By Carol Tannenhauser
The Holocaust did not happen overnight. It was preceded by two decades of escalating anti-Semitism in Germany, paralleling Hitler’s rise to power. This period is recreated in Anti-Semitism 1919—1939, opening at the New-York Historical Society on 77th street and Central Park West on April 12th.
“The materials illustrate the ease with which the rhetoric of hate can sink its roots into any society, and the dangers of under-estimating its power,” said Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society.
“It was very incremental,” said Kenneth W. Rendell, founder and executive director of the Museum of World War II in Boston, which loaned the artifacts to New-York Historical through July 31st. “You’re looking directly at the signs that told Jews, first, that they’re not welcome, then, to keep out of just about everything.”
Some of the “signs” that Mr. Rendell referenced are literal – beautifully hand-carved wooden plaques and large painted-metal street signs, carrying the same message: “Juden sind hier unerwunscht” (Jews are not welcome here), and, as the years passed, “Judischer Besuch Verbeten” (Jewish visitors prohibited.)
There are also the things of everyday life: an ashtray with a derogatory caricature of a Jew; children’s books about evil Jews to indoctrinate young minds; passports stamped with yellow J’s belonging to a family trying desperately to emigrate.
“The photographs make it personal,” said Mr. Rendell. “Look at her face. She is everyone’s grandmother.”
The exhibition is anchored by artifacts of stunning historical relevance. It begins with what Mr. Rendell called, “Hitler’s earliest known anti-Semitic rant,” scrawled in 1919 on a poster announcing the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended WW I and left Germany in shock and debt. Hitler blamed a Jewish conspiracy:
“The peace treaty aims at preparing Germany for the Jewish dictate, the Versailles peace treaty makes the objective of Judah – the destruction of Germany – possible. The Jews must therefore leave Germany.”
By the time this period of anti-Semitism – and the exhibit – ends, on the brink of the Holocaust, “leaving” took on a far more sinister meaning. The final pieces in the exhibit are six pages of notes, written in Hitler’s own hand, for a speech he gave on January 30, 1939, in which he threatened “annihilation.”
Mr. Rendell has spent more than 50 years collecting the 61 objects (and some others) on display.
“They are exceedingly rare,” he said. “After the war, the Germans destroyed them and the American soldiers didn’t want them as souvenirs. I spent a lot of time in German flea markets and other sources, digging them out, one by one.”
Mr. Rendell obtained the notes to Hitler’s speech from an RAF officer who said he traded a German soldier a pack of cigarettes for them!
Finally, don’t miss the small black-and-white monitor beside the door as you exit. Beyond the crowds cheering for Hitler, eerily reminiscent of today’s political rallies, there’s the picture of a beaming father, holding his toddler in his arms, teaching him to “Heil Hitler.”
The exhibition runs from April 12 to July 31.
I sincerely hope that many people to go see this exhibit. Much of what of happening now in this country with protests of immigrants arriving on our shores and the demonization of them and of those coming from south of the border are so similar in content to what happened in Germany from 1919 through 1939. As the headline says, anti-semitism did not happen overnight. There was a slow build up with posters, pictures, playing cards and children’s game having slogans and images which were derogatory. The way our current politicians are criticizing the disenfranchised now. It’s pitiful.
I find it deranged and offensive for you to compare the plight of Jews in Germany in the 1930s with the situation of illegal immigrants and the “disenfranchised” in the US today.
As someone who had family that perished in the Holocaust, I do not find Jezebel’s comment at all deranged nor offensive.
thank you Jezbel. And we see so much racial and ethnic hatred in the comments of this very blog.
And it’s happening on other countries, particularly Belgium and France, as well. Prejudice starts small, and then escalates, and moves on to killing. Because they are such a minority, Jews have always been a convenient target (but the idiot anti-Semites of both yesterday and today never seem to notice that getting rid of Jews never improves their situations). A major difference today, of course, is the existence of Israel. So anti-Semites just try to bash Israel. But watch anti-Semitism and anti-minority behavior carefully: it presages worse to come if it is not stopped.
Good article on an important exhibit that emphasizes the power of propaganda and the ease with which the horrible can become the acceptable.
It is nonsense to compare this to “what could happen here”. In Germany and France from the late 19th century onward, there was deep Anti-Semitism that was ingrained in the public at large, especially among the intellectual elites. This does not exist in the USA today, except in the last few years among the extreme left that are promoting the BDS movement which has linked itself to groups like Black Lives Matter.