German anti-semitism is still strongest in states that gave the Nazis early support

[Behind the Aegis]

Israel yesterday marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, one of the most solemn days on the national calendar, when the country comes to a standstill to mark the six million Jewish victims of Nazi genocide between 1933 and 1945.

(An estimated total of 11 million people—including Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, political dissidents, handicapped people, and Soviet war prisoners—died in Hitler’s system of industrialized death.)

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research working paper finds, sadly, faint echoes of anti-semitic attitudes can still be found in Germany, especially in states where the Nazi party fared well in the elections of May 1928. (The party, which ran on an outright platform of anti-semitism only garnered a sliver of the national vote.)

This suggests that anti-Semitic sentiments continued to exist in local areas for centuries. We use this idea and include in some of our specifications a measure of local support of the Nazi Party in 1928. We find that people who reside in states that have provided above-median support for the Nazi Party in 1928 are more anti-semitic today in comparison to those who live elsewhere.This provides evidence that local cultural traits in terms of anti-semitism persisted over the last 80 years.

more: http://qz.com/203825/german-anti-semitism-is-still-strongest-in-states-that-gave-the-nazis-early-support/

[MosheFeingold]

1. Never really understood German anti-semitism

I can kind of see how black/white racism happened in the USA: black were largely slaves in the USA, so you had an ingrained (albeit false) belief of inferiority/superiority, hatred from the Civil War, and strife between poor whites and blacks for the same jobs. In short, there is a twisted logic to how hatred started/continued. (Note, I don't condone the hatred, just noting you can follow from point A to point B in the train of thought.)

I can even understand dislike of any-given-immigrant group for much the same reasons: they are "different," "invaders," have different languages/skin colors, and fight for the same lower-level jobs. So, again, there is a twisted logic to that kind of racism.

But Jews in Germany were there a LONG time, spoke German, were not easily told apart from visuals (unless Orthodox), and were solidly middle class folks. Also relatively small numbers, and not increasing. Many even met on Sunday to have the same Sabbath. They were very ingrained in German culture. My grandfather, for example, was a doctor, and fought in WWI --- for the Germans.

In short, it's a pretty subtle difference to get all worked up about.

But, nonetheless, it's there.

And, yes, I believe it is increasing dramatically.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. German anti-Semitism was well ingrained in the society.

German Jews weren't really integrated into society in the way see things today. The Jews were always an "other" spanning back to the Middle Ages. Though Jews were more likely to be a part of German society, as opposed to their cousins in the east (Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia), they were always met with suspicion. After WWI, anti-Semitism really ramped up as the Jews were blamed for the German loss. It didn't matter how much like Germans they actually were, they still weren't "German" according to the Germans, which is one reason some had no problem with them being sent to camps (then described as "work camps&quot .

Germany has a long, and frightening history of anti-Semitism.