JEWS UNDER HITLER
THE OPPERMANNS,
by
Lion Feuchtwanger. Viking Press,
1934,
New
York, $2.50.
Feuchtwanger's latest book, which is devoted for the most part to
the Nazi persecutions of the Jews, lays bare the defects both of his tech–
nique and of his philosophy. He writes acceptably
111
a loose easy style
when he can apply the method of his historical fiction to the superficial
relationships among the members of a large and prosperous Jewish family.
But when this method must give way to' intimate detailed characterizatioll,
when the scope of the novel narrows from the sketch of family relation–
ships to the description of the agonies to which one of the Oppermanns is
subjected by the agents of Hitler, then the book
become~
unreal as though
pieced together out of newspaper clippings. Feu·chtwanger's method will
not permit him to portray the intense emotion as distinguished from the
picturesque. But the reader feels that the real defect lies in the inadequacy
of the novelist's experience of life and particularly in the conventionality
of his conception of Judaism. He therefore makes the mistake of writing
about very wealthy Jews who, having lost contact with their ancient
religion, have fallen into a way of life the materialism of which is in–
sidiously concealed beneath a superfi.::ial interest in German Romantic
culture. Though they have lived in Germany for generations, they have
intermarried with foreigners and maintained villas in Italy. For such
persons it is pathetic, but it simply cannot be tragic, as the author would
have us believe, for them to be forced to pursue their comfortable life
with a somewhat lessened income in a foreign land. And when one of
them, deciding to be heroic, returns to Germany, he merely reveals, despite
his wealth and culture, what to gentiles has been considered the typical
Jewish combination of braggadacio and pusillanimity. It was a useless
gesture to return. It was cowardly, once having returned, to refuse to
face the consequences. When influence has won his release from the
detention camp, he decides the proper course for the Jew is to live mindful
of the island within: which means, when stripped of verbosity, to conform
outwardly in such a way as to preserve as much of comfort and prosperity
as possible. Doubtless this has often been a course forced upon Jews to
their own disgust. But to-day, when Communism affords them at once
an honest and an ultimately effective attitude, it seems a pity that Feucht–
wanger has not dared even to mention it. His capitalistic heroes see no
other way out than the strategy of disguising their business under a
Christian name and avoiding the appearance of open competition. It is
the natural compromise, justifiable on psychological grounds, if
a,
novelist
is determined to have bourgeois heroes. But he should not delude himself
into the sentimentality that he has di9Covered a tragic situation. Under
modern conditions, tragedy for Jew and gentile alike is the doubtful
privilege of the poor.
EDWIN BERRY BURGUM
63
