The Pity of it All

Previous books about the Jews in Germany have focused almost exclusively on Hitler's maniac search for a 'Final Solution' and the resulting Holocaust, but this one ends before those darkest days of European history. The curtain comes down with the rise of Nazism - although not before a resurgence of anti-Semitism. The first question to be asked is, why start the story in 1743? What was the significance of that year? Even the majority of Jews will not know the answer to that. But Jewish historian and scholar Amos Elon sees it as a defining moment in the history of his people. It was in that year that a crippled Jewish boy limped into the fortified city of Berlin, then the Prussian capital. He was forced to enter by a gate that was restricted to cattle and Jews. The boy, Moses Mendelssohn, grew up to become one of the greatest writers and philosophers of the European Enlightenment. His writings and speeches helped break down the anti-Semitism that infected not only Germany but so much of Europe in the 18th century, and released the Jewish people to show their prowess in all the arts, in commerce, science and in common humanity. Elon comes forward in time with a series of character studies rather than with a detailed social history of his people. He focuses on well-known figures such as Heine, Marx and Herzl, as well as lesser-known personalities who nonetheless played significant parts in Jewish history. Many people have asked over the years why so many Jews remained in Germany after Hitler came to power. Why didn't they emigrate when they had a chance? Elon's answer is simple. The Jews had by then largely intermingled and intermarried with the Gentile population, and few of them regarded Nazi ideology as anything other than a passing aberration. It was a tragic error of judgement. This book is beautifully written, even-handed and enormously enlightening - a must for anyone who really wants to know about the many important roles played by Jews in Europe over nearly 300 years. (Kirkus UK)