Description: In the immediate aftermath of World War II, many viewed the Third Reich as an aberration in German history and laid blame for the Terror, the war, and the Holocaust with Hitler and his henchmen. Since the 1960s, historians have widened their focus, implicating "ordinary" Germans in the demise of German Jewry. In The Lion and the Star Jonathan Friedman addresses this issue by investigating everyday relations between German Jews and their Gentile neighbors.

Friedman examines three German communities of different sizes -- Frankfurt am Main, Giessen, and Geisenheim. Symbolized by Hesse's heraldic lion, these communities represent a cross-section of both Gentile and Jewish society in Germany during the Weimar and Nazi years. Conducting research in the United States, Germany, England, and Israel, he gleaned information from interviews, memoirs, diaries, letters, newspapers, church and synagogue records, national censuses, statistical yearbooks, government documents, and reports from Nazi and resistance organizations.

Going beyond studies of public opinion, Friedman uses the broader theme of "relations" to help answer several familiar but enigmatic questions: In what ways did ordinary Germans help implement the Nazi's antisemitic program? What impact did everyday antisemitism have on the rise of Nazism? Had Jewish integration into German society been successful before the Third Reich only to be nullified in its wake, or had it been a grand illusion, as some historians imply?

Ultimately, The Lion and the Star not only offers an informed glimpse into the intricacies of German daily life, but also confirms the continuing danger of making sweeping generalizations about German Jews andnon-Jews.

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