
Antisemitism
Hermann Bahr(Author)
University of Toronto Press
Published on 2. September 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-1-4875-5839-0 (ISBN)
Description
In March 1893, Austrian writer Hermann Bahr embarked on one of the most ambitious journalistic projects of the nineteenth century: a six-month series of interviews with public figures across Europe. This collection captures a wide range of opinions on antisemitism amid a surge of anti-Jewish sentiment in Germany and France during a time marked by militant nationalism and pseudoscientific "race studies."
Originally published in 1894 and now available in English for the first time, Antisemitism serves as both a vital historical study and a rich literary account of its era. Bahr's interviewees include German socialist leader August Bebel, France's first female journalist Severine, and dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Considering issues like migration, assimilation, and exceptionalism, the respondents present a spectrum of views, from impassioned pluralism to overt bigotry, with some suggesting that ignoring antisemitism might make it disappear. Antisemitism reveals the ideological, political, and social factors that contributed to the Holocaust, while uncovering the enduring mechanisms of hatred and division that continue to target minorities. Featuring extensive notes, an informative afterword, and biographies of the interviewees, this volume explores the rise of modern antisemitism and provides valuable insights into conspiracy theories that persist to this day.
Originally published in 1894 and now available in English for the first time, Antisemitism serves as both a vital historical study and a rich literary account of its era. Bahr's interviewees include German socialist leader August Bebel, France's first female journalist Severine, and dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Considering issues like migration, assimilation, and exceptionalism, the respondents present a spectrum of views, from impassioned pluralism to overt bigotry, with some suggesting that ignoring antisemitism might make it disappear. Antisemitism reveals the ideological, political, and social factors that contributed to the Holocaust, while uncovering the enduring mechanisms of hatred and division that continue to target minorities. Featuring extensive notes, an informative afterword, and biographies of the interviewees, this volume explores the rise of modern antisemitism and provides valuable insights into conspiracy theories that persist to this day.
Reviews / Votes
"At a time when the term 'antisemitism' has become ubiquitous in our daily newspapers and other media, there is a particular interest in viewing the responses to the phenomenon when it was in its early and formative stage. As a result, this work has the potential to interest a range of academic audiences, touching on antisemitism and Jewish studies, European cultural history, Central European history, and other fields. The chief interest of the volume lies in the way in which it captures a cross-section of attitudes towards antisemitism at the very moment at which it was crystallizing as a modern political ideology." - Andrew Bonnell, Professor of History, University of Queensland"A substantial achievement. The documents in this book hold many revelations for specialists in each national camp, allowing comparisons within the volume that are not easily researched elsewhere. Conway does an excellent job in explaining all unfamiliar references in his endnotes without allowing himself to stray too far from the subject at hand." - James Retallack, University Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
12 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 139 mm
Width: 216 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
342 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4875-5839-0 (9781487558390)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Hermann Bahr (1863-1934) was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic.
James J. Conway is a Berlin-based writer and translator from German to English.
James J. Conway is a Berlin-based writer and translator from German to English.
Content
Translator's Note
Interviewees
Antisemitism
Author's Introduction
Friedrich Spielhagen
Theodor Barth
August Bebel
Theodor Mommsen
Gustav Schmoller
Pastor J. Schmeidler
Maximilian Harden
Moritz von Egidy
Ernst Haeckel
Adolph Wagner
Prince Heinrich zu Schoenaich-Carolath
Heinrich Rickert
John Henry Mackay
Wilhelm Foerster
Alfred Naquet
Jules Simon
Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu
Alphonse Daudet
Francis Magnard
Arthur Meyer
Edouard Pailleron
Severine
Charles Morice
Gustave Paul Cluseret
Alejandro Sawa
Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla
Henri Rochefort
Sir Charles Dilke
Arthur Balfour
Henry Labouchere
Annie Besant
Sidney Whitman
Tim Healy
Paul Janson
Edmond Picard
Charles Buls
Henrik Ibsen
Bjornstjerne Bjornson
Author's Conclusion
Afterword
Notes
Further Reading
Interviewees
Antisemitism
Author's Introduction
Friedrich Spielhagen
Theodor Barth
August Bebel
Theodor Mommsen
Gustav Schmoller
Pastor J. Schmeidler
Maximilian Harden
Moritz von Egidy
Ernst Haeckel
Adolph Wagner
Prince Heinrich zu Schoenaich-Carolath
Heinrich Rickert
John Henry Mackay
Wilhelm Foerster
Alfred Naquet
Jules Simon
Anatole Leroy-Beaulieu
Alphonse Daudet
Francis Magnard
Arthur Meyer
Edouard Pailleron
Severine
Charles Morice
Gustave Paul Cluseret
Alejandro Sawa
Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla
Henri Rochefort
Sir Charles Dilke
Arthur Balfour
Henry Labouchere
Annie Besant
Sidney Whitman
Tim Healy
Paul Janson
Edmond Picard
Charles Buls
Henrik Ibsen
Bjornstjerne Bjornson
Author's Conclusion
Afterword
Notes
Further Reading