The Breslau Jewish Museum and the Construction of German Identity

Barnstone, D

The Breslau Jewish Museum and the Construction of German Identity

Barnstone, D

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Publisher:: University of Sydney
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: German Studies Association Australia 2014, 2014
Issue Date:: 2014-01

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	Breslau Jewish Museum Journal of Modern Jewish Studies Final.pdf	Published version	190.06 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Barnstone, D https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2846-1226	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Peter Morgan	en_US
dc.date	2014-11-26	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	German Studies Association Australia 2014, 2014	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/41860
dc.description.abstract	The Breslau Jewish Museum's brief history mirrors the changing identity German Jews held in the national community between 1928 and 1938. The Museum was initially founded by an optimistic group of prominent Breslau Jews who wished to both chronicle and celebrate the place Jews had in Weimar era Silesian and Breslau culture. But the group's ambitions soon had to be reassessed. After Hitler's assumption of power in 1933 it became increasingly clear that Jewishness was not to be flaunted or celebrated publicly, much less institutionally. As Jews came under attack, the Jewish Museum assumed the defensive role of guardian of Jewish heritage, objects and culture. Its new isolation from the non-Jewish Silesian and Breslau communities paralleled the growing marginalization of German Jews generally. The Museum's closure just days before Kristallnacht in 1938 seems prescient; both events signalled the end of Jewish life in Germany and the abrogation of German Jewish identity.	en_US
dc.publisher	University of Sydney	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	German Studies Association Australia 2014	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	German Studies Association Australia	en_US
dc.title	The Breslau Jewish Museum and the Construction of German Identity	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location	Sydney	en_US
utslib.location.activity	University of Sydney	en_US
utslib.for	1201 Architecture	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Architecture
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CCDP - Contemporary Design Practice
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.consider-herdc	false	en_US
pubs.finish-date	2014-11-28	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Sydney	en_US
pubs.start-date	2014-11-26	en_US

Abstract:

The Breslau Jewish Museum's brief history mirrors the changing identity German Jews held in the national community between 1928 and 1938. The Museum was initially founded by an optimistic group of prominent Breslau Jews who wished to both chronicle and celebrate the place Jews had in Weimar era Silesian and Breslau culture. But the group's ambitions soon had to be reassessed. After Hitler's assumption of power in 1933 it became increasingly clear that Jewishness was not to be flaunted or celebrated publicly, much less institutionally. As Jews came under attack, the Jewish Museum assumed the defensive role of guardian of Jewish heritage, objects and culture. Its new isolation from the non-Jewish Silesian and Breslau communities paralleled the growing marginalization of German Jews generally. The Museum's closure just days before Kristallnacht in 1938 seems prescient; both events signalled the end of Jewish life in Germany and the abrogation of German Jewish identity.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/41860