Das problem der ostjuden – The Problem of the Jews of the East, by Paul Nathan – an early attempt to arouse the Jews of Germany to take care of their fate towards the difficult future. Published by Philo Verlag und Buchhandlung Berlin, 1926. only edition.
An early attempt that is a kind of ‘prophecy’ to solve the ‘Jewish problem’ at an early stage, written by a Jew in Berlin itself. The author, Dr. Paul Natan [1857-1927], a German-Jewish journalist, politician and philanthropist, who founded and headed the German Jewish Aid Society (“Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden”) worked extensively to help the Jews of the world, especially to the Jewish community in Eretz Israel, and is one of the founders of the Technion in Haifa. In this essay he suggests that the Jews must solve the ‘Jewish problem’ themselves in the form of controlled immigration to the United States or to Eretz Israel, Before it will be too late. Paul clearly recognizes the pressure in which the Jews faced rising anti-Semitism in Germany. Five to six million Jews living in unbearable economic and political conditions in a relatively small area of northeastern Europe could inevitably lead to a catastrophe for the Jewish population in the future. Paul addresses the hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Germany at the time with they feeling that this is their natural home, that they will understand the reality, and that they will wake up to the seriousness of the situation, and that at least in the first instance they will emigrate to the safer Soviet region. It should be noted that at first Natan saw himself as a German and did not deal with the Jewish issue, but only within the framework of state laws and his general support for liberalism and equal rights. But when he tried to be elected to the Reichstag he was not accepted because he was jew. Out of frustration on the one hand, and concern over the rise of political anti-Semitism on the other, Nathan decided to devote himself to Jewish affairs.
38 p. 20 cm. Stains on cover. Slight tear in the corner of several pages without damaging text. condition good – moderate.