The Paper Ghetto: Karl Kraus and Anti-semitismKraus (1874-1936), the Viennese satirical writer and editor of the journal "Die Fackel, " in which he expressed his views very blatantly, was an antisemitic Jew. A German cultural nationalist and assimilationist, he attacked anti-assimilationist Jews - Orthodox, Zionist, and especially liberal - whom he considered responsible for antisemitism. His special target was the liberal press, influenced by Jews. Kraus's views were a product of the Austrian political antisemitism rampant in his time, and may be compared to reactions of other Austrian Jews who were assimilated but rejected by society. His antisemitism was in fact an expression of his dream for a society in which parentage would be irrelevant. "Die Fackel" was his private paper ghetto, shielding him from racism. Due to the growth of radical and Nazi antisemitism in the 1920s-30s, Kraus found himself in a quandary. Opposing Nazism, he tried to identify it in some way with Jewry. At the end of his life, Kraus suffered from antisemitic attacks, but he remained firm in his worldview. |
Contents
Introduction | 13 |
Karl Kraus and his Jewishness 122 | 42 |
The Dubious Refuge of Pseudoconservatism | 78 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
alten analysis anti anti-cultural forces anti-Semitism assimilant Jews attitude Austrian barbarism Benedikt bourgeois Buber Café Griensteidl campaign capitalist Christian Socials condemnation conservative corruption of language criticism Die Fackel Die Letzten Tage Dollfuß Dreyfus Dritte Walpurgisnacht erst evil exploitation Fackel fact German culture German language ghetto mentality gibt Harden Heine Herzl heute Hitler Hülsner ibid influence Jewish liberal press Jewish press Jewish Question Jewish-run Jewry Jews journalism journalists Juden Judentum jüdische jüdischen Karl Kraus Kraus saw Kraus wrote Kraus's Kraus's attacks Krieg Leben Letzten Tage literary LTM Act Lueger macht mass materialistic milieu müssen nazi anti-Semitism nazism negative forces Neue Freie Presse newspaper Nörgler Optimist period polemic political position post-war profiteers propaganda provoking reaction rejected reporters ritual murder role sagen schon Semitism situation Socialists society solution Sprache struggle Tage der Menschheit Theodor Herzl thought tradition viel Vienna Viennese Walpurgisnacht Weininger Weininger's Welt Wort Zionism