Association of German National Jews

The Association of German National Jews was established in March 1921 by Max Naumann, a Berlin lawyer and decorated World War I veteran who had served as a captain in the Bavarian Army and received the Iron Cross (1st and 2nd Class). Naumann was its chairman until 1926, and, again, from 1933 to 1935, when the association was forcibly dissolved. The association was close to the national conservative and monarchist German National People's Party which, however, refused affiliation to the association. ==Goals==

The goal of the association was the total assimilation of Jews into the German Volksgemeinschaft, self-eradication of Jewish identity, and the expulsion from Germany of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Naumann was especially opposed to Zionists, Marxists and Eastern European Jews (Ostjuden). The VnJ rejected Zionism, Marxism, and liberal cosmopolitanism, emphasizing absolute loyalty to the German nation-state. Naumann believed that Jews should cease to exist as a distinct national or cultural entity and instead define themselves solely as German citizens. The VnJ was fiercely anti-Zionist, viewing Zionism as disloyal to Germany and as a movement serving foreign (especially British) imperialist interests. The association also campaigned against Eastern European Jewish immigrants (Ostjuden), whom it regarded as “racially” and culturally inferior. ==Activities==

Among the activities of the association was the fight against the international anti-Nazi boycott of German products. We have always held the well-being of the German people and the fatherland, to which we feel inextricably linked, above our own well-being. Thus, we greeted the results of January 1933, even though it has brought hardship for us personally. A reason why some German Jews supported Hitler was that they thought that his anti-Semitism was only for "stirring up the masses". The association's official organ was the monthly , edited by Max Naumann. The magazine had a circulation of 6,000 in 1927. Articles in the journal attacked Zionism, Marxism, and liberal Jews while portraying the VnJ as the only loyal and patriotic Jewish voice. Prominent contributors included Naumann, Felix Rachfahl, Alfred Peyser, and Georg Siegmann. ==Membership==

The organization primarily attracted members from the anticommunist middle class, small business owners, self-employed professionals such as physicians and lawyers, national conservatives, and nationalist World War I veterans, many of whom believed that Nazi antisemitism was only a rhetorical tool used to "stir up the masses." ==Decline and dissolution==

Despite the extreme nationalism of Naumann and his colleagues, the Nazi regime did not accept the Association of German National Jews as a legitimate intermediary. Following the passage of the Nuremberg Laws, the VnJ was declared illegal and dissolved on 18 November 1935. Naumann was arrested by the Gestapo the same day, and imprisoned at the Columbia concentration camp. He was released after a few weeks, and died of cancer in May 1939. ==Legacy and interpretation==

Although numerically small, the VnJ has been widely discussed by historians as an extreme case of assimilationism and internalized antisemitism. Scholars such as Carl Rheins and Matthias Hambrock describe it as an example of how sections of the German-Jewish bourgeoisie internalized nationalist rhetoric in hopes of social acceptance. Others have compared the association’s attitudes to later theories of respectability politics and internalized oppression. ==See also==