HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Germany Must Perish!'' is a 104-page book written by Theodore N. Kaufman, which he self-published in 1941 in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The book advocated
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
through the sterilization of all
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
and the territorial dismemberment of Germany, believing that this would achieve world peace. Kaufman founded the Argyle Press in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
, United States, in order to publish this book. He was the sole proprietor of the Argyle Press, which is not known to have published any other works. The
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
used the book, written by a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
author, to support their argument that Jews were plotting against their country.


Contents

Kaufman advocated the mass extermination of the German people through
forced sterilization Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, refers to any government-mandated program to involuntarily sterilize a specific group of people. Sterilization removes a person's capacity to reproduce, and is usually do ...
and the territorial dismemberment of Germany after an Allied victory in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Kaufman summarized ''Germany Must Perish!'' in advertisements in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' as: "A dynamic volume outlining a plan for the extinction of Germany and containing a map showing possible dissection and apportionment of its territory." Kaufman defended his plan for the "sterilization of all Germans" in an interview published in the September 26, 1941, issue of ''The Canadian Jewish Chronicle'':


Reception


In the United States

Although self-published, the book received considerable attention. ''Time'' magazine published a review in its 24 March issue that compared the book to
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
's 1729 satirical essay '' A Modest Proposal'', which proposed reducing the population pressure in Ireland by the cannibalistic consumption of poor Irish infants. However, the ''Time'' essay recognized that Kaufman's work was not satirical; it described the book as the "enshrinement of a single sensational idea". "Since Germans are the perennial disturbers of the world's peace, says the book, they must be dealt with like any homicidal criminals. But it is unnecessary to put the whole German nation to the sword. It is more humane to sterilize them." According to one study, reviews in the United States "reflected an odd combination of straight reporting and skepticism". Berel Lang, ''Philosophical Witnessing: The Holocaust as Presence'' (
University Press of New England The University Press of New England (UPNE), located in Lebanon, New Hampshire and founded in 1970, was a university press consortium including Brandeis University, Dartmouth College (its host member), Tufts University, the University of New Hampsh ...
: 2009), pp. 130–131, 135
Kaufman's second and more moderate pamphlet, "No More German Wars" published in 1942, was ignored in both the U.S. and Germany. An advertisement in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' stated that the book was released to the public on March 1, 1941. Kaufman also promoted the book by mailing a miniature black cardboard coffin with a hinged lid to reviewers. Inside the coffin was a card proclaiming, "Read GERMANY MUST PERISH! Tomorrow you will receive your copy." The book's dust jacket contained excerpts from reviews of the book. One blurb read: "A Plan For Permanent Peace Among Civilized Nations! -- New York Times." Kaufman's book was cited by a prominent Jewish-American trial lawyer, Louis Nizer. In his 1944 book ''What To Do With Germany'', Nizer accepted the collective punishment of Germans and considered, though ultimately rejected, their mass "eugenic sterilization". In 1945, a Jewish journalist wrote an article claiming that the book was "little more than self-indulgence in dire vituperation by a man who sees Germany as the sole cause of the world's woes".


In Germany

Kaufman was a Manhattan-born Jew and his advocacy of genocide attracted great attention in Germany. The book was denounced in Germany as an "orgy of Jewish hatred", and it was seen as inspired by United States President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
's supposed polemical anti-German agitation. According to historian Richard J. Evans, Theodore Kaufman who was in reality an obscure and eccentric journalist, was portrayed in
Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...
orchestrated by
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
as a prominent representative of 'world Jewry' and an advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt. American journalist Howard K. Smith was in Germany when ''Germany Must Perish!'' became known. He wrote: In September 1941, Julius Streicher published an essay in '' Der Stürmer'' that called Kaufman's book "the crazy thinking of ninsane Jewish brain". He quoted Kaufman at length and then commented: "By destroying the German people, the Jew wants to stop up the spring from which, since the beginning, the world has always found its creative blood, the source of all that is beautiful, good and noble."
Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...
also gave a radio address from Berlin warning Germans of "plans 'for sterilization of our entire population under 60 years' of age". These concerns were echoed by
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
himself after the US entered World War II; he claimed mass sterilization of German male youth was a "primary" American goal. When the Jews of
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
were evicted on September 8, 1941 and later ghettoized as part of " Aktion Lauterbacher", the local authorities cited Kaufman's book as one of the reasons. Kaufman responded: The book appeared in many pieces of
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
propaganda. The '' Parole der Woche'' weekly wall newspaper included it as evidence that the Allies' war aims included the destruction of Germany. The pamphlet "The War Goal of World Plutocracy" detailed the contents of the book, although with some omissions from the text that it quoted. It was used in 1944 in a pamphlet, "Never!", which described Kaufman's importance: At his Nuremberg trial, Julius Streicher cited Kaufman's book in his defense, claiming his anger at Jews was prompted by ''Germany Must Perish!''. The German philosopher and historian Ernst Nolte argues that the German reaction to ''Germany Must Perish!'' supports his contention that World War II was a genuine response to German fears of a worldwide Jewish plot.Nolte, Ernst "Between Myth and Revisionism", pages 17-38 from ''Aspects of the Third Reich'', edited by H.W. Koch (NY: St. Martin's Press, 1985), pp. 27-28


See also

* Germania est delenda *'' Germany is Our Problem'' *
Society for the Prevention of World War III The Society for the Prevention of World War III was an organization set up in the U.S. in 1944 during World War II that advocated a harsh peace for Germany in order to completely remove Germany as a future military threat. The Organization was a sp ...
*'' Your Job in Germany'' *
Morgenthau Plan The Morgenthau Plan was a proposal to weaken Germany following World War II by eliminating its arms industry and removing or destroying other key industries basic to military strength. This included the removal or destruction of all industria ...


References


Further reading

* *Randall Bytwerk, "The Argument for Genocide in Nazi Propaganda," '' Quarterly Journal of Speech'', 91 (2005), pp. 37–62 * Jeffrey Herf, ''The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda During World War II and the Holocaust'', Harvard University Press, 2006, pp. 110–115


External links

;Text *
Germany must perish!
' Newark, N.J., Argyle Press 1941 (probable first edition) *
Germany must perish!
' Newark, N.J. : Argyle Press c1941 (apparently the second or later ed. published by Kaufman) ;Propaganda

A September 1941 pamphlet by Wolfgang Diewerge

Cover illustration and excerpts from a November 1941 flyer {{Authority control 1941 non-fiction books American political books Anti-German sentiment in the United States Ethnic cleansing of Germans Eugenics books Incitement to genocide Sterilization (medicine) Self-published books World War II propaganda Compulsory sterilization Foreign relations of Nazi Germany