Deutsch-Jüdische Geschichte durch drei Jahrhunderte. Ausgewählte Schriften in zehn Bänden

The texts in this second supplementary volume of the Selected Writings revolve around the question of how German Jews defined and understood themselves, similar to the ten previously published volumes (and the accompanying supplementary volume). When we ask today who and what a German Jew or a German Jewess was, it leads us to engage with the self-understanding and sentiments of Jews in Germany before 1933. German Jews had very specific ideas about themselves and a fairly clear notion of what they wanted to be understood as belonging to Germany, its political and social realities, and above all, its language and culture. The author aims to depict hopes, dreams, but also bitter disappointments that have shaped and accompanied the history of German Jews since the mid-18th century. The themes include: friendships, civic patriotism, and enthusiasm for war; emancipated women, border crossers, and admirers of Goethe; expectations of salvation, Zionist dreams, and the problems of contemporary Israeli settlement policy; self-assertion in times of uncertainty; and threats, questionable appearances, and latent anti-Semitism.