Criticism of Rampant Jew-baiting
Koch took a negative view of Nazi anti-Semitism. Even before the Nuremberg Racial Laws, he pointed out the disastrous consequences of anti-Semitism for the German nation’s reputation in a letter of April 3, 1935 to the Deutscher Fichte-Bund in Hamburg.
While Koch supported the Fichte-Bund’s campaign against foreign anti-German atrocity propaganda in his letter and even announced a donation, he nevertheless sharply criticized the increasingly rampant Jew-baiting in Germany’s public life, which was severely damaging the Germans’ reputation, and absolutely had to be stopped by nationalists. Such a public smear campaign against fellow human beings was unparalleled in German history.
Koch demanded that the churches take a stand against the mendacious anti-Semitic propaganda. Koch himself employed anti-Semitic stereotypes in his letter to the Fichte-Bund, perhaps for tactical reasons in order to be able to voice criticism better on the basis of partial agreement.
Source / title
- © Udo Koch-Mehrin