Wilhelm Marr: The Patriarch of Anti-Semitism (Studies in Jewish History (Oxford Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

Moshe Zimmermann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195040058 | ISBN-13: 978-0195040050 | Publication Date: March 5, 1987

The creation of the term "anti-Semitism" a century ago signalled a turning point in the history of Jew-hatred, marking the division between the classical, Christian hatred of Jews and the modern, politically-rooted racist attitudes. This is the first biography of radical writer and politician Wilhelm Marr, the man who introduced the term "anti-Semitism" into politics and founded the first "Anti-Semitic League." Marr (1819-1904) began his political career as a democrat and revolutionary, fighting for the emancipation of all oppressed groups including the Jews. But when he became disillusioned with contemporary politics, Jews became the focus of his attack. Drawing on Marr's published and unpublished works, as well as on previously unexamined journals and voluminous correspondence, Zimmermann sets out to discover why an intellectual radical like Marr would become a virulent anti-Semite. As Zimmermann follows Marr's profound influence in the political, literary, and artistic circles of his day and his collaborations with Karl Marx, Richard Wagner, and other radical founders of modern anti-Semitism, he reveals the diverse ways that anti-Semitism came to permeate German thought and illuminates critical moments in the emergence of the German Reich. The book also includes Marr's surprising, never-before-published "Testament of an Anti-Semite," written at the end of his life when he finally turned his back on the movement he helped to create. This is the first volume in a new Oxford series, Studies in Jewish History. The General Editor for the series is Jehuda Reinharz of Brandeis University.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This first full-length treatment of Marr results in a comprehensive and nuanced interpretation of the man and his career."--American Historical Review

"Zimmermann skillfully sets his subject in the context of 19th-century German politics with its bewildering array of local, national and continental issues, showing how a combination of historical change and personal frustration...led to Marr's fateful contribution to German anti-Jewish thought."--America

"[A] fascinating book."--George L. Mosse, University of Wisconsin, Madison

"A valuable contribution to students at all levels and to many disciplines."--Choice

"This biography underscores the highly contradictory role anti-Semitism played in German reform ideologies and illuminates critical moments in the emergence of the German Reich."--Shofar

Language Notes

Text: English, Hebrew (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 5, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195040058
• ISBN-13: 978-0195040050
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,456,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Biography of Wilhelm Marr., March 31, 2003

By 

New Age of Barbarism "zosimos" (EVROPA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wilhelm Marr: The Patriarch of Anti-Semitism (Studies in Jewish History (Oxford Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

This book is the biography of the German revolutionary Wilhelm Marr. Marr was a radical revolutionary left wing intellectual who based his philosophy on that of the Left Hegelian Ludwig Feuerbach, advocating atheism and maintaining an anti-Christian and antiSemitic belief system. He became known as a journalist and editor of the paper _Mephistopheles_ during the nineteenth century. He became known for his antiSemitism (and may have originated the term "antiSemitism") despite the fact that he was to have a series of Jewish wives after writing a book entitled _The Jewish Mirror_ (_Der Judenspiegel_). He also involved himself in business deals in America where he may have participated in the slave trade and the ensuing debate over slavery. After having met the Italian liberal nationalist intellectual and founder of the "Young Europe" movement, Giuseppe Mazzini, Marr became enamored of this individual and earned for himself the title of "The German Mazzini". Subsequently, Marr would write another infamous antiSemitic text, _The Victory of Judaism Over Germanism_. During this period, Marr's political alignments began to shift so that he became favored in certain reactionary circles. Marr also became involved with the Anti-Semitic League at this time. Later in his life after having several failed business dealings, Marr would come to criticize antiSemitism. He argued that antiSemites were fostering an environment harmful to the poor worker in the same manner that the Jews themselves were. At this point, Marr renounced his antiSemitism as well as his previous reactionary leanings and returned to his original revolutionary beliefs. Marr died in relative obscurity, penniless. However, he had made a name for himself as the instigator of antiSemitism and perhaps as the man who coined that very term. Marr generally comes across as a rather despicable individual despite the fact that he would later come to at least partially repent of some of his antiSemitic beliefs (though never of his atheism and anti-Christian beliefs). He played some role as a prophet who foretold the coming of the Third Reich and the horrendous evils of the twentieth century, although he would be rejected by the actual intellectuals of the Third Reich, as would the term he coined - antiSemitism. Marr's place is among the antiSemitic left wing revolutionary intellectuals such as the musician Richard Wagner in Germany in the century before the coming of the World Wars. This book provides a good biography of an obscure figure who played some role in predicting the coming events in the German nation in the twentieth century. It is to be recommended despite the fact that its central figure is certainly less than savory.

3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars How odd..., November 8, 2006

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S. Swink (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wilhelm Marr: The Patriarch of Anti-Semitism (Studies in Jewish History (Oxford Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

I was researching this guy on the internet and found out the prototypical anti-semite was, in fact, the son of the famous jewish actor Heinrich Marr. Perhaps this explains why he always married jewish women. Will add more after I read this one.

Edit: After further research, it appears I was mistaken about that. Too bad as I enjoy the irony like that - such as when Republican 'family values' politicians get arrested for sexual peccadilloes.