The Image of the Eastern European Jew in the Making of German-Jewish Identity, 1850-1914

In this essay I show that contrary to common images of separation and otherness, German Jews engaged both intellectually and physically with their Eastern European coreligionists, to the extent that the Ostjude assumed a... [ view full abstract ]

In this essay I show that contrary to common images of separation and otherness, German Jews engaged both intellectually and physically with their Eastern European coreligionists, to the extent that the Ostjude assumed a significant place in German-Jewish identity. I argue that understanding German-Jewish discourse on Eastern Jews from 1850 to 1914 is essential to comprehending the nature of, and shifts within the German-Jewish self-definition during this period. From 1850 onwards, the image of the Eastern Jew constructed by German Jews was central to the creation of a distinct, denationalized German-Jewish identity. From the mid-1890s to 1914 this trend was partially reversed, with idealized depictions of the Ostjude reflecting a spiritual redefinition among a portion of German Jews towards a transnational, ethnic Jewish identity.