Gregor Von Rezzori Analysis

The life of Gregor von Rezzori is the story of a boy, and later a man, who is torn apart by his contradicting feelings towards Jews. The title of the article reflects that this story is not a snapshot of a certain period but rather it encompasses the first half of Von Rezzori’s life, from his childhood in the early 20th century to his eventual emigration to the United States after World War 2. The topics that appear in this article abstain from dwelling on Jewish stereotypes or fervent nationalism, instead it focuses more on the human and emotional side of Anti-Semitism. Page after page it becomes clear that von Rezzori’s view of Jews stems more from his environment than from his own internal feelings. He is seemingly in an ideological prison, …show more content…
Arnulf even remarks the night that he first met Minka, he was “thinking how funny it was that at the very moment you got mixed up with Jews you changed your name” (Von Rezzori, 51). Arnulf accepts the name change in the company of his Jewish friends for it is easier for them to call him by the name of Brommy, but in the quote, there also seems to be a hint of humiliation. It is almost as if Arnulf feels ashamed to have place himself among the Jews and he needs to change his name to cover up any connection between the anti-Semite Arnulf and Brommy the friend of Jews. It seems Von Rezzori is afflicted with having a split personality, he even writes, “Brommy…It was the name of quite another form of existence.” (Von Rezzori, 54). This splitting of identity is useful for Von Rezzori, since it enables him to cast off any feelings of humiliation or disgust that could accompany someone that spends time with Jews on to Brommy, which seems to keep Arnulf pure of any trespassing or wrong doing from his internal point of view. This psychological loophole allowed Arnulf to continue harboring feelings of disliking Jews while conversely spending nearly all his time with