Die deutsche Judenheit im Spiegel ihres Erziehungswesens 1933-1938

A revised version of a lecture held at a conference on "Judentum und Bildung", Hamburg, March 1990. German Jews, who had previously rejected the idea of separate Jewish schools, recognized in 1933 that they were necessary in order to prepare Jewish children to cope psychologically and practically with changing conditions. Describes discussions in the Jewish community, particularly in the education committee of the Reichsvertretung, on the balance between German and Jewish culture and the place of Zionism in Jewish schools. Many educators warned against a Jewish nationalistic reaction to German nationalism, and called for a humanistic Jewish education. Later, as it became clear that the future lay only in emigration, it was agreed to stress Jewish identity, knowledge of Hebrew and of another language, physical fitness, and a manual trade.