Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew
    The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew
    The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew
    Ebook397 pages4 hours

    The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew

    By Yair Mintzker

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A groundbreaking historical reexamination of one of the most infamous episodes in the history of anti-Semitism

    Joseph Süss Oppenheimer—"Jew Süss"—is one of the most iconic figures in the history of anti-Semitism. In 1733, Oppenheimer became the "court Jew" of Carl Alexander, the duke of the small German state of Württemberg. When Carl Alexander died unexpectedly, the Württemberg authorities arrested Oppenheimer, put him on trial, and condemned him to death for unspecified "misdeeds." On February 4, 1738, Oppenheimer was hanged in front of a large crowd just outside Stuttgart. He is most often remembered today through several works of fiction, chief among them a vicious Nazi propaganda movie made in 1940 at the behest of Joseph Goebbels.

    The Many Deaths of Jew Süss is a compelling new account of Oppenheimer's notorious trial. Drawing on a wealth of rare archival evidence, Yair Mintzker investigates conflicting versions of Oppenheimer's life and death as told by four contemporaries: the leading inquisitor in the criminal investigation, the most important eyewitness to Oppenheimer's final days, a fellow court Jew who was permitted to visit Oppenheimer on the eve of his execution, and one of Oppenheimer's earliest biographers. What emerges is a lurid tale of greed, sex, violence, and disgrace—but are these narrators to be trusted? Meticulously reconstructing the social world in which they lived, and taking nothing they say at face value, Mintzker conjures an unforgettable picture of "Jew Süss" in his final days that is at once moving, disturbing, and profound.

    The Many Deaths of Jew Süss is a masterfully innovative work of history, and an illuminating parable about Jewish life in the fraught transition to modernity.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPrinceton University Press
    Release dateMay 22, 2017
    ISBN9781400887804
    The Many Deaths of Jew Süss: The Notorious Trial and Execution of an Eighteenth-Century Court Jew

    Related to The Many Deaths of Jew Süss

    Related ebooks

    European History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      I Was a Teenage Conspiracy Theorist

      May 13, 2020

      Illustrations by Chrissie Abbott My induction into conspiracy thinking came in the fall of my first year of high school, when my seventh-period journalism teacher devoted a lecture to the Illuminati. A nefarious group of global elites controlled our

      14 min read

    • Article

      The M25 is our Maginot Line

      Sep 30, 2021

      If all opinions that I disagree with were made illegal, fascism would be over. Under the current tyranny of "free speech”, bigots feel emboldened to harass me online with their calls for "debate” and "discussion”. Luckily, the police have been monito

      1 min read

    • Article

      Everyday Nazis

      Jul 9, 2021

      Everyday Nazis
      4 min read

    • Article

      Central Intelligence

      Apr 13, 2023

      Exactly where and what is central Europe? In his new book, Martyn Rady takes a fluid, pragmatic approach to this subject, wandering many byways around the core area of the Holy Roman Empire and neighbouring territories. He aims to show the region’s d

      2 min read

    • Article

      Wrath And Aftermath

      Aug 6, 2019

      By Elisabeth Gallas; translated from the German by Alex Skinner. New York University Press, 2019. $35. Reviewed by K. M. Kostyal Europe lay in ruins and 6 million Jews had been murdered when, in late winter 1946, the American military designated an o

      8 min read

    • Article

      Rebuilding A Monarchy And A Nation

      Sep 29, 2022

      THE REVERED SOVEREIGN’S DEATH was announced in the evening. The daily anxieties of the people and the press’s usual reporting on quotidian political strife temporarily evaporated on contact with the momentous royal bereavement. Though long anticipate

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Fog Factory

      Feb 12, 2019

      The Fog Factory
      14 min read

    • Article

      The Paradox Of Nazi Culture

      Nov 26, 2020

      HERMAN GOERING is famous for supposedly having said, “When I hear the word ‘culture’, I reach for my revolver.” In fact, the quote originated elsewhere. It would have been surprising if the case were otherwise, since the Nazis, being Germans, could h

      5 min read

    • Article

      Translating Evil

      Feb 21, 2019

      Translating Evil
      8 min read

    • Article

      From Worms To Woke

      May 26, 2022

      HAVE WE BEEN HERE BEFORE? Now, in 2022, with war abroad and woke at home, we contemplate the bitter dissolution of the hopes of the late twentieth century. Five hundred years ago, in 1521, Martin Luther’s appearance at the Diet of Worms signalled the

      5 min read

    • Article

      Willing Accomplice

      May 11, 2021

      Willing Accomplice
      2 min read

    • Article

      Escaping Samuel Johnson

      May 30, 2019

      Escaping Samuel Johnson
      9 min read

    • Article

      Prussian BLUES

      Dec 22, 2020

      Prussian BLUES
      9 min read

    • Article

      A Nation’s Alibi

      Feb 25, 2020

      A Nation’s Alibi
      8 min read

    • Article

      German Genealogy

      Aug 18, 2020

      German Genealogy
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Many Deaths of Jew Süss

    4/5

    3 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      "Jew Suss" was Joseph Oppenheimer, who in 1733 became a "court Jew" to the duke of Wurtemberg, one of the many tiny German states which then constituted the Holy Roman Empire. A court Jew was a Jewish banker who handled the finances of, or lent money to, European royalty and nobility. Court Jews were needed because prohibitions against usury - lending money for interest - applied to Christians but did not apply to Jews. The position brought privileges to the Jew concerned, but also risks; removing the Jewish banker was sometimes the easiest way for his aristocratic employer to eliminate his debts. And in the case of the Jew "Suss", it seems that it was resentment of his power and privilege at court that brought about his downfall, when his employer, duke Carl Alexander, died suddenly. Oppenheimer was immediately arrested, accused of various unspecified criminal and moral misdeeds; he was tried and condemned to death, and hanged in public just outside Stuttgart.There have been numerous historical treatments and encyclopedia entries about the case - from contemporary 18th century accounts to modern ones - and it has been woven into a number of works of fiction, including novels, plays, an opera and two films. Of the latter, the most infamous example was the vicious Nazi propaganda film made at the behest of Goebbels. Remarkably, the state archives in Stuttgart contain about thirty thousand pages of handwritten documents from the time period of the trial; they include protocols of the interrogations of Oppenheimer, his alleged accomplices and many witnesses; there are also descriptions of Oppenheimer's conversations with visitors and much else. Why, with this multiplicity of information on "Jew Suss", would anyone think it worthwhile to write - or read - a new history?In spite of the wealth of material, Oppenheimer remains an elusive figure. We might well suppose that he was stitched up by non-Jews, who resented his position of power and privilege or who perhaps had had their own interests adversely affected by him; but the specifics of his alleged crimes are too vague, and not enough is known about his life prior to Wurtemburg to make judgments about his character. The author of the present book takes a very different approach to the case, by deliberately not seeking a conclusion about Oppenheimer’s guilt or innocence. Instead he examines, the accounts of four different people who interacted with Oppenheimer during or after the period of his trial; Philipp Friedrich Jager, the judge-inquisitor who wrote the factual part of Oppenheimer's verdict and thus the basis for his death sentence. This is followed by the stories of two men who visited Oppenheimer during his last days; Christoph David Bernard, a university lecturer, born a Jew who had converted to Christianity; and Mordechai Schloss, who published the only contemporary Jewish account of Oppenheimer's life and death. The final chapter of the book tells the story of David Fassman - a "litterateur and fabulist from Leipzig", who was one of the earliest biographers of Joseph Oppenheimer. This book thus is as much an account these four people - their lives and their motivations - as it is of "Jew Suss" himself. The author believes that there is no point in trying to reconcile their different views of Oppenheimer, but that much can be learned from them about the lives of Jews in 18th century Germany and about the, often fraught, relationships between them. It is indeed a fascinating study of a microcosm of Jewish history in Europe.

    Book preview

    The Many Deaths of Jew Süss - Yair Mintzker

     3^book_preview_excerpt.html}K$q_Yua^`6y`lzH,%!2*(ddvu Q4B+Ѥk"Ok4Ӊ}/s̪=U{D=\?z+Wogu53N=ytM[4}޵+3Ws?ﻢyry_wonMvD{]f{ᛷǯ>짯go>?9|ϲ/ç_}{ڬ-_w٭7fm-0řoCC? ٢io"Υk֯&>\enUlӴYX5}g3̔IO?oYYxˢ, We']}7z${ ~6wncX5<+>/eTEe_Cyz͗MN웰*Zߺ|6њOç>QZ *smw?{5G$|Y쉟~ͯ)&>Mzz{h庘GzmB·W?C&ͻ?Cڮ̷"qK<ɇYiL'[9+K<.-u g}iц.[;O3'{z֣kz|Ë'{w?>qѽG7ݺ{N&3xA޻wt[o>xbֺV$J\Tf{JEL;H-:(ko~:W6KLDN dXwJ?|:kl5KdZ7#7m ×͋hTNo/+v݊3{\~nd@*:`upUQ>__⟲ů__^/cv-G ?f.[z/-?/ swz//do/~7:y!wiv  c]G2RdZWwZ=ͦ;Rdq]N[yuW" ǫLc|?mgk2,szЯ y\ס+Ϡ~BY>rƷ/} v.҈- 8M(ÐyIz! E)LOKDn޻sNs׸NqQm4}TUol+‰6"y10 FOj;v4ʂ.qd|"X98R[- ㄷ/Ŕ h. fd/\}S~m@/ӷ_u>j]9<kKzrW];DOFy嶾=ܕ}$X&GnTn}ax1;o]!!ʖqʐNCH \M3L dY;A}^.Um%=Hͥ)3eMO=;嬟"2sg.-=j7f7}]!.^${x6͞)&ĊCC_vmC6k3WA*MXU h@vRX3,r*yGa>؇y[;ZJOuDYXE_b=yu%f8`Xx >j6 VҡPkXP+fqH+u(ˀío)4̵.o&ٓCP\hJ`'V\äĂm/BL `|^%4.Í ;Z"n5,48v:<ԅ/]=-1y 2-$]0:Հ~]0ad _a4{5x  nBrO* mOSdrH0b*X5&Fn sJ;{֜YoaN\鮧ؾH\L;uI}ǟ tHR }G¯C<@RO;&,2ߥȱ,&ɷ8"mmvOk[\"4TLK &To2>y2$@;׀Ѯ=_?!4]ŤM<߸h/L-aPp!a:!0!HzG/^@袅ǼAEΡukO9s$l`7EO)Nj$hq9Ŀog7Pep? 8 )?t'P'볢|q@rcz0M̷7ߞO5umfM 9d1| $ -1wC's_#z{-Zn;flCӁ{qթEP9g}uC\>u?8T3ʘY⮙:|F+'!&+c<(,$wD>knr^T%!^-1@:+8Ũ(jX}vM-}}:vPzWk;`|&n 4/DY ut8?g'"~rV $~E FuO54@}X@4+ g%+eA̩4-˽Uܲğ0EZcmI"S{+KXƝc%؇sa0HbYv&ȜDڐS?ǵ9Gxw)MϘR&Ψ=%!a9KŁea 40nL1kRpJpQW=4w%N.BazUWJu⑗8 CT(K׹y_BdT;Ym4AWT/9۸#nS!$LJ_5&K&HŌKVPw_pDkTUE+T(_LO7#5'KXpu).`-|5`9mEB t[\]b71P0: .t{~2u+5%{Z&Ȏj0g&LAQ1%U$'ͣ~O \7*3DbI9vȯ+-'[R@p+]ZݒjgE,EIA lN!u2E$8Ymf~:ze GH>Ӂɍ*1A(f %&zU `4 ʸit%fI}ު%6!0cv=ؾٳ+Lqii!,-xՆ`f,h0Lwպh1ɿVI_dݔܺ.lU"E$CB.K4!;TqWrXOF]1AmS3V}|^.n&; rIKrڧRs})Q$+spkH=GCOCZTD$Kgm[H~3#ŜU !-%=lQn<FyFⳤˮmHVqdF/"M'H] xΚ8 X2&I?"<@'*i8U.Ib%%$sqja% 1hRtSE 06*0`D csQʮXߖ9}L|&LxhQ"UEDlÈmc(ߧ:JXxW(O0 G syD moiʑyϗ8w7$ Hc7:"d!%ny0)$djvvp ]P}:9 p,LDHs EM9cYqkqzn뱽XK) U:Ƨ# af# ۸ 1s l7 :Ide 5C!-.E Kh~,W{'~<ǢX^ܬ4/ѓv~W3Gl&d+7x4LP+0 yz)HnXqcG e#äyWGl"GG j V 1|R4PY!rxBK* uCFtcv!Y~g!ViҚgLW+A ̊[IڝLv|*:gPa+n; XN41fm/p b޼;͞@C-;C2ͥH)ݯ+gPm=l,?]-vRDd!5WD-md&]ّ*JCcpxʧa4taO]y&:sfۉƐ`5<ēmV3Sːb$jHQJ73j!-=4 VIZaRcɳPrK;ЄpejcՂoO8(I%f}5& 9:'4 ;vZVكv'PG0wkojQz?\1N*tF1r+lı7#5U[^! 8Ϯqp#I $Dp#|$!2V 9!v$iC'CN_Rev&7(;FQU .X5L&/a)ޥr{4@ ~$F7CEVlfV#]:@:Y{t<$~U挪 c b@!&+w6$[Y9;nueۦ ?5J2SrD@ yvWC'ʵ=CnGm4zv"*ӇωkQu% H|6rPdcePþ|!֨x;#iOmaR3L"%d*~Z6\xt[B !$vRփw\ZnM2SMy܃j1 ǒq'L,DΚޥaxXyMx8#<~6 8Tlȸ/SmoW226]z^j,߉i6jA9rR"Čn&;](-]"[Қe 2xd_8ROq'^ Pty6gcJPh\sRӰ)JrWh32)9pOiNm; }AS)reY3H޾ח}+]D]u0i5>xƐ]b{vkƫZ'f=aXl"5Kv[0OTʾYFH S?kEcDq72r fMU7²zs-fx1J] _ ,2ŽZIB Nh| pF\U[dJ,'W3&oP߻}o]ͅ>&=QRL:k#PC0vK[c0_m3}BQEGxv0q88= ų|OZ?CYi&vid\NM\2FÐS(m걲~\5I'mQTs15r\`It(ͮr !&2;/_KS ELBMX|+ d,fVĵQ< DZ_*|$gPBx{A=0x~qSrH r(zU.~@z8QGc1]-DQ "5Vb鮻j\c3EGȮ io`k.4a~(h)n\IR6h޴ ]( Ѧ,S4N[Ǖ ~?ωh⭎={凥$6<ҭ܆<4/ɀ6@ECYtV Iә v> لR^tx }(rה!Bj\l )ckt[DB2\HmYʶcVCӮv.Tmܬ 9MY WRT-=߾ ʹK$.8_e$ocї sK @ĩWPljC51.Z}VT˄tLhj印Ҹt,E B4 b G*wjF57:fRfkm]L婜,EYIrз'Ξ\pge5}9ɲ ӵ[VحQ#bH>owx>qN$uچ.I)n$V\5 I e{ ye4rUp1c}a!C9ɠ4]cq23,(*Fm.n*H\G #QҔv]%ڠCJT ])֘Zgtab!!FM"8:yjZ8|f)ɉHuˢ_=Ҿzdۏ\yҟݚقfMBpz!or3my;7{# 59ݙhlI:E/ BP1р?g)g"q;Zҩ$-^vJT?_Ss]tiC c)4 "]o% &YfIa]ŀmvMhqhd]XVnt1]lX /_I Gڸ +ISHeVCP qiӼCȹyT\J;nvhD\^Qȓ)i3y!lKPA*4 "f̭}#W0L'zwR&m#;egFn?ҡhorXheXKLl94-P&rl/9\J{zl \qՍI$n6ҷ>L(Y*kYgl>\3ыvv~sPQ+G~5ʕeW49d3]N{? vCGK!rjjĭѶs-"d04w w}|vIFO As?m'J~5A+ۦ?5 ."=kYUF_%=R1obzmH3ybf} X 4KhC}f9W."9:sqO=FZ#օ-z ~@cʭrFJקe/j#ȿq9Ɇ2AsW?3bE'jXJ3ī ]&h3Or4\Ԣq_D"&9Oˈa)F^׏hC̥wTYHfrڅlr0M,knm/oL1)$oϘWrj:f9vQtM,))F`ʆB7v_,RU,!!rRF2#9x[jg<ɺIveNGUCwO,'38vUOB]+C %5UƗze695XOZ0Y}rHCJXK=eHʓԪdLu 3c-G QSӠy8ⰃGyqeqN^HnݺumMx񠣕xߛg7xlkYp֡HKavCe{5$XGϕBb 0[nw LCw 5%9c$mC,W]: DF׏P v' wy]0(8^* f'Cz*f73LIN}k\,6{:}OsF{h$ "$ȯҔ,I'!Xϝk#"HC.ЄMc1jKHU5I8&Pbz@"eAc? YGC90jG|I㐤\HEu2ip۟Q.a_xwNí($GCi_ -+KuKt\+3P5NX&bX"NZ`KQ g19ڝ _m{K'|ޣ( 0*Z?sbY,wJCM/[=v8 g5"(l3]ڢ]pwMYJuu[a4nV5]]xgU#;TbTX`DC)AZ擽{c G*N[}9FF"_qxa.֭0·x8^9{>)3Rle& Rv7ڱPW-}&.=;KqLK#’_+~^Z1cM6_,"GZGV k*9 m=av+ 5q-4C^Cqܑmj~0Y訓 FD%kzqujR5'Ws=@Ax=TwXLHF36Hg ၞ,az%HMn;FBs rX;L(t}k.7 FkJW*B3V2?Cxj.2 CIіҬ7뗈ZC;nl"".Z!$i5j!tkgs ,nqёJĉq~Ms2FXm Mg4p~)+xlz> º٠6%@ ˤ:;vX+E112G6րłIeZ1=Hj[?nTYWbӗN-ͣU~80Tk=ܟ#ȶaɮ&>`bhm3f?3m~!i~D#3wǶ8#gd_]P)9[^޶NVm;ԭ$v%,^ON+5Z$0 hC׹p1M!=|wc&33(ch4nZO=`%筄u]iӚ2I6/bm}!-[Ru0*jR]qې"IRmjIX1q0,;d m}_ήήdOɧ?/n)>w#|~K1ݻqF>}8٩@;Κiyo[9FU.9P_uG峷Qe#|G;n޺{҈ףRX3p*[޲GjAHsT_uC$*ZD9?L!:oZeC~A̸5vb}%O7.U:ˢVoӭQA$—|m?P^IT/2ԚF胗߾D=$9xEr[왇=~۱vJ_ANu[8UܯͬQyV˾9&冒Ko=lյř0#f:ՋK7rcd;!Y,qDAͻTW| ,<ᶍ(˳vȖnhfqJD4vrKr:%!7[ ,r>@gZr[86:.ziNLb@/.sƀr1M>8~.~ubKӠyY f^ܖ4jK H|A~|ѭqj| oݹ.ҴmgeJ:!>ڷsﲔ7l{xP!E r3o/MIÿfzB%Bc|RB^KyVhilxE1N#Fh Axt5rpr,~p(зq:DIё9ηP6:>:f>jf(́V|^!JES Y\;Bi)Jb{ 1u2<ɄjITT^=qV{FE2y>#  w}aj_2ҐငZ)\GDRKi= T=3|z. pG'¨n‚HӇ6N֖"~;./vN:x|TO]C?ѿRгrs+#R !Ή)y H{+=14?ck1 +S2N%="E9r?0a\N`e&6cG':^cXO]U@G`q H%Bhv6.rI>kDض:.:z6-a`GtQT~g y;"tDKvu )i/$&0R%K"^3:_J(CG>NU܊KY]yxǰ|~;pi% >A+tg?D5Ե!qu'96)+S[p^!8h&+O;t ~ߥ-SZlztÉҏKj1@q 6ޝ@i͒ qo_b\h7'w2έ=c.;i䙜)+i(.yoBOax
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1