Jeffrey C. Herf (born April 24, 1947) is an American historian of Modern European, in particular, modern German history. He is Distinguished University Professor of modern European at the
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...
.
Biography
He was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Herf's father escaped from
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in 1937 and immigrated to the United States. His mother's parents left Ukraine to came to the United States before World War I. He grew up in a
Reform Jewish
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...
family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Herf graduated in history from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
in 1969 and received his PhD in sociology from
Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, pro ...
in 1981. Before joining the faculty at the University of Maryland, he taught at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
,
Ohio University
Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
, and
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
critical theory
A critical theory is any approach to social philosophy that focuses on society and culture to reveal, critique and challenge power structures. With roots in sociology and literary criticism, it argues that social problems stem more from soci ...
, in particular
ideology critique
The critique of ideology is a concept used in critical theory, literary studies, and cultural studies. It focuses on analyzing the ideology found in cultural texts, whether those texts be works of popular culture or high culture, philosophy or ...
, Herf coined the term "
reactionary modernism
Reactionary modernism is a term first coined by Jeffrey Herf in the 1980s, to describe the mixture of "great enthusiasm for modern technology with a rejection of the Enlightenment and the values and institutions of liberal democracy" which was ch ...
" to describe the mixture of robust
modernity
Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the " ...
and an affirmative stance toward
progress
Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension wi ...
romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
, which was a current in the thinking of ideologues of Weimar's "
conservative revolution
The Conservative Revolution (german: Konservative Revolution), also known as the German neoconservative movement or new nationalism, was a German national-conservative movement prominent during the Weimar Republic, in the years 1918–1933 (betw ...
" and of currents in the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
and Nazi regime.
His subsequent books examine the political culture of
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
in East and West Germany; Nazi Germany's domestic
antisemitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
propaganda; and
Nazi propaganda
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation o ...
aimed at North Africa and the Middle East; and the history of antagonism to Israel by the
East German
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
regime and West German leftist organizations from the
Six Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
in 1967 to the
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
, the collapse of the European Communist states and the
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in 1990.
Herf has had a variety of fellowships including at Harvard University, the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, the
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
in Princeton, the
German Historical Institute The German Historical Institutes (GHI), german: Deutsche Historische Institute, (''DHI'') are six independent academic research institutes of the Max Weber Foundation dedicated to the study of historical relations between Germany
Germany, ...
in Washington, the
Yitzhak Rabin Center
The Yitzhak Rabin Center is a library and research center in Tel Aviv, Israel, built in memory of assassinated Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.
The Yitzhak Rabin Center, designed by the Israeli architect, Moshe Safdie, sits on a hill comman ...
for Israel Studies in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...
in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
and at the American Academy in Berlin in Fall 2007.
He is married to the historian and artist
Sonya Michel
Sonya Michel is an American historian. She is Professor Emerita at the Department History, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Maryland. She has also taught at Brandeis University, Brown University, Harvard University, Princeton Uni ...
.
Awards and honors
*1996
Charles Frankel Prize
The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...
George Louis Beer Prize The George Louis Beer Prize is an award given by the American Historical Association for the best book in European international history from 1895 to the present written by a United States citizen or permanent resident. The prize was created in 1923 ...
, ''Divided Memory''
*2006
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.The Jewish Enemy''
*2010 ashington Institute for Near East Policy, Bronze Prizefor ''Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World''
*2011 Sybil Halpern Prize, German Studies Association for ''Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World''
*2014 Appointed Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland, College Park
*2022 Bernard Lewis Prize, Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa for "Israel's Moment: International Support for and Opposition to Establishing the Jewish State, 1945-1949"
Published Works
* '' Reactionary Modernism: Technology, Culture and Politics in Weimar and the Third Reich'' French edition, ''Le Modernisme Reactionaire: Haine de la Raison et Culte de la Technologie aux Sources du Nazisme,'' trans. Frederic Joly, (Paris: Editions L’Echappee, 2018); Greek edition, University of Crete Press, 1994; Italian edition, ''Il modernismo reazionario: Tecnologia, cultura e politica nella Germania di Weimar e del Terzo Reich'' (Bolgna: Il Mulino, 1988); Spanish edition, ''El Modernismo Reaccionario: Tecnologia, cultura y politica en Weimar y el Tercer Reich'', (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1990); Japanese edition, Iwanami Shoton, Tokyo, 1991; Greek edition, 1996; Portuguese edition, ''O Modernismo Reacionario: Tecnoligia, Cultura e Politica na Republica de Weimar e No 3 Reich,'' (Sao Paolo: Editora ensaio, 1993).
* ''War By Other Means: Soviet Power, West German Resistance and the Battle of the Euromissiles'' (The Free Press, 1991. Examined the intersection of political culture and power politics in the last major European confrontation of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.
* ''Divided Memory: The Nazi Past in the Two Germanys'' (Harvard University Press, 1997. German edition: Zweierlei Erinnerugn: Die NS Vergangenheit im geteilten Deutschland'', (Berlin: Propylaen Verlag, 1998).
* ''The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda During World War II and the Holocaust'' (Harvard University Press, 2006. The work examines the
Nazi regime
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's radical
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
propaganda as a bundle of hatreds, an explanatory framework, and effort to legitimate mass murder. Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for 2006 in the category of works on the Holocaust. Published in Spanish as El Enemigo Judio by Editorial Sudamericana, Buenes Aires, Argentina, 2008; in French as ''L’ennemi juif: La propagande nazie, 1939-1945'' (Paris: Calmann-Levy, Paris, 2011; Portuguese as ''Inimigo Judeu: Propaganda nazista durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial e o Holocausto'', (Sao Paolo, Edipro, 2014); Chinese, (Yilin Press, 2019).
* ''Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World'' (Yale University Press, 2009). French edition: (2012); Italian (2010); Japanese (2013). This work documents and interprets Nazi Germany's Arabic language print and radio broadcast propaganda aimed at North Africa and the Middle East during World War II and the Holocaust. It draws on translations in German in various German government archives as well as a remarkable collection of English language transcripts produced by American diplomats, mostly in Cairo during the war. It documents a fusion of radical anti-Semitism in Nazi ideology with radical anti-Semitism emerging from Islamists and radical Arab nationalists who collaborated with the Nazi regime especially from 1941 to 1945 in Berlin. The cultural fusion in wartime Berlin persisted in Islamist politics in the Middle East after 1945. Recipient of the bi-annual Sybil Halpern Milton Prize for work on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust in 2009 and 2010 by the German Studies Association, September 2011; and 2010 Washington Institute for Near East Policy Bronze Book Prize. Italian edition, ''Propaganda Nazista Per Il Mondo Arabo'' (Rome: Edizioni dell’Altana, 2010). French edition, ''Hitler, la propaganda et le monde arabe'' (Paris: Calmann-Levy, 2012); Japanese edition: (Tokyo: Iwanami Shotun, 2013).
* ''Undeclared Wars with Israel: East Germany and the West German Far Left, 1967–1989'' (Cambridge University Press, 2016). German edition: ''Unerklaerte Kriege gegen Israel: Die DDR und die westdeutsche radikale Linke, 1967-1989'' (Goettingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2019).
* ''Israel's Moment: International Support for and Opposition to Establishing the Jewish State''(Cambridge University Press, 2022):
Edited books
Anthony McElligott and Jeffrey Herf, eds., ''Antisemitism Before and Since the Holocaust: Altered Contexts and Recent Perspectives'' (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).
Jeffrey Herf, ed., ''Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism in Historical Perspectives: Convergence and Divergence'' (New York: Routledge, 2007).>
Selected Articles
* ''Hitler and the Nazis' Anti-Zionism'' Fathom Summer 2016
* ''David Cesarani: In Memoriam'' Fathom Autumn 2015
Translations
* Alfred Schmidt: ''History and structure: an essay on Hegelian-Marxist and structuralist theories of history.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, c1981.
Articles
*
* "What is Old and What is New about the Terrorism of Islamic Fundamentalism," ''Partisan Review'', No. 69, Winter 2002
Essays and reviews on contemporary history, ideas and politics in ''American Interest'', ''American Purpose'', ''Commentary'',''Fathom Journal'', ''Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung'', ''History News Network'', ''New German Critique'', ''The New Republic'', ''Partisan Review'', ''Quillette'', ''The Tablet Magzine'', ''Telos'',''Times of Israel'', ''Washington Post'', ''Die Welt'', and ''Die Zeit''.
TELOS
Telos (; ) is a term used by philosopher Aristotle to refer to the final cause of a natural organ or entity, or of a work of human art. Intentional actualization of potential or inherent purpose,"Telos.''Philosophy Terms'' Retrieved 3 May 2020. ...