Political and Legal History of German Jews

Assessing the role Jews played in Germany’s political and legal history remains a subject of debate. Traditional scholarship’s focus on Jews as objects of state-orchestrated violence and antisemitic discrimination often only risks disempowering them further. Political and Legal History of German Jews offers an insightful and comprehensive reassessment, shifting the focus to consider the political and legal agency Jews gained through Germany’s democratic development. Through an examination of the strategies German Jews used to interact with, and influence, policies, as well as the development of distinct Jewish political and legal frameworks, this book resituates German Jews as active and engaged political agents.