The Scholems: A Story of the German-Jewish Bourgeoisie from Emancipation to Destruction by Jay Howard Geller

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Scholems: A Story of the German-Jewish Bourgeoisie from Emancipation to Destruction by Jay Howard Geller Christopher L. Schilling (bio) The Scholems: A Story of the German-Jewish Bourgeoisie from Emancipation to Destruction By Jay Howard Geller. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019. 348 pp. plus illus. The Scholems: A Story of the German-Jewish Bourgeoisie from Emancipation to Destruction has been described as a "compelling tale" in Kirkus Reviews, and a "richly textured portrait" by George Prochnik. Writing a book about Gershom Scholem and his family is a worthy project and follows other recent publications on Scholem, such as David Biale's interesting Gershom Scholem: Master of the Kabbalah (Yale University Press, 2018), and Amir Engel's compelling Gerschom Scholem: An Intellectual Biography (University of Chicago Press, 2017). The Scholems, however, does not provide sufficient insight into the family history of the Scholems, most notably Gershom and his brothers Werner, Reinhold, and Erich. The book is, I am afraid, too uninformed of German and European history, inaccurate in its use of historical terms (Reichspogromnacht, intelligentsia), and is in parts given to a melodramatic style. Geller often elides regional differences within the history of German-speaking countries, including their inherently diverse Jewish experiences and histories. He assumes, for example, that Prussian-Jewish history comprises the experiences of Jews in German-speaking countries such as Saxony, Hesse, Bavaria, and others. While all Jews in Germany had to face the Nazis in 1933, their experiences were not altogether the same prior to Hitler. This emerges as a major flaw of the book, as the notion of a common German history before 1871 is essentially a nationalist fabrication. The reader should, thus, keep in mind that whenever "German" history is invoked, the author actually means Prussian history. Moreover, as Jewish intellectual life does continue in Germany, even [End Page 295] after the Holocaust, the use of "Prussia" rather than Germany in the title would been more valid since Prussian history ended indeed with World War II and its dissolution by the Allied Control Council in 1947. The title should, thus, be "The Scholems: A Story of the Prussian-Jewish Bourgeoisie from Emancipation to Destruction." One should, in short, not forget the significant regional differences between German-speaking parts of Europe. Geller moreover seems not always to be sufficiently aware of the importance of precision of language. This becomes evident in statements like "despite their [the Jews] relatively small proportion of the total German population" (5). In fact, the Jewish population of Germany in 1933 was less than one percent; Jews were actually a tiny part of the German population. Describing this accurately is all the more urgent as it underlines the paranoid nature of Nazi fanaticism regarding this extremely small group of people. Certain controversial figures are presented in much too positive a light. The book mentions West Germany's president Theodor Heuss crediting a Jewish doctor for saving the lives of his wife and new-born son. But there is no word about Heuss voting as a parliamentarian in favour of the notorious Enabling Act [Ermächtigungsgesetz] in 1933, which handed Hitler dictatorial power. And there is no mention about his articles in favor of the Nazi book burnings, Ostjuden propaganda [Jews of the East propaganda], or the "uprooted Jewish literacy" which he meant to fight against. Furthermore, Geller describes nineteenth-century novelist Theodor Fontane as an admirer of the contribution of Jews to "liberty and higher culture" (28), without mentioning his evident antisemitism. There is in fact a vast amount of literature on the topic. The Scholems does mention Prussian king Frederick II, who "acquired" (14) Silesia from Austria and the resulting economic hardships Jews faced under Prussian rule. However, Frederick II was not only the enlightened monarch most people stereotypically associate him with, but also a militarist who, in 1740, surprisingly and without any reason other than his desire for glory, attacked Austria. Again, words matter: "conquered" Silesia [End Page 296] would be much more accurate than "acquired." All subsequent Prussian wars were the logical consequence of this attack on Silesia, culminating in the Seven Years War of 1756, which triggered a worldwide avalanche that reached as...