Assimilated German Jews returned to tradition in response to nominal equality and rising anti-Semitism

Evidence

Its first director was Franz Rosenzweig, one of a marginal group of assimilated Jews from which many supporters of a return to Jewish tradition emerged. This return to tradition took place in response to the fact that before the November Revolution in Germany the great majority of the Jewish community had experienced only nominal equality at best, and even after the November Revolution the social situation of Jewish intellectuals was made extremely precarious by the growth of anti-Semitism. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 207

In the early 1920s Fromm taught at the Free Jewish School (Freies Jüdisches Lehrhaus) in Frankfurt. He had helped to found its forerunner, the Society for Jewish Adult Education. It was called `free’ because, apart from the course fees, there were no restrictions on admission, and no one other than the teachers and students was to have any influence on the teaching programme. Its first director was Franz Rosenzweig, one of a marginal group of assimilated Jews from which many supporters of a return to Jewish tradition emerged. This return to tradition took place in response to the fact that before the November Revolution in Germany the great majority of the Jewish community had experienced only nominal equality at best, and even after the November Revolution the social situation of Jewish intellectuals was made extremely precarious by the growth of anti-Semitism. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 207

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the broader historical sociology of assimilation and identity; resonates with The Reluctant Fundamentalist’s theme of immigrant identity under pressure. — connects to: Assimilated German Jews were trapped in a double differentiation from both worlds — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 218; German Jews conceived assimilation as a five-generation trade of Jewishness for Europe — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 424; Assimilated German Jews split over whether eastern Jewry threatened or redeemed German identity (+4 more)
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 207

Broader Connections

• German Jews conceived assimilation as a five-generation trade of Jewishness for Europe #expands (0.80) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 424
• German-Jewish idealization of eastern Jews reveals their own ideological plight #expands (0.80) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 415
• Assimilated German Jews were trapped in a double differentiation from both worlds #complicates (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 218
• Assimilated German Jews split over whether eastern Jewry threatened or redeemed German identity #expands (0.75)
• Racialized self-understanding among Jews preceded the rise of antisemitism among Gentiles. #complicates (0.75)
• Jewish emancipation simultaneously meant equality and the extension of group privileges #qualifies (0.72) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 87