Association of National German Jews

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The Association of National German Jews or Association of National German Jews (abbreviation VnJ or VndJ ) was a right-wing conservative Jewish-political organization in Germany. The VnJ was founded by Max Naumann in 1921 and banned in 1935. The headquarters were in Berlin . The journalistic organ of the association was the magazine Der nationaldeutsche Jude (1922–1934). Due to the formative influence of the founding father, the members of the association were also referred to as Naumann Jews or "Naumannians".

Act

In contrast to the large political organizations of German Jewry, such as the Centralverein or the Zionist Association , the association never advanced to become a representative representative of German Jews. During the entire duration of its existence, the association had barely more than 3,500 members. Nevertheless, the association plays an important role as an ideological outsider. The provocative positions and inflammatory statements of this extreme right-wing fringe group attracted a lot of attention in the German-Jewish public. The large Jewish organs of the association, such as the CV newspaper , were regularly forced to make critical statements against Naumann's camp.

The VnJ ultimately maneuvered itself into the sidelines through its postures and tirades. On the one hand, it split more and more from the Jewish community, but on the other hand, it did not meet with the desired acceptance in German society. The Naumann Jews' attempts to ingratiate themselves were a particular thorn in the side of the National Socialists , which is why the VnJ was banned earlier than other Jewish organizations on November 18, 1935.

Politics and worldview

The VnJ was an anti-democratic, right-wing conservative association that resolutely opposed the system of the Weimar Republic . The members of the VnJ were mainly recruited from the anti-Zionist and nationalist camp of the German-Jewish educated middle class. A historical or cultural commonality with the millions of Jews outside Germany was rejected. In the association's statutes, the VnJ wrote:

“The Association of National German Jews aims to unite all those Germans of Jewish tribe who, while openly confessing their ancestry, feel so indissolubly attached to German nature and German culture that they cannot feel and think differently than German. He fights all expressions and activities of the non- German spirit, whether they come from Jews or non-Jews , which impair the resurgence of German people's power, German legality and German self-esteem and thus endanger Germany's rise to a respected position in the world. "

The VnJ consciously came close to ethnic ideologies and did not distance itself from decidedly anti-Semitic positions. Taking up the widespread resentment of the interwar period , he warned of the " danger to Jews from the East ". He also attacked the Zionists and so-called intermediate shifts, namely the members of the Centralverein, and described them as enemies of the German national cause. Programmatically, the association of the German National People's Party (DNVP) was closest, a temporary coalition partner of the NSDAP . The political and ideological orientation of the VnJ culminated in expressions of loyalty to the Nazi regime after the transfer of power to Hitler.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Matthias Hambrock: The establishment of outsiders. The Association of National German Jews 1921-1935, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna: Böhlau 2003, p. 1, ISBN 978-3-412-18902-0 .
  2. ^ Thomas levelow chaplain. Review of Hambrock, Matthias, The Establishment of the Outsiders: The Association of National German Jews 1921-1935. H-German, H-Net Reviews. September, 2005. http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=11140 (as of May 2010)

literature

  • Matthias Hambrock: The establishment of the outsider. The Association of National German Jews 1921-1935, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna: Böhlau 2003, p. 1, ISBN 978-3-412-18902-0 .