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this basic community of race and tradition that I have in mind when I speak of
“Jewish nationality.”
In my opinion, aversion to Jews is simply based upon the fact that Jews and non-
Jews are different. It is the same feeling of aversion that is always found when two
nationalities have to deal with one another. This aversion is a consequence of the
existence of Jews, not of any particular qualities. The reasons given for this aver-
sion are threadbare and changing. Where feelings are sufficiently vivid there is no
shortage of reasons; and the feeling of aversion toward people of a foreign race with
whom one has, more or less, to share daily life will emerge by necessity.
Herein lies the psychological root of all anti-Semitism, but by no means is it a
justification for the agitation of the anti-Semites. A feeling of aversion may be nat-
ural, but to follow it unreservedly indicates a low level of moral development. A
nobler individual will guide his actions by reason and insight and not by dull in-
stinct.
But how is it with society and with the state? Can it tolerate national minorities
without fighting them? There is no state today that does not regard tolerance and
the protection of national minorities as one of its duties. Let us hope the state takes
these duties seriously. This involves halting its practice of making the governmen-
tal employment of Jews dependent in many cases on a lack of principle and an act
of humiliation
(baptism);[9]
it would be even more advisable to drop this tradition
as it brings forth a rather unfortunate selection.—
The methods used by Jews to fight anti-Semitism are quite diverse. I have al-
ready characterized the assimilatory one, that is, to overcome anti-Semitism by
dropping nearly everything Jewish and appealing to the civil rights of Jews. This
method is not calculated to raise the reputation of the Jewish people in the estima-
tion of the non-Jewish world; besides, it is useless and morally
questionable.[10]
Another method of combating anti-Semitism, occasionally used by Jews who have
not yet broken with everything Jewish, is to draw a sharp dividing line between
Eastern European Jews and Western European
Jews.[11]
Everything evil blamed on
Jews as a totality is heaped on the Eastern European Jews and, thus, of course grant-
ed as an actually existing fact. The result of this not merely bad but also foolish pro-
cedure is, of course, just the opposite of what was intended. Anti-Semites have no
intention of clearly distinguishing between Eastern European and Western Europe-
an Jews as some Western European Jews might wish; instead, they interpret this
strange kind of defense as an admission and unfairly accuse those Western
European Jews of betraying their own people. It is not difficult to prove, in both
general and individual cases, that most Western European Jews are nothing but
former Eastern European Jews; and vice versa for all Eastern European
Jews.[12]
And since the major concern of anti-Semites is to prove that Jewish inadequacies
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