The assimilated Jewish community in Germany, prior to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, has been described as "more German than the Germans".

Originally, the comment was a "common sneer aimed at people" who had "thrown off the faith of their forefathers and adopted the garb of their Fatherland". The German assimilation, following The Enlightenment, was "unprecedented"

The quote is sometimes ascribed to Chaim Weizmann

Chaim Weizmann

Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....

.

Background

Following The Enlightenment, many European Jews regarded Germany as a particularly desirable place to live, "a place of refuge, in comparison to Russia and Romania" where antisemitism was extremely virulent and violent, and even France, where the Enlightenment had begun. German Jews began to immerse themselves in German culture and the arts, playing a full and even leading role in society. By the twentieth century, the German Jews had reached a state of "Bildung & Besitz", ie cultivation and wealth.

Examples

A notable example of this was Kurt Singer (born 1885, died in Terezin

Terezín

Terezín is the name of a former military fortress and adjacent walled garrison town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic.-Early history:...

 concentration camp, 1944), "a conductor, musician, musicologist, and neurologist". Singer was described by his daughter as "More German than the Germans" - he earned an Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

 for his gallantry in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, was music editor for a Berlin newspaper and published research on music.

Another cited example is Nikolaus Pevsner

Nikolaus Pevsner

Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...

, who was "more German than the Germans" to the extent that he supported "Goebbels

Goebbels

Goebbels, alternatively Göbbels, is a common surname in the western areas of Germany. It is probably derived from the Old Low German word gibbler, meaning brewer...

 in his drive for “pure” non-decadent German art". and was reported as saying of the Nazis (in 1933) "I want this movement to succeed. There is no alternative but chaos... There are things worse than Hitlerism".