Experiences of antisemitism by German frontline soldiers in the First World War

The First World War is characterised by images of soldiers dying in an unprecedentedly cruel manner. They had marched to the front just a short time before, with roses in their rifle barrels. Among them were 100,000 German front-line soldiers of Jewish faith. The ’Burgfrieden’ (truce) proclaimed by the German Kaiser was their duty. Mourning the 12,000 fallen German front-line soldiers of Jewish faith, the aggressive form of anti-Semitism at the front and on the home front became an additional heavy burden to bear. The ’Judenzählung’ (census of Jews), ordered by the Reich War Ministry in 1916, was the official prelude to the persecution of German front-line soldiers of Jewish faith. The anti-Semitism directed against German front-line soldiers of Jewish faith during the First World War moved between the front, the home front and the reporting of the right-wing media. This constellation takes on particular significance as it becomes a reflection of the course of the war. As the certainty of Germany’s defeat became more and more apparent, it became equally certain to German Jews that they would be made scapegoats for the lost war.