Читать книгу A Jewish Journey - Sheldon Cohen - Страница 7

As this new system evolved, anti-Semitism increased. The word went out that Jews caused the economic depression of 1873.

Otto Bauemler, molded in this milieu of anti-Semitism, left Oberammergau to study philosophy and history at the University of Berlin. He was the first member of his family to attend a university and his father saw him off with great pride and hope. At five feet and ten inches, he was three inches taller than his father, had brown and wavy hair and his upper body was well built, developed from assisting his father over the anvil. But in time, as he immersed himself in academia, he lost the muscular definition. His skill at debating put him at the head of his class, and his professors took note of this promising student.

With his father’s influence behind him, Otto sought and had no trouble finding student organizations that had anti-Semitism as their principle ticket to membership. Anti-Semitic fellow students and teachers influenced his thinking. He graduated with high honors, remained in the academic environment, and achieved a full professorship in German history. He had published many articles and as his influence grew, he became a founding member of the Christian Social Worker’s Party.

The underlying philosophy of this hoped for political force was their virulent anti-Semitism. The Jews were involved in a conspiracy for world dominance. It behooved all German Christians to protect themselves against the insidious treachery of the Jew. Restrictive anti-Semitic legislation was necessary to restrict Jewish influence.

In the eyes of the Christian Social Worker’s Party, and as stated in a speech delivered by Otto Bauemler: “Die Juden sind unser ungluck” (the Jews are our misfortune). This slogan took on a life of its own, and fifty years later, the Nazis adopted it as their rallying cry.

Otto Bauemler advocated an initial five-point approach to controlling Jewish influence in Germany:

1.The Jew’s influence in the judiciary was to be limited.

2.Jewish immigration is outlawed.

3.No Jew could serve in any government position.

4.No Jew could serve in the military.

5.Only Christian teachers could teach in grammar schools.

In his role as a history professor, he was an agitating force in the lives of many students. His positions caused considerable controversy amongst the university authorities, and they forced him to leave. In his mind, there was no doubt as to the reason—a Jewish plot was behind his failure to keep his post.

This only reinforced his often-taught conviction that Judaism was a separate race apart from humanity. No effort to convert or to assimilate Jews was feasible. Their basic nature was the personification of evil. The influence of the Devil was all-consuming, and exorcism was impossible.

Otto said. “Jews were a foreign drop of blood in the German body; one with destructive power!” He also said. “The Jew who turned away the Savior was cursed to wander the earth. Jews have so dispersed themselves that they found rest nowhere. And they never would until they find the true Messiah.”

Preceding Nazism, Otto claimed that the German people were now the chosen people of the Christian era. The Jew had been the chosen of the pre-Christian era, but because they rejected the Messiah, they were doomed. The Jew who turned away the Savior had to wander the earth forever. There was no chance of co-existing with the Jew. His father was right all the time. How wise he was. A mere blacksmith, forced to interrupt his education at an early age, but still able to comprehend the Jewish threat to the world. His father’s legacy would not die.

By the 1880’s, a torrent of German anti-Semitism was to be unleashed; more political parties adopted the creed. Many unions arose which had anti-Semitism as their underlying basis.

For the rest of his life, Otto Bauemler remained a potent force in keeping anti-Semitism alive in Germany. When he died, his son Karl continued the struggle.