Language:
German
Year of publication:
2015
Titel der Quelle:
Jahrbuch für Antisemitismusforschung
Angaben zur Quelle:
24 (2015) 89-118
Keywords:
Burte, Hermann, Correspondence
;
Rathenau, Walther, Correspondence
;
Antisemitism History 20th century
;
Antisemitism in literature
;
Self-hate (Psychology)
;
Jews Cultural assimilation
Abstract:
Rejects the view that Rathenau's correspondence with "völkisch" writer Hermann Burte (1879-1960), and also with Wilhelm Schwaner, was an expression of Jewish self-hatred. Rathenau had distanced himself from his previously anti-Jewish views before he met Burte and Schwaner. His correspondence shows that he influenced them more than they did him. The correspondence should be viewed in the context of the interaction between educated middle-class Jews and Christians, and the fact that criticism of modernity and civilization was widespread. Rathenau and Burte never became close friends or discussed race, Judaism, or Germanity, as Rathenau did with Schwaner. Rathenau's correspondence with Burte was limited to literature and esthetics, touched on politics only briefly after 1914, and ended abruptly in 1918. Rathenau became a prominent representative of the Weimar Republic, while Burte joined the ranks of the German nationalists. However, in that period the "völkisch" movement was a heterogeneous, exploratory movement encompassing various groups. The main works of "völkisch" celebrities, such as Gobineau and Chamberlain, achieved mass circulation and were part of the literary canon of the educated middle class. Rathenau was partly familiar with these works and did not find them unscientific. In view of the interconnectedness of civilization-critical discourse and "völkisch ideas", his correspondence with Burte becomes more understandable.
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