Passing Illusions: Jewish Visibility in Weimar Germany

287 Pages·2017·3.25 MB·English

by  Kerry Wallach

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Passing Illusions
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Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany
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Passing Illusions
Jewish Visibility in Weimar Germany
Kerry Wallach
University of Michigan Press
Ann Arbor
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Copyright © 2017 by Kerry Melissa Wallach
All rights reserved
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except
by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America by the
University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
c Printed on acid- free paper
2020 2019 2018 2017 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-P ublication Data
Names: Wallach, Kerry, author.
Title: Passing illusions : Jewish visibility in Weimar Germany / Kerry Wallach.
Description: Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2017] | Series: Social history, popular
culture, and politics in Germany | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017001837| isbn 9780472073573 (hardcover : alk. paper) | isbn
9780472053575 (pbk. : alk. paper) | isbn 9780472123001 (e- book)
Subjects: LCSH: Jews— Germany— History— 1918– 1933. | Jews— Germany—
Identity. | Passing (Identity)— Germany— History— 20th century. | Antisemitism—
Germany— History— 20th century. | Germany— Civilization— Jewish
influences. | Germany— Ethnic relations.
Classification: LCC ds134.25 .w35 2017 | DDC 305.892/404309042— dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001837
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Acknowledgments
I am delighted to thank those who have supported my work on this project, which
I began in Philadelphia and wrote over many years in Berlin, New York, Gettys-
burg, and Rockville/Washington DC. The generosity of numerous individuals,
academic networks, and institutions made this book possible, and I am very
grateful for their assistance. All translations are my own unless otherwise noted.
First, I would like to thank colleagues who helped the final manuscript
come together, including the anonymous readers whose suggestions for revi-
sion were immensely valuable. Sam Spinner is a brilliant scholar and dear
friend whose input shaped nearly every part of this book, and I cannot thank
him enough. I owe much to those who read portions of the manuscript and
extended their friendship along the way: Iris Idelson- Shein, Matthew Handel-
man, Emily Levine, Tahneer Oksman, Nicholas Baer, Brook Henkel, McKin-
ley Melton, and Melanie Adley. In addition, Jonathan Hess and Marion Kaplan
offered important feedback and have been wonderful mentors. Liliane Weiss-
berg expertly guided me into German- Jewish Studies and advised the disserta-
tion that led to this book.
Many scholars of German Studies and Jewish Studies have contributed to
this project through conversations, conferences, and other collaborative oppor-
tunities. I would like to express deep gratitude to Darcy Buerkle, Sharon Gill-
erman, Atina Grossmann, Paul Lerner, Lisa Silverman, and Jonathan Skolnik,
who have offered unwavering encouragement over the past few years. I have
greatly enjoyed exchanging ideas with Ofer Ashkenazi, Michael Berkowitz,
Marc Caplan, Mila Ganeva, Kata Gellen, Jay Geller, Jeffrey Grossman, Klaus
Hödl, Dan Magilow, Rick McCormick, Gideon Reuveni, Christian Rogowski,
Scott Spector, and Valerie Weinstein. A number of colleagues shared helpful
feedback on invited lectures related to this book, including Russell Berman,
Adrian Daub, Scott Lerner, Antje Pfannkuchen, Michael Riff, Christa Spreizer,
Revised Pages
vi Acknowledgments
Kathryn Starkey, David Wellbery, Christopher Wild, and Sunny Yudkoff. Other
senior scholars who have inspired and backed my work through various chan-
nels are Michael Brenner, Kathleen Canning, Bill Donahue, Sander Gilman,
Raphael Gross, Martha Helfer, Susannah Heschel, Anne Lapidus Lerner (and
the AJS Paula E. Hyman Mentoring Program), Frank Mecklenburg, Guy
Miron, Leslie Morris, Stefanie Schüler- Springorum, David Sorkin (and the
AAJR Early Career Workshop), Uwe Spiekermann, William Weitzer, Christian
Wiese, and Daniel Wildmann.
I am very much indebted to the Leo Baeck Institutes in New York/Berlin,
London, and Jerusalem. The Gerald Westheimer Career Development Fellow-
ship from the Leo Baeck Institute, New York (LBINY), enabled me to extend
my research leave to a full year. A grant from LBINY and the DAAD (German
Academic Exchange Service) supported early research for this project. LBI
London and the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes funded a research year in
Berlin and introduced me to fantastic colleagues through the Leo Baeck Fel-
lowship Programme. I am thrilled to work with some of these colleagues on the
German Jewish Cultures book series at Indiana University Press. The Seminar
for Postdoctoral Students of German- Jewish and Central- European Jewish
History (sponsored by LBI Jerusalem, LBI in Germany, and Stiftung deutsch-
israelisches Zukunftsforum) offered a valuable platform for presenting my
work. Sincere thanks are due to the many archivists and librarians who assisted
in research for this project, particularly Michael Simonson.
Gettysburg College, where I have been a professor of German Studies
since 2011, supported this book by providing extremely generous research
leave and funding. I especially would like to thank the other members of the
German Studies Department: Laurel Cohen, Henning Wrage, Christiane Breit-
haupt, and Robin Oliver. Clint Baugess and the staff of Musselman Library
have been very helpful in obtaining books and other materials. This project
benefited greatly from conversations with other Gettysburg colleagues: Bill
Bowman, Radi Rangelova, Jack Murphy, Stefanie Sobelle, Lidia Anchisi, Kurt
Andresen, Rim Baltaduonis, Abou Bamba, Temma Berg, Rob Bohrer, Vero
Calvillo, Ryan Dodd, Jenny Dumont, Cassie Hays, Julie Hendon, Ian Isher-
wood, Ryan Johnson, Nathalie Lebon, Rachel Lesser, Richard Russell, Luke
Thompson, Beatriz Trigo, Gina Velasco, and Mike Wedlock. I am fortunate to
have phenomenal students, including many who contributed to this project di-
rectly or indirectly; here I would like to mention Claire Bailets, Trevor Walter,
Karolina Hicke, and An Sasala. Special thanks go to my three truly exceptional
and meticulous research assistants: Elizabeth Topolosky, Martina Khalek, and
Kim Longfellow.
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Acknowledgments vii
I am grateful to mentors and teachers at Wesleyan University (College of
Letters) and the University of Pennsylvania for my interdisciplinary training.
Noah Isenberg deserves credit for encouraging me to pursue German Studies,
and for instilling in me a love of Weimar culture. At Penn, Liliane Weissberg
introduced me to a range of scholarly worlds. Eric Jarosinski taught me how to
be a better writer. I learned a great deal from working with Catriona MacLeod,
Simon Richter, Kathryn Hellerstein, Bethany Wiggin, Frank Trommler, Beth
Wenger, Benjamin Nathans, and visiting scholar Stephan Braese. Additional
thanks are due to Jerry Singerman and Meghan Sullivan. Many fellows at the
Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies also contributed signifi-
cantly to my education.
Numerous colleagues and friends have served as a sounding board for
ideas related to this project. From Penn, I am grateful to Vance Byrd, Dan Di-
Massa, Sonia Gollance, Emily Hauze, Gabriella Skwara, Curtis Swope, Mara
Taylor, Nick Theis, Caroline Weist, Conny Aust, Jennifer Glaser, Tina Ranalli,
Rami Regavim, Katrin Schreiter, Ese Jeroro, and Sophie Woolston. I also
would like to thank the following colleagues for kindly sharing advice and
ideas: Yael Almog, Maya Barzilai, Katie Batza, LaNitra Berger, Nadine
Blumer, David Brenner, Aya Elyada, Amir Engel, Jennifer Evans, Florence
Feiereisen, Anat Feinberg, Kirsten Fermaglich, Ken Frieden, Uri Ganani,
Christopher Geissler, Jay Howard Geller, Rachel Gordan, Udi Greenberg, Kate
Haffey, Lori Harrison- Kahan, June Hwang, Sarah Imhoff, Mariana Ivanova,
Daniel Jütte, Ellen Kellman, Martin Kley, Shira Kohn, Thomas Kühne, Josh
Lambert, Ilse Josepha Lazaroms, Ari Linden, Stefanie Mahrer, Ted Merwin,
Anna Parkinson, Elliot Ratzman, Na’ama Rokem, Sven- Erik Rose, Miriam
Rürup, Anne Schenderlein, Jana Schmidt, Dani Schrire, Inbal Steinitz, Josh
Teplitsky, Mirjam Thulin, Stefan Vogt, and Erica Weitzman.
Other institutions have supported and shaped my work in productive
ways. The opportunity to teach a film course at the Jewish Theological Semi-
nary came at just the right time. A short-t erm postdoctoral fellowship at the
German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, led to many meaningful pro-
fessional connections. The Women in German network has been an important
resource for me for over a decade, and I am grateful to have received the
Women in German Dissertation Prize in 2012. Finally, it has been a privilege
and a pleasure to work with LeAnn Fields, Christopher Dreyer, Kevin Ren-
nells, and others at the University of Michigan Press.
Friends near and far made the process of completing this project much
more enjoyable. Aileen Payumo, Una LaMarche, Jeff Zorabedian, Arcelie
Reyes, Liz Oppenheim, Sara Miller, Demian Szyld, Adrianne Doering Curtis,
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viii Acknowledgments
Erin Fletcher, Niv Elis, and Abby Moses have sustained (and hosted) me for
many years. Several friends from my hometown of Shaker Heights remain
close, especially Rebecca Spira King, Sarah Siegel Lubow, and Adrienne Katz
Kennedy. Mary Ashcraft and Meredith Petrnousek have encouraged my pursuit
of German for over two decades. In New York, Jimmy Lader and Anthony
Gaugler deserve many thanks for their gracious and continual support. In Ber-
lin, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Luber family (especially Eva), Anna
von Gall, Elena Virnik, and Lea Weik. For their friendship in Maryland, I
would like to thank Fiona Grant, Heidi Mordhorst, Zack Levine, Allison Far-
ber, Suzee Kujawa, Mitch Rotbert, Baht Yameem Weiss; the Cohen, Entel,
Chang, Carin, Freedberg, Karpay, and Truland families; and the many amazing
people at Temple Beth Ami who welcomed us in the warmest way imaginable.
This book is dedicated to my grandparents, Janice and Ivan Wallach,
whose American Jewish encounters with the early twentieth century have been
an endless source of inspiration. The courage of my other grandmother, Anne
Kinney, who was born the same year as the Weimar Republic, inspires me in
different ways. I would like to thank my parents, Harriet and Mark, and my
stepmother, Karla, for carving an intellectual path and enabling me to go my
own way. I am so pleased to live near my brother, Philip, and his delightful
family, including Vera and Bina. Many thanks also to Danny, Rachel, Rachel,
and Adam Kanter and my terrific extended family. The Firsheins—J oy, Dan,
and Jenna— enliven holidays and every day. To Jess Firshein, my best friend,
partner, and wonderful wife, whose laughter and light fill my days, I am grate-
ful beyond words. Heartfelt thanks also go to our son, Zev, whose boundless
energy makes everything more fun.
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Contents
Introduction: Passing, Covering, Revealing 1
1 Methods of Projecting and Detecting Jewishness 27
2 Coming Out as Jewish: Print, Stage, and Screen Displays 61
3 Hostile Outings: When Being Seen Was Undesirable 97
4 Mistaken Identifications and Nonrecognitions 129
Conclusion: German- Jewish Passing in
Comparative Contexts 159
Notes 177
Selected Bibliography 241
Index 263