Klemperer’s diary is one of the most important accounts of German life during the Nazi period. It provides a vivid account of daily life in Nazi Germany, including the way people lived, thought and talked about themselves, and how they felt about their government and its policies. Klemperer was a German Jew who fled to London in 1941, where he became a professor of music at the University College of London (Klemperer 7). He used his position as an outsider and his proximity to historical events to write this memoir. The author recounts his ordeals during the Holocaust and World War II in this memoir. The first half of the book focuses on Klemperer’s life before the war and his time in Nazi Germany as a professor of literature (Klemperer 9). In this section, Klemperer’s disdain for Nazism is clearly expressed throughout. However, he never mentions any desire to be involved with the resistance despite his close relationship with some members. This essay provides a clear and accurate account of the way the author’s life was affected by German society during World War II.
Klemperer expresses how much he wanted to find a way to help the people being persecuted by Hitler. He expressed how much he respected human rights and believed that those who took it upon themselves to end people’s lives were criminals. He reiterates his dislike for racism by saying that if someone dies because they are of a certain race or religion, they should not suffer death punishment. Instead, they should be able to choose their afterlife as long as they have lived well while on earth (Klemperer 11). The book gives an insight into what people were thinking about how Adolf Hitler and his regime came to power and how it affected their lives.
Klemperer’s View of Judaism
Klemperer’s views Judaism from a position of hatred and fear to one of hope for the future. He describes it as “a religion of blood and iron” (Klemperer 12). Klemperer began writing the diary when he was a teenager. At this time, he had little knowledge about Judaism or its history. In many ways, Klemperer was like other young Germans who were swept up in Hitler’s rise to power. He did not know that Jews were being rounded up and sent to concentration camps. The first section of the diary depicts Klemperer as a devout Jew who takes great pride in his faith and religious practices. He attributes his ability to maintain this devotion to his strict upbringing and the fact that he could avoid the anti-Semitism that plagued most Jews at the time (Klemperer 9). As he grew older and learned more about Judaism and Jewish culture, Klemperer became more sympathetic toward his Jewish friends and family members, who Nazis were also persecuted during World War II. In particular, he developed a great love for Richard Glazar, an impoverished Jewish playwright whose plays had been banned by Nazi officials.
As Germany regressed into a dictatorship under Hitler, Klemperer’s views on Judaism shifted drastically. He rejects traditional Jewish law and practices as outdated and irrelevant, even though he still adheres to most of them. His growing detachment from Judaism is evident in his inability to recognize or name obvious signs that show how closely aligned Christianity and Judaism have become during this period: “They [the Nazis] don’t even care about the Jews anymore; they don’t want them here anymore… they just want us dead” (Klempere 14). He believes it is a religion of hate, violence, and oppression. For example: “It is easy to understand why the Jews want war all over Europe; they want to attain authority to kill at will and get away with it” (Klemperer 14). He describes Jews as “a people apart,” who can only thrive through the oppression of others around them. He claims that the Jews’ ultimate goal is to destroy Christianity and replace it with their religion.
By 1942, Klemperer has come to see Judaism more positively. He understood it as a culture with many valuable traditions and practices but also one that other culture have historically persecuted for its beliefs, including Christianity. Klemperer realizes that much of what he previously thought about Judaism was wrong or incomplete. The Jewish community had survived by adapting to their surroundings, rather than fighting back against them as he had thought they would.
Klemperer’s Critical Analysis of Jews and Jewishness
His life experience deeply influenced Klemperer’s critical analysis of Jews and Jewishness. Klemperer lived in Germany during the Third Reich and was subjected to anti-Jewish policies and practices (Klemperer 38). He says, “It is difficult to escape the impression that I would like to be an embittered man but am not…. the truth is that I have never been able to feel hatred for anyone or anything” (Klemperer 67). He lived through some of the most difficult times in history, such as the death camps, Kristallnacht, and the rise of Adolf Hitler to power. Klemperer witnessed the effects of Nazi policies on German society, which caused him to become highly critical of all things Jewish. This critical lens affected how he viewed Jews and their relationship with the state. Klemperer (68) said that there were three types of Jews: those who belonged to one group or another such as Zionist; those who identified themselves as Germans first; and those who did not fit into any group at all such as “Aryans”. The latter two groups were often victims of violence from both Nazis and non-Nazis alike.
Further, in one diary entry from 1940, Klemperer refers to “the Jews” as an “inferior race” that has “breached its contract,” a reference to the fact that as part of their forced resettlement from Berlin, many Jews were sent to ghettos or concentration camps (Klemperer 67). He continues by saying, “we are being brought face to face with the unavoidable fact that our people can never again be a community of equals” (Klemperer 68) He notes that several Jews were able to escape Germany, but most stayed and continued to practice Judaism. This scenario helped him to see that their religion was not the source of their problems. Instead, he focused on the German government’s actions toward them.
Klemperer was not directly affected by the Holocaust because he was not a Jew. Instead, he lived through it as an observer until he died in 1960 (Klemperer 72). This treatment made him a valuable witness who could comment on what happened during the period without personally being affected. Klemperer’s understanding of this situation was shaped by his experiences living in Germany during the Third Reich. He was surrounded by anti-Semitic rhetoric and policies, which made him, feel like he could not be himself in Germany because he would always be seen as Jewish even though he was not Jewish.
Klemperer’s Sense of Self Changed
In the first few pages, Klemperer is still very hopeful about his future and the future of Germany. He writes: “I have a great desire to live and work for Germany, for her good fortune and for her reaching out into the world” (Klemperer 128). This comment is one of the most positive things he says about his country throughout the book. However, as time passes, he grows pessimistic about Germany’s future because of its increasing xenophobia and anti-Semitism. He describes how “the whole nation” has become more anti-Semitic since 1933, which makes him feel like an outsider even though he was born into German culture (Klemperer, 1998). In 1933, Klemperer started working for Radio Berlin—a Nazi propaganda station—and became convinced that all Jews were responsible for Germany’s troubles. In 1936, he joined the SS and began working on Jewish affairs as part of a group called Einsatzgruppe C (Klemperer, 139). As part of this group, he oversaw the murders of thousands of Jews in Poland and Ukraine, which led him to realize that Nazis were also targeting his people.
At this time, he felt powerless and weak as a Jew in Germany. He is unable to stand up for himself or his people. He recognizes that he cannot fight back against the Nazi regime because he believes there is no point. Klemperer does not see any hope for himself or his people. He does not see any way out of their situation. He sees himself as a victim, and he has lost faith in humanity as well as God. In 1938, Klemperer had already begun to change his perspective when he wrote about his reaction to Kristallnacht (the night that Jews were arrested). He describes how he was “surprised at first by the lack of resistance” from other Jews during the arrests (Klemperer 141). He felt they should have stood up for themselves more vigorously before being taken away by force.
In 1941, when Germany invaded Russia, Klemperer realized nothing would change unless people did something about it themselves (Klemperer 142). He felt there was no other option than fighting back against Hitler and his regime at this point in history. Klemperer’s view on ethnic nationalism on both sides changed over time: at first, he believed it would end anti-Semitism; later in life, he realized that there was no hope for Jews without their own state. He eventually became an outspoken critic of Zionism and its role in causing anti-Semitism throughout history.
Conclusion
The book is a diary of the events that occurred in the first years of Hitler’s dictatorship. This record of the events makes it easy to understand why German society was so shocked about what was happening around them. Hitler’s ideology never made sense, and his decisions were always surprising and unpredictable (Klemperer 145). The citizens of Germany during those times were clueless, and no one knew what was going on. Klemperer gives the audience insight into how they lived under this regime and how they were kept in total isolation from their families and reality.
The Holocaust was one of the most horrific tragedies inflicted upon the world. The use of mechanized death was accomplished through various means, including gas chambers and mobile killing squads, firing squads, and countless acts of hate-fueled violence (Klemperer 146). These atrocities are sickening to contemplate, yet they are a reality. Klemperer’s diary is an invaluable resource for understanding what life was like for Jews living under Nazi rule before their internment in concentration camps. It is a very personal chronicle of Klemperer’s struggle to survive the horrors and deprivations of World War II—a perspective that takes the audience closer to the tragedy than many other works on this subject.
Work Cited
Klemperer, Victor. I will bear witness: The diaries of Victor Klemperer. Random House, 1998.