The Lion and the Star: Gentile-Jewish Relations in Three Hessian Towns, 1919-1945

Description

Friedman examines three German communities of different sizes - Frankfurt am Main, Giessen, and Geisenheim. Symbolized by the Hessian heraldic lion, these communities represent a cross-section of both Gentile and Jewish society in Germany during the Weimar and Nazi years. Conducting research in the United States, Germany, England, and Israel, he gleaned information from interviews, memoirs, diaries, letters, newspapers, church and synagogue records, censuses, government documents, and reports from Nazi and resistance organizations. Friedman's comparative analysis offers a balanced response to recent scholarly works condemning the entire German people for their complicity in the Holocaust. Jewish Emancipation to 1919 -- Demography and Socioeconomic Structure -- The Liberal-Jewish Model: Under Attack from Within -- Gesellschaft vs. Gemeinschaft: Gentile-Jewish Relations before 1933 -- Jew-Hatred or "Arbeit und Brot!" Antisemitism and the Electoral Rise of the Nazis -- Close to the Edge: Relations during the Early Years of the Third Reich -- Relations during the "Final Solution."