German Antisemitism Has a Long History
I can understand Rabbi Michael Meyerstein’s appreciation of Germany’s repentance for the Holocaust but I take issue with his acknowledging the “Germany that sustained my family for over 300 years, and Jewish communal life for 1,700 years” (“I Can’t Forget What the Nazis Did, But I Can Be Grateful to a Repentant Germany,” April 21).
From the massacres during the Crusades, expulsions throughout the Middle Ages, the vicious hostility of Martin Luther, the anti-Jewish Hep-Hep riots of the early 19th century, to the origination of political and racial antisemitism (by Wilhelm Marr and others), Germany has never “sustained” Jewish family or communal life. Viewing the history of Jews in Germany, it is clear that the events of 1933-1945 were not a “tragic anomaly” but rather had roots in German actions and their long-held attitudes about Jewish people.
Jewish people persevered in Germany in spite of these obstacles due to our internal strength, not because of occasional “protections” (from what or who?) and “privileges” offered by a king or duke.
Jerry Levin, Baltimore
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