To what extent were the Jews assimilated into the economic, political and cultural life of Weimar Germany

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To what extent were the Jews assimilated into the economic, political and cultural life of Weimar Germany?

The Extent to which the Jews were assimilated into the economic, political and cultural life of Weimar Germany, should be questioned. Clearly, contemparies believed that the Jews were prominent in the economic life of Weimar Germany; as they were leading financiers, and this point was later propagated by the Nazi party – to highlight the extent to which the Jewish population were firmly entrenched in Weimar Germany. However except for the case of Hamburg; where it was clear that the Jewish population was very successful, Jews were not as prominent in the political and cultural life of the Weimar Republic.

The Jewish population were well integrated into Weimar society as they owned many of the leading department stores. In the capital city, Berlin Hermann and Leonard owned the leading department store which ensure high profits, and lead to some other German  owned shops – going out of business. As a result, it is clear that the Jewish businessmen were more prominent in the German economy than contemporary Germans. As this was also the capital, it suggests too that anti-Semitism was not widespread at this point.

During Weimar Germany, Jews dominated many industries, in particular -the Jews were at the front of the textile and clothing trade. The Jews owned 40 % of wholesale and retailing clothing, all of which were owned by Jewish businessmen. This shows that the Jews were very well assimilated into Weimar Germany, and even before anti-semitism gained mass widespread; even Germans were    

buying Jewish Products.

However despite the view that Jews were well off, between 1923-1930 – The Jewish metal trade dropped from 71.7% to 57.3%. Jewish middle men were also frozen out of the scrap metal trade during the Weimar years. So taking this view into account, it can be seen as that the Jewish community were well assimilated into the blue collar industry – however even they were suffering from this.

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Jews were prominent bankers in Weimar Germany – almost half of all private banks were owned by famous Jewish families such as: The Mendelssohn's, Bleichroders and Schlesingers. So this clearly showed that the Jews had a strong hand in the economic structure of Weimar Germany.  However , on the other hand – Jews directed fewer than 1 percent of the German credit banks, which could be seen as being more numerous and far more important than the private banks.

Jews were not well know as crucial leaders of German Industry, although saying this – they were quite ...

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