AntiAssimilationist Jewish Advocacy Nordau

Degeneration, by Max Nordau, George L. Mosse (Introduction). 1993

Anti-Assimilationist Views Were Held Not Only by Endeks, But Also By Respectable Jewish Thinkers, Such as This One

My review is based on the 1968 reprint of Max Nordau’s translated work–originally in its German-language 1892 edition.

By way of introduction, Max Nordau was a Hungarian Jew who had been born into a rabbinical family, but became worldly after he became a journalist. He became second only to Teodor Herzl as a Zionist, and became a literate public figure in Germany, France, Austria, England, and Eastern Europe. (p. xv).

This work is rather abstract and philosophical, and not easy to follow if the reader lacks a strong familiarity with 19th-century thinking. Many famous persons, and their ideas, are evaluated, including Henrik Ibsen, Friedrich Nietzsche, Count Leo Tolstoy, and Richard Wagner.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN EUROPE

Interestingly, Nordau’s work also includes some technical information. For instance, the reader learns that, in 1840, there were 3,000 kilometers of railway in Europe. In 1891, there were 218,000 kilometers. (p. 38). Comparable figures are given for postal letters, newspapers, books printed, ships constructed, etc.

MAX NORDAU’S ANTI-ASSIMILATIONIST ZIONIST VIEWS

Since Nordau has gone down in history as one of the pioneers of modern Zionism, it is worth noting his views on this subject, even though they are not elaborated in DEGENERATION itself. In the 1966 Introduction, George L. Mosse quotes from some 1897 and 1909 German-language writings of Max Nordau. It becomes obvious that Nordau had turned anti-assimilationist, and pro-Zionist, not only because anti-Semitism persisted, but also because the assimilation of Jews had generated, in his opinion, a fundamental distortion of Jews and Judaism. Mosse comments, “Assimilation had not worked. Moreover, the assimilated Jew was unstable and, inwardly sick, acted the part of a hypocrite. As with everything not genuine, this kind of Jew was offensive to anyone with true aesthetic feeling.” (p. xxvi).

LIKE JEWS LIKE ENDEKS

This view, of course, was paralleled by many non-Jews. For instance, the Endeks doubted if Jewish assimilation, even were it to occur on a large scale, would necessarily transform Jews into authentic Poles. But–surprise–only Endeks and other Poles are blamed for thinking this way.