''Jud Süß'' is an early 19th century
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) fact ...
by
Wilhelm Hauff
Wilhelm Hauff (29 November 180218 November 1827) was a Württembergian poet and novelist.
Early life
Hauff was born in Stuttgart, the son of August Friedrich Hauff, a secretary in the Württemberg ministry of foreign affairs, and Hedwig Wilhelmi ...
based on the early 18th century German
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish
banker
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Becaus ...
and financial adviser
Joseph Süß Oppenheimer. In Hauff's novella, Joseph Süß Oppenheimer has been brought up as a Jew. His unfair business practices result in the betrayal of an innocent girl. Consequently, he is arrested, convicted and sentenced to be hanged. While awaiting execution, he discovers that he is not Jewish, but prefers to face his sentence rather than turning his back on the community he grew up in.
Lion Feuchtwanger
Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht.
Feuchtwanger's Ju ...
characterized Hauff's novella as 'naïvely anti-Semitic.'
References
External links
Jud Süß at Gutenberg.de
1827 novels
German novellas
19th-century German novels
German historical novels
Biographical novels
Novels set in the 18th century
Novels set in Germany
Novels by Wilhelm Hauff
Antisemitic novels
Antisemitism in Germany
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