Revised Pages Passing Illusions Revised Pages Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany Kathleen Canning, Series Editor Recent Titles Passing Illusions: Jewish Visibility in Weimar Germany Kerry Wallach Bodies and Ruins: Imagining the Bombing of Germany, 1945 to the Present David Crew The Jazz Republic: Music, Race, and American Culture in Weimar Germany Jonathan Wipplinger The War in Their Minds: German Soldiers and Their Violent Pasts in West Germany Svenja Goltermann Three-Way Street: Jews, Germans, and the Transnational Jay Howard Geller and Leslie Morris, Editors Beyond the Bauhaus: Cultural Modernity in Breslau, 1918–33 Deborah Ascher Barnstone Stop Reading! Look! Modern Vision and the Weimar Photographic Book Pepper Stetler The Corrigible and the Incorrigible: Science, Medicine, and the Convict in Twentieth-C entury Germany Greg Eghigian An Emotional State: The Politics of Emotion in Postwar West German Culture Anna M. Parkinson Germany’s Wild East: Constructing Poland as Colonial Space Kristin Kopp Beyond Berlin: Twelve German Cities Confront the Nazi Past Gavriel D. Rosenfeld and Paul B. Jaskot, Editors Consumption and Violence: Radical Protest in Cold-War West Germany Alexander Sedlmaier Communism Day-to-Day: State Enterprises in East German Society Sandrine Kott Envisioning Socialism: Television and the Cold War in the German Democratic Republic Heather L. Gumbert The People’s Own Landscape: Nature, Tourism, and Dictatorship in East Germany Scott Moranda German Colonialism Revisited: African, Asian, and Oceanic Experiences Nina Berman, Klaus Mühlhahn, and Patrice Nganang, Editors Becoming a Nazi Town: Culture and Politics in Göttingen between the World Wars David Imhoof For a complete list of titles, please see www.press.umich.edu Revised Pages Passing Illusions Jewish Visibility in Weimar Germany Kerry Wallach University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Revised Pages Copyright © 2017 by Kerry Melissa Wallach All rights reserved This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States of America by the University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid- free paper 2020 2019 2018 2017 4 3 2 1 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-P ublication Data Names: Wallach, Kerry, author. Title: Passing illusions : Jewish visibility in Weimar Germany / Kerry Wallach. Description: Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2017] | Series: Social history, popular culture, and politics in Germany | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017001837| isbn 9780472073573 (hardcover : alk. paper) | isbn 9780472053575 (pbk. : alk. paper) | isbn 9780472123001 (e- book) Subjects: LCSH: Jews— Germany— History— 1918– 1933. | Jews— Germany— Identity. | Passing (Identity)— Germany— History— 20th century. | Antisemitism— Germany— History— 20th century. | Germany— Civilization— Jewish influences. | Germany— Ethnic relations. Classification: LCC ds134.25 .w35 2017 | DDC 305.892/404309042— dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001837 Revised Pages Acknowledgments I am delighted to thank those who have supported my work on this project, which I began in Philadelphia and wrote over many years in Berlin, New York, Gettys- burg, and Rockville/Washington DC. The generosity of numerous individuals, academic networks, and institutions made this book possible, and I am very grateful for their assistance. All translations are my own unless otherwise noted. First, I would like to thank colleagues who helped the final manuscript come together, including the anonymous readers whose suggestions for revi- sion were immensely valuable. Sam Spinner is a brilliant scholar and dear friend whose input shaped nearly every part of this book, and I cannot thank him enough. I owe much to those who read portions of the manuscript and extended their friendship along the way: Iris Idelson- Shein, Matthew Handel- man, Emily Levine, Tahneer Oksman, Nicholas Baer, Brook Henkel, McKin- ley Melton, and Melanie Adley. In addition, Jonathan Hess and Marion Kaplan offered important feedback and have been wonderful mentors. Liliane Weiss- berg expertly guided me into German- Jewish Studies and advised the disserta- tion that led to this book. Many scholars of German Studies and Jewish Studies have contributed to this project through conversations, conferences, and other collaborative oppor- tunities. I would like to express deep gratitude to Darcy Buerkle, Sharon Gill- erman, Atina Grossmann, Paul Lerner, Lisa Silverman, and Jonathan Skolnik, who have offered unwavering encouragement over the past few years. I have greatly enjoyed exchanging ideas with Ofer Ashkenazi, Michael Berkowitz, Marc Caplan, Mila Ganeva, Kata Gellen, Jay Geller, Jeffrey Grossman, Klaus Hödl, Dan Magilow, Rick McCormick, Gideon Reuveni, Christian Rogowski, Scott Spector, and Valerie Weinstein. A number of colleagues shared helpful feedback on invited lectures related to this book, including Russell Berman, Adrian Daub, Scott Lerner, Antje Pfannkuchen, Michael Riff, Christa Spreizer, Revised Pages vi Acknowledgments Kathryn Starkey, David Wellbery, Christopher Wild, and Sunny Yudkoff. Other senior scholars who have inspired and backed my work through various chan- nels are Michael Brenner, Kathleen Canning, Bill Donahue, Sander Gilman, Raphael Gross, Martha Helfer, Susannah Heschel, Anne Lapidus Lerner (and the AJS Paula E. Hyman Mentoring Program), Frank Mecklenburg, Guy Miron, Leslie Morris, Stefanie Schüler- Springorum, David Sorkin (and the AAJR Early Career Workshop), Uwe Spiekermann, William Weitzer, Christian Wiese, and Daniel Wildmann. I am very much indebted to the Leo Baeck Institutes in New York/Berlin, London, and Jerusalem. The Gerald Westheimer Career Development Fellow- ship from the Leo Baeck Institute, New York (LBINY), enabled me to extend my research leave to a full year. A grant from LBINY and the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) supported early research for this project. LBI London and the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes funded a research year in Berlin and introduced me to fantastic colleagues through the Leo Baeck Fel- lowship Programme. I am thrilled to work with some of these colleagues on the German Jewish Cultures book series at Indiana University Press. The Seminar for Postdoctoral Students of German- Jewish and Central- European Jewish History (sponsored by LBI Jerusalem, LBI in Germany, and Stiftung deutsch- israelisches Zukunftsforum) offered a valuable platform for presenting my work. Sincere thanks are due to the many archivists and librarians who assisted in research for this project, particularly Michael Simonson. Gettysburg College, where I have been a professor of German Studies since 2011, supported this book by providing extremely generous research leave and funding. I especially would like to thank the other members of the German Studies Department: Laurel Cohen, Henning Wrage, Christiane Breit- haupt, and Robin Oliver. Clint Baugess and the staff of Musselman Library have been very helpful in obtaining books and other materials. This project benefited greatly from conversations with other Gettysburg colleagues: Bill Bowman, Radi Rangelova, Jack Murphy, Stefanie Sobelle, Lidia Anchisi, Kurt Andresen, Rim Baltaduonis, Abou Bamba, Temma Berg, Rob Bohrer, Vero Calvillo, Ryan Dodd, Jenny Dumont, Cassie Hays, Julie Hendon, Ian Isher- wood, Ryan Johnson, Nathalie Lebon, Rachel Lesser, Richard Russell, Luke Thompson, Beatriz Trigo, Gina Velasco, and Mike Wedlock. I am fortunate to have phenomenal students, including many who contributed to this project di- rectly or indirectly; here I would like to mention Claire Bailets, Trevor Walter, Karolina Hicke, and An Sasala. Special thanks go to my three truly exceptional and meticulous research assistants: Elizabeth Topolosky, Martina Khalek, and Kim Longfellow. Revised Pages Acknowledgments vii I am grateful to mentors and teachers at Wesleyan University (College of Letters) and the University of Pennsylvania for my interdisciplinary training. Noah Isenberg deserves credit for encouraging me to pursue German Studies, and for instilling in me a love of Weimar culture. At Penn, Liliane Weissberg introduced me to a range of scholarly worlds. Eric Jarosinski taught me how to be a better writer. I learned a great deal from working with Catriona MacLeod, Simon Richter, Kathryn Hellerstein, Bethany Wiggin, Frank Trommler, Beth Wenger, Benjamin Nathans, and visiting scholar Stephan Braese. Additional thanks are due to Jerry Singerman and Meghan Sullivan. Many fellows at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies also contributed signifi- cantly to my education. Numerous colleagues and friends have served as a sounding board for ideas related to this project. From Penn, I am grateful to Vance Byrd, Dan Di- Massa, Sonia Gollance, Emily Hauze, Gabriella Skwara, Curtis Swope, Mara Taylor, Nick Theis, Caroline Weist, Conny Aust, Jennifer Glaser, Tina Ranalli, Rami Regavim, Katrin Schreiter, Ese Jeroro, and Sophie Woolston. I also would like to thank the following colleagues for kindly sharing advice and ideas: Yael Almog, Maya Barzilai, Katie Batza, LaNitra Berger, Nadine Blumer, David Brenner, Aya Elyada, Amir Engel, Jennifer Evans, Florence Feiereisen, Anat Feinberg, Kirsten Fermaglich, Ken Frieden, Uri Ganani, Christopher Geissler, Jay Howard Geller, Rachel Gordan, Udi Greenberg, Kate Haffey, Lori Harrison- Kahan, June Hwang, Sarah Imhoff, Mariana Ivanova, Daniel Jütte, Ellen Kellman, Martin Kley, Shira Kohn, Thomas Kühne, Josh Lambert, Ilse Josepha Lazaroms, Ari Linden, Stefanie Mahrer, Ted Merwin, Anna Parkinson, Elliot Ratzman, Na’ama Rokem, Sven- Erik Rose, Miriam Rürup, Anne Schenderlein, Jana Schmidt, Dani Schrire, Inbal Steinitz, Josh Teplitsky, Mirjam Thulin, Stefan Vogt, and Erica Weitzman. Other institutions have supported and shaped my work in productive ways. The opportunity to teach a film course at the Jewish Theological Semi- nary came at just the right time. A short-t erm postdoctoral fellowship at the German Historical Institute in Washington, DC, led to many meaningful pro- fessional connections. The Women in German network has been an important resource for me for over a decade, and I am grateful to have received the Women in German Dissertation Prize in 2012. Finally, it has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with LeAnn Fields, Christopher Dreyer, Kevin Ren- nells, and others at the University of Michigan Press. Friends near and far made the process of completing this project much more enjoyable. Aileen Payumo, Una LaMarche, Jeff Zorabedian, Arcelie Reyes, Liz Oppenheim, Sara Miller, Demian Szyld, Adrianne Doering Curtis, Revised Pages viii Acknowledgments Erin Fletcher, Niv Elis, and Abby Moses have sustained (and hosted) me for many years. Several friends from my hometown of Shaker Heights remain close, especially Rebecca Spira King, Sarah Siegel Lubow, and Adrienne Katz Kennedy. Mary Ashcraft and Meredith Petrnousek have encouraged my pursuit of German for over two decades. In New York, Jimmy Lader and Anthony Gaugler deserve many thanks for their gracious and continual support. In Ber- lin, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Luber family (especially Eva), Anna von Gall, Elena Virnik, and Lea Weik. For their friendship in Maryland, I would like to thank Fiona Grant, Heidi Mordhorst, Zack Levine, Allison Far- ber, Suzee Kujawa, Mitch Rotbert, Baht Yameem Weiss; the Cohen, Entel, Chang, Carin, Freedberg, Karpay, and Truland families; and the many amazing people at Temple Beth Ami who welcomed us in the warmest way imaginable. This book is dedicated to my grandparents, Janice and Ivan Wallach, whose American Jewish encounters with the early twentieth century have been an endless source of inspiration. The courage of my other grandmother, Anne Kinney, who was born the same year as the Weimar Republic, inspires me in different ways. I would like to thank my parents, Harriet and Mark, and my stepmother, Karla, for carving an intellectual path and enabling me to go my own way. I am so pleased to live near my brother, Philip, and his delightful family, including Vera and Bina. Many thanks also to Danny, Rachel, Rachel, and Adam Kanter and my terrific extended family. The Firsheins—J oy, Dan, and Jenna— enliven holidays and every day. To Jess Firshein, my best friend, partner, and wonderful wife, whose laughter and light fill my days, I am grate- ful beyond words. Heartfelt thanks also go to our son, Zev, whose boundless energy makes everything more fun. Revised Pages Contents Introduction: Passing, Covering, Revealing 1 1 Methods of Projecting and Detecting Jewishness 27 2 Coming Out as Jewish: Print, Stage, and Screen Displays 61 3 Hostile Outings: When Being Seen Was Undesirable 97 4 Mistaken Identifications and Nonrecognitions 129 Conclusion: German- Jewish Passing in Comparative Contexts 159 Notes 177 Selected Bibliography 241 Index 263