Berlin, like most capitals, is the jewel of the German nation. Located is a relatively centralized location of the country, the political, social and technological trends were almost always first noticed in this quickly growing city. Similar to other growing and established cities, it attracts tourists, historians, journalists and everyday people who want to document as well as experience the historical changes. This was also the case for Joseph Roth. His document on Berlin from 1920 to 1933 entailed detailed aspects of Berlin that would make readers feel as part of the changes and events as those present at the time of the documentation. Interestingly, while Joseph Roth’s, What I Saw, displayed an in-depth understanding of the architectural,
…show more content…
In describing the Jewish identity, he presents it as a burden, stating that “a Jew fulfils his “religious duties” even if he doesn’t fulfill it”(p48). He further complains that “the Jew’s affirmation is involuntary, automatic,” which preceded his abuse of the Jews as stupid (due to his frustration at the fact that the Jews were helping the nation working to destroy them) rather than being the so-called smart ones. He argues that their unshakeable religious identity makes them backward – which closely resembled Nietzsche’s belief in the irrelevance of religion in the present day and age – further accentuating Roth’s modernist way of thinking …show more content…
His accounts of the 1933 suggests that it was simply due to his knowledge of the forthcoming danger and the realization and conflict with the awareness that as Jews, they are pretty much destined to suffer the fate he saw coming. Roth understood that Germany had been anti-Semitic for a long time. As he noted in his account of 1933, “literary anti-Semitism has existed in Germany since the 1900s” (p216). This acknowledgement was part of the fact that he knew many believed that anti-Semitism became part of the German society after the election of Hitler. As a writer, Roth’s resentment for Berlin and Germany, seeing the growth and path of anti-Semitism under Hitler, stemmed from seeing the Third Reich’s attempt to separate the German from the Jew. He scolded their lack of appreciation for the role Jews have played as part of the German identity at a local and international level. He argued that Jews discovered and wrote about the urban scene, claiming that they “revealed the whole diversity of urban civilization” (p215). In other words, Jews were responsible for the impact that Berlin has on its inhabitants, showing them ways to appreciate their city, its light, its
In describing the Jewish identity, he presents it as a burden, stating that “a Jew fulfils his “religious duties” even if he doesn’t fulfill it”(p48). He further complains that “the Jew’s affirmation is involuntary, automatic,” which preceded his abuse of the Jews as stupid (due to his frustration at the fact that the Jews were helping the nation working to destroy them) rather than being the so-called smart ones. He argues that their unshakeable religious identity makes them backward – which closely resembled Nietzsche’s belief in the irrelevance of religion in the present day and age – further accentuating Roth’s modernist way of thinking …show more content…
His accounts of the 1933 suggests that it was simply due to his knowledge of the forthcoming danger and the realization and conflict with the awareness that as Jews, they are pretty much destined to suffer the fate he saw coming. Roth understood that Germany had been anti-Semitic for a long time. As he noted in his account of 1933, “literary anti-Semitism has existed in Germany since the 1900s” (p216). This acknowledgement was part of the fact that he knew many believed that anti-Semitism became part of the German society after the election of Hitler. As a writer, Roth’s resentment for Berlin and Germany, seeing the growth and path of anti-Semitism under Hitler, stemmed from seeing the Third Reich’s attempt to separate the German from the Jew. He scolded their lack of appreciation for the role Jews have played as part of the German identity at a local and international level. He argued that Jews discovered and wrote about the urban scene, claiming that they “revealed the whole diversity of urban civilization” (p215). In other words, Jews were responsible for the impact that Berlin has on its inhabitants, showing them ways to appreciate their city, its light, its