Siegmund Kaznelson
Siegmund Kaznelson (born May 17, 1893 in Warsaw, Russian Empire; died March 20, 1959 in Jerusalem; also Siegmund Katznelson) was a lawyer, editor, author and publisher who emerged as a Zionist activist.[1][2]
He was best known for documenting German Jewry in his book Juden im Deutschen Kulturbereich (1934) ('Jews in the German culture').[3]
Kaznelson's collection of works, Jews in German culture, which was completed in late 1934 and was conceived with apologetic intent and to defend Jewish honor, is still of great value today.
It was based on an idea by Leopold Ullstein (1906–1995) in 1933.[4] Ullstein was a junior member of the well-known newspaper and book publishing family and at the time a partner in the Rowohlt publishing house. He had drawn up a draft for the book, delegated the processing of the individual subject areas to various employees and approached Kaznelson in his then capacity as director of the Jewish publishing house. Kaznelson was convinced by the concept and immediately offered his cooperation.
Kaznelson's foreword to the first edition shows how little he had distanced himself from the racial theory and its conclusions dictated by National Socialist terminology at this time: The criterion that was considered decisive for the inclusion and selection of the personalities mentioned in this work was not mere religious affiliation, but the racial affiliation that was now valid and legally defined in Germany. The book therefore includes Jews as well as people of Jewish descent in the circle of its considerations.[5]
It was "an endorsement of the fellowship and intellectual collaboration between non-Jews and Jews."[5]
Naturally the Nazis banned the book[3] via its Secret State Police Office in Berlin under the excuse "to restore public safety and order" and the existing copies were confiscated.
But when Kaznelson emigrated to Eeetz Yisrael Mandatory Palestine in 1937 he took a copy with him and revised and expanded it there.
This large compilation was eventually republished in an edition by Robert Weltsch, also in Jüdischer Verlag, in Berlin in 1959. As anthologists of Jewish poetry.
When the second edition was finally published by the Jewish Publishers in 1959, the book had become a "final assessment" and a "monument" of German Jewry, as Robert Weltsch wrote in the spirit of the editor Kaznelson, who had died shortly before. The monumental work, which is over 1,000 pages long and has an index of names containing around 5,000 entries, is not just a memorial book and reference work. It was also read as an invitation to continue researching the forgotten Jews. Numerous additions and corrections were added in the appendix of the third edition in 1962 based on letters from readers.[6]
Further info
Digital viewing: Juden im deutschen Kulturbereich (Jews in the German Cultural Sphere) [1]
References
- ↑ Siegmund Kaznelson Archive NLI (זיגמונד כצנלסון).
Description. Siegmund Kaznelson (1893 Warszaw–1959 Jerusalem), editor, publisher, Zionist, and historian, was best known for documenting German Jewry in his book Juden im Deutschen Kulturbereich (1934) ('Jews in the German cultural area').
Kaznelson was born in Warsaw and studied at the German University in Prague. From 1913 until 1917 he began writing about Jewish and Zionist topics in the Prague Zionist magazines Die Welt and Selbstwehr. After graduating in 1918 he moved to Berlin, where he first worked for the monthly publication Der Jude by Martin Buber. In 1920 he became manager of the publishing house Jüdischer Verlag and made it the most important publishing house for Jews in Germany. During this time were published the diaries of Theodor Herzl, the world history of Jews by Simon Dubnow, the Jewish Encyclopedia, the works of Ahad haAm and other important Jewish texts. In 1937 Kaznelson immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem. He directed the Jewish Publishing House Ltd., and was administrator of the Jüdische Welt-Rundschau. He was married to Robert Weltsch's sister Lisa. - ↑ Kaznelson Siegmund JVL.
KAZNELSON, SIEGMUND (1893–1959), publisher and editor. Born in Warsaw, Kaznelson completed his studies at the German University in Prague. During his student days, he began publication of articles on Jewish and Zionist subjects in Die Welt and Selbstwehr, the Zionist periodical of Prague which he edited during World War I. After the war, he moved to Berlin, where he first worked on the editorial staff of M. *Buber's monthly, Der Jude. From 1920 he managed the Juedischer Verlag publishing house, which he developed into the largest publishing house of German Jewry. Under his management it published Herzl's diary, Dubnow's history, the Juedisches Lexikon, the works of Aḥad ha-Am, and other important Jewish works. In 1937 Kaznelson immigrated to Ereẓ Israel and took up residence in Jerusalem. While still in Germany he began his scientific-literary project on the role of the Jews in German culture. Part of this work was published during his lifetime; the rest was published posthumously as Juden im deutschen Kulturbereich (1962/3), Beethovens ferne und unsterbliche Geliebte (1954); Juedisches Schicksal in deutschen Geschichten (anthology, 1959); The Palestine Problem and its Solution (1946); and Zionismus und Voelkerbund (1922).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jews in German Literature Since 1945: German-Jewish Literature?. (2000). Netherlands: Rodopi.
p.23
Kaznelson was born in Warsaw in 1893. He studied law at the German University in Prague. He soon became a leading figure in literary and Zionist circles there. Like Frankl he was in a position to help and encourage young Jewish writers, and like him he began early to compile all kinds of Jewish lore. He could combine both interests when he became editor of the journal Selbstwehr, where he was able to publish a couple of the early works of his friend Franz Kafka. He moved in 1920 to Berlin, where he founded the 'Jüdischer Verlag'. In 1935 he produced there his magnum opus, the anthology Juden im deutschen Kulturbereich. It too was a form of Jewish self-defence, a counter to Nazi propaganda directed against Jewish contributions to German culture.
Naturally the Nazis banned and confiscated the book, but when Kaznelson emigrated to Palestine in 1937 he took a copy with him and revised and expanded it there.
This large compilation was eventually republished in an edition by Robert Weltsch, also in Jüdischer Verlag, in Berlin in 1959. As anthologists of Jewish poetry. - ↑ Avraham Barkai , Paul Mendes-Flohr : Awakening and Destruction: 1918–1945 (German-Jewish History in Modern Times. Vol. 4). Munich 1997, p. 189
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Breuer, M. (1996). German-Jewish History in Modern Times. United Kingdom: Columbia University Press, p. 194
- ↑ Jews in German culture (1934/1962) | Jewish Museum.
When the second edition was finally published by the Jewish Publishers in 1959, the book had become a "final assessment" and a "monument" of German Jewry, as Robert Weltsch wrote in the spirit of the editor Kaznelson, who had died shortly before. The monumental work, which is over 1,000 pages long and has an index of names containing around 5,000 entries, is not just a memorial book and reference work. It was also read as an invitation to continue researching the forgotten Jews. Numerous additions and corrections were added in the appendix of the third edition in 1962 based on letters from readers.
