Georg Kareski

Georg Kareski (21 October 1878 – 2 or 3 August 1947) was a German banker and Jewish Revisionist Zionist activist known for publicly defending the Nuremberg Laws in an interview published in the Nazi newspaper Der Angriff in 1935.[1]

Kareski was born in Posen (Poznań), ruled by the German Empire on 21 October 1878.[1][2]

In 1933, Revisionist Zionism in Germany was marginal; the Staatszionistische Organisation which was formed in 1933 was not a member either of the German Zionist umbrella organization or the international Revisionist Zionist movement.[3] Kareski was one of the few German Jews who saw the Nazi revolution as an opportunity.[1] In 1937, he traveled to Palestine where he was accosted by Jews who considered him a traitor, spy, and informer.[1]

In 1935, Kareski was appointed director of the Reich Federation of Jewish Cultural Unions. On 23 December 1935, an interview with him was published in the Nazi newspaper Der Angriff. Although he did not comment on the denial of citizenship to German Jews, Kareski said that the Nuremberg Laws—which forbade marriage and sexual relationship between Jews and "people of German blood"—were necessary to preserve the integrity of the Jewish race.[4][5][1] Although the content of the interview did not differ dramatically from the positions that other German Zionists had taken in attempted accommodation with the Nazi regime, Kareski's interview attracted more attention because of its publication in a Nazi newspaper and threats against Jews who differed from his views.[1]

He died in Ramat Gan, Palestine, on 2[1] or 3 August 1947.[6] After his death, some of his admirers wanted to name a street after him in Ramat Gan.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Levine, Herbert S. (September 1975). "A Jewish Collaborator in Nazi Germany: The Strange Career of Georg Kareski, 1933–37". Central European History. 8 (3): 251–281. doi:10.1017/S0008938900017933.
  2. ^ "Kareski, Georg". Archiv Bibliographia Judaica – Deutschsprachiges Judentum Online. 2021.
  3. ^ Nicosia, F. R. (1 January 1987). "Revisionist Zionism in Germany (II): Georg Kareski and the Staatszionistische Organisation, 1933–1938". The Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook. 32 (1): 231–267. doi:10.1093/leobaeck/32.1.231.
  4. ^ Cockerill, Matthew Ghobrial (2 July 2024). "Did the Nazis plan to extend the final solution beyond Europe? Assessing the evidence". Holocaust Studies. 30 (3): 534–557. doi:10.1080/17504902.2024.2326262.
  5. ^ "Kareski Quoted by Angriff As Justifying Nuremberg Laws". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Georg Kareski, Former Head of Berlin Jewish Community, Dies in Palestine". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2024.