Kittel called for the extermination of the Jews as early as 1934, if they could not be separated sufficiently. In this book, Kittel considered “killing” the Jews, but rejected it, as this did not correspond in any way to the ethical convictions of Germans. For his racial-biological point of view he appealed to Hans FK Günther , whom he quoted repeatedly in his writings. Because of the importance of these statements, they are quoted in full:

"The question of what to do with Judaism can be answered in four ways: 1, One can try to exterminate the Jews ( pogroms )."

“The violent extermination of Judaism is out of the question for serious consideration: if the systems of the Spanish Inquisition or the Russian pogroms do not succeed, it will certainly not be possible for the 20th century. ... Killing all Jews does not mean mastering the task. "

In addition, p. 115f., Note 4 with Kittel's reaction to the international outrage about these statements is informative.

Kittel also sponsored Karl Georg Kuhn and ensured that Kuhn was accepted into the research department of the Jewish question of the Reichsinstitut for the history of the new Germany , which Kittel developed together with the völkisch-anti-Semitic philosopher Max Wundt ( What is völkisch , 1924) into a National Socialist showcase project. His assistant, Walter Grundmann , became professor of New Testament and ethnic theology at the University of Jena in 1936 and, in 1939, scientific director of the newly founded institute for the research and elimination of the Jewish influence on German church life . Gerhard Scholem judged Kittel's Jewish question as "among all the disgraceful documents of an assiduous professorship ... certainly one of the most disgraceful".

Personal participation in the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” in Europe

In 1936 Kittel was appointed to the Reich Institute for the History of New Germany . The institute was closely related to other scientific institutions that had committed to researching the opponents of the racially oriented Nazi policy, such as the Frankfurt Institute for researching the Jewish question and the Eisenach church institute for researching and eliminating the Jewish influence on German church life under the direction of Kittel's former assistant Walter Grundmann . All of these activities served a fight against Jewish children, women and men on an explicitly racial-biological basis.

Like all employees of the institutes mentioned, Kittel was through the information service of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), which was the basis for the corresponding reports in the journal Weltkampf (from 1941 the scientific quarterly journal of the Institute for Researching the Jewish Question), detailing the disenfranchisement, ghettoization and " Resettlement ”of European Jewry (prohibition of work, reduced diet, restrictions on freedom of movement, establishment of ghettos, Jewish legislation in the Southeast European countries, etc.). As part of the founding conference of the Frankfurt Institute, the “ final solution to the Jewish question ” was dealt with in several academic lectures. Klaus Schickert formulated in his contribution on the Jewish laws in Southeast Europe: "Things are drifting towards their final solution at an increasing speed." Kittel expressly shared the goals of the above-mentioned scientific institutions: the "elimination of Judaism" and the "final solution to the Jewish question".

Kittel worked in the Department of Research on Jews at the Reich Institute, where he manufactured a. a. Expert opinion on the Jewish ethnic groups whose racial origin was unclear. These reports were part of the decision-making basis of the RSHA on the " special treatment ", i. H. Assassination or sparing of these special Jewish groups. In one of these reports from 1943, Kittel proposed racial investigations into the Iranian Jews in France and a separate treatment of the so-called mountain Jews in the Caucasus.

After the war, his family claimed that Kittel was "shaken" when a son informed him of the mass murder - a statement that is not credible given his activities and contacts.

Kittel's “racial research on religion” was “genuinely National Socialist research on Jews” with the aim of identifying and “eliminating” the Jews and the Jewish as opponents and enemies. In the context of the conferences Kittel attended and in the magazines he read, word for word was the "final solution to the Jewish question". The materials obtained show that the murder of the Jews is not mentioned. Nevertheless, during the conference on the establishment of the Frankfurt Institute in 1941, the problem was discussed that the complete elimination and expulsion of Judaism from Europe would not ultimately solve the “Jewish question”. Judaism, which has been completely evacuated from Europe, must therefore at least be completely isolated, since it must be viewed as a source of constant danger. That Gerhard Kittel shared this assessment is evident from a lecture he gave on March 22, 1943 at the University of Vienna on the emergence of Judaism and which he later published: “When the Christian West had the door of the ghetto broken open…. In reality it was a door of the demons ; in reality it did not lead into a paradise valley, but into a valley of chaos and curse and horror. "

In 1946 the internationally recognized ancient orientalist WF Albright judged : “In view of the terrible viciousness of his attacks on Judaism and the Jews, which continues at least until 1943, Gerhard Kittel must bear the guilt of having contributed more, perhaps, than any other Christian theologian to the mass murder of Jews by Nazis. ”

Albright's 1946 judgment is confirmed on the basis of the sources. No German university theologian was as close to the National Socialist extermination machine as Kittel. In his position as a scientist, Gerhard Kittel actively and consciously worked on the final solution to the Jewish question in Europe, which he himself propagated, through lectures, publications and reports on Jewish ethnic groups for the Reich Security Main Office.

Works (selection)

  • The Odes of Solomon. Revised or uniform? Diss. Kiel 1913; 1914
  • Jesus as a pastor , 1917
  • Rabbinica. Hinrichs, Leipzig 1920
  • The religious teacher seminar in Leipzig. Structure and goals, on behalf of Christl. Public service depicted ; Reuther & Reichard, Berlin 1921
  • The religious and ecclesiastical situation in Germany . Dörffling & Franke, Leipzig 1921
  • Pastoral care for young girls , 1925
  • Early Christianity - Late Judaism - Hellenism ; Inaugural academic lecture on October 28, 1926 in Tübingen. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1926
  • Jesus and the Jews . Furche Verlag, Berlin 1926. 1932 in the second edition as The "historical Jesus." (With note: This booklet is the first of several internally related booklets of the "Voices", in which from the standpoint of biblical Christianity to the people. Question is taken. Ed .: Prof. D. Gerhard Kittel and Stadtpfr Hermann Weber.)
  • The problems of late Palestinian Jews and the like the early Christianity . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1926.
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament , edited by G. Kittel
  • New Testament Theological Dictionary , Volumes 1-4 (of 11). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1933–1942.
  • The Jewish question . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1933. Published in several editions in the Third Reich. With two enclosures: Reply to Martin Buber. And church and Jewish Christians .
  • An exchange of theological letters . With Karl Barth . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1934
  • Christ and Emperor. The Judgment of the First Christianity on the State . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1939
  • The historical requirements of the Jewish racial mixture . Hanseatic Publishing House, Hamburg 1939.
  • Poet, Bible and Bible Revision . Unugel publishing house, Dresden 1939.
  • The oldest Jewish pictures. A task for scientific collaborative work . In: Research on the Jewish Question Volume 4. Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1940, pp. 237–249.
  • The oldest Jewish caricatures. The "Trier terracottas" . In: Research on the Jewish Question Volume 4. Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1940, pp. 250–260.
  • with Eugen Fischer : Ancient World Jewry. Facts, texts, pictures (= research on the Jewish question, Volume 7). Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1943.
  • The descent of the mother of Origen. The story of a genealogical error . In: Research on the Jewish Question Volume 3. 2nd edition. Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1943, pp. 247–248.
  • My defense. New, expanded transcript . 1946
  • James and the Apostolic Fathers. From the estate published by Karl Heinrich Rengstorf . in: ZNW 43, 1950/51, pp. 54-112

literature

Non-scientific articles about smocks by his chair representative in Tübingen between 1939 and 1943:

swell

  1. ↑ Louis Lange (Ed.): Kyffhäuser Association of German Student Associations. Address book 1931. Berlin 1931, p. 111.
  2. ↑ Gerhard Friedrich in: ThLZ 74 (1949), pp. 171-175.
  3. ^ Gerhard Kittel: The Jewish question. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1933, 78 pages; 2nd edition: Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 128 pages (expanded to include Kittel's reaction to Martin Buber's accusation).
  4. ↑ Eberhard Röhm and Jörg Thierfelder: Juden, Christen, Deutsche 1933–1945 , 4/2, 1941–1945, Stuttgart 2007 (Calwer Pocket Library 104), p. 353.
  5. ↑ Science goes to the people. Significant participation by Tübingen lecturers in the Berlin lecture series “Judaism and the Jewish Question” ; in: Tübingen Chronicle of February 9, 1939.
  6. ^ Gerhard Kittel: The Jewish question. 3rd edition 1934, pp. 13f.
  7. ^ Gerhard Kittel: The Jewish question. 3rd edition 1934, p. 14.
  8. ^ AK University of Tübingen under National Socialism, 2006 ( PDF ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ))
  9. ↑ Scholem's letter to Martin Buber dated August 24, 1933. Quoted in: Grete Schaeder (Ed.): Martin Buber. Correspondence from seven decades, vol. 2. Heidelberg 1973, p. 202.
  10. ↑ world struggle. The Jewish question in past and present , 1/2, April-September 1941, p. 42.
  11. ↑ Prof. Kittel on February 16, 1943 on the Persian, Afghan and Caucasian Jews, in: Euler to Legation Councilor Franz Rademacher on October 23, 1942 ..., NA Washington , T120 4668. See also: Helmut Heiber : Files of the Party Chancellery the NSDAP. Reconstruction of a lost stock. Regesten Vol. 1 + 2, 1983; Regest 26842, p. 874
  12. ↑ Siegele-Wenschkewitz (lit.), p. 110, note 104.
  13. ↑ Eberhard Röhm and Jörg Thierfelder: Juden, Christen, Deutsche 1933–1945 , 4/2, 1941–1945, Stuttgart 2007 (Calwer Pocket Library 104), p. 352.
  14. ^ WF Albright: The War in Europe and the Future of Biblical Studies, in: Harold W. Willoughby: The Study of the Bible today and tomorrow, Chicago 1947, p. 165.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kittel, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH July 11, 1948
Place of death Tübingen