Klemperers Diaries and National Socialism

Jewish Victim Primary Source:

Victor Klemperer's I Will Bear Witness

Victor Klemperer was in many ways atypical of many Jewish victims of the Holocaust. He had a relatively privileged position as an academic, writer, and journalist. His identification with the Jewish community was rather tenuous. As noted by Martin Chalmers "Preface" to Klemperer's journals of the period entitled I Will Bear Witness, "Observance and the Reform Synagogue" that Klemperer attended as a child "was extremely liberal" and entailed no dietary restrictions; no bar mitzvah, and in contrast to Reform Judaism today, it was regarded as a "halfway house" between conversion to Protestantism and Judaism.[footnoteRef:1] Klemperer's beloved wife of forty-five years was a Protestant and this gave him a somewhat protected status when the Nazis came to power. Klemperer's area of academic interest was Voltaire, not anything pertaining to Jewish theology. Thus, his life experience is particularly illustrative of the extent to which even relatively educated, assimilated and privileged Jews were affected by Nazism. Klemperer's life also shows how relatively assimilated many Jews were and the extent to which Hitler's rise to power came as a surprise. "Again it's astounding how everything collapses," mused Klemperer.[footnoteRef:2] [1: Martin Chalmers, "Introduction," to I Will Bear Witness, Volume 1: A Diary of the Nazi Years: 1933-1941 by Victor Klemperer (New York: Modern Library, 2016), viii.] [2: Victor Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness, Volume 1: A Diary of the Nazi Years: 1933-1941 (New York: Modern Library, 2016), 5.]

When Hitler was declared Chancellor, Klemperer was far from complacent about what this meant for the Jewish people of Germany. "How long will I keep my post," he wrote in his diary, and confessed to a "constant thinking about death."[footnoteRef:3] Klemperer acknowledged the tremendous volatility which existed in Germany at the time and noted, "I think it is quite immaterial whether Germany is a monarchy or a republic-but what I do not expect at all is that it will be rescued from the grip of the new government."[footnoteRef:4] Klemperer had become cynical about democracy even though he acknowledged that the government which replaced it was far worse than what he could have ever imagined. During the early years of Hitler's ascendency, Klemperer's memoirs are a mix of ordinary, typical observations about everyday life and fear of what is to come. In one entry, he notes: "I do so enjoy going to the cinema; it takes me out of myself. But it is so difficult to persuade [his wife] Eva to go."[footnoteRef:5] This mundane discussion of a common conflict between husband and wife ends with his statement: "Fatigue and lethargy. Weariness of life and fear of death."[footnoteRef:6] [3: Ibid., 6.] [4: Ibid., 8.] [5: Ibid., 8.] [6: Ibid., 8.]

One turning point in the status of Jews in Europe was when Jews were forced to wear a yellow star to mark their status as inherently 'other.' Klemperer dreaded this for weeks, finally noting: "The Jewish armband came true as Star of David, comes into force on the nineteenth."[footnoteRef:7] As a result of being marked in such a manner, Klemperer reports experiencing serious depression, and only wanting to leave the house when it was dark, leaving Eva to do most of his errands. This sensation highlights how even though Klemperer, as a result of his marriage, was initially somewhat insulated from some of the worst fates suffered by some Jews in Germany, including being relegated to ghetto areas and economic destitution from being deprived of their livelihood. But he still experienced profound depression as a result of his stigmatization. His writings during the early years of Nazism shows how prejudice has debilitating psychological effects upon those who suffer it as well as material political and economic effects. Klemperer also felt horrific guilt in regards to his wife and their marriage, given that his entire survival was effectively in her hands. "Meanwhile Eva is constantly on errands and cooking. Our whole live has been turned upside down and everything weighs on Eva."[footnoteRef:8] [7: Ibid., 429.] [8: Ibid., 434.]

As the war continued, simple activities like shopping were challenging. Klemperer describes looking for tobacco (considered a necessity by both him and his wife) as a "via dolorosa."[footnoteRef:9] He was told "No sale to Jews" as a result of the armband he was forced to wear and once again the wartime shortages and resentment that all Germans were experiencing as a result of the deprivation of food and other material goods was exacerbated by his status. Even his wife was refused to be allowed to purchase tobacco as a woman, resulting in Klemperer feeling even more depressed, given that he was not able to do what he considered to be his duty as a man. Klemperer suffered from the financial anxieties that all Germans suffered when Germany began its expansion into Europe even while he also feared for his life and livelihood. He found himself estranged from the country he loved although once again his marriage gave him an odd, dual status given that he still experienced some protection as a result of his connection to Evan. [9: Ibid., 432.]

A sense of disempowerment and disillusionment with his country haunts Klemperer's diary. Of course, all Jews suffered horrifically during this period of time but as a man who was assimilated and who had originally had high hopes for his country and secularism, Klemperer felt personally betrayed, like many Jews of his status and class. "In the war I was subject to military law, but subject to law nevertheless; now I am at the mercy of an arbitrary power."[footnoteRef:10] The terrifying thing, Klemperer noted, about the Nazis was the swiftness with which they were able to enforce an arbitrary ideology of racism and the pervasive nature of their influence. "In a pharmacy toothpaste with a swastika. A mood of fear such as must have existed in France under the Jacobins. No one fears for their lives yet -- but for bread and freedom."[footnoteRef:11] Klemperer thus was able, in the details he noted, to have an occasional sense of humor about the absurdity of the pervasiveness of prejudice (and to link it to his academic studies of French history) and Nazism at the beginning. But gradually his depression deepened as he became more aware of the existence of concentration camps and what was happening to members of the Jewish community who were not protected like himself by a so-called Aryan spouse. [10: Ibid., 12.] [11: Ibid., 9.]

Despite all of this, Klemperer remained true to his identity and belief system as a Reformed, liberal German. "The Jewish communities today in Germany are all inclined to Zionism," he wrote, "I shall go along with that just as little as I do with National Socialism or with Bolshevism. Liberal and German forever."[footnoteRef:12] By liberal Klemperer meant liberal in the classical sense of an ideology which embraced a concept of citizenship based upon individualism, not upon a particular allegiance to a religion and which also supported economic free choice. He still held true for many years to the ideology which had been the foundation of his life before the Nazis came to power, namely the belief that Germany could be a place for all human beings, so long as they showed loyalty to the state. Klemperer, as a result of his experiences, never lost faith in the idea of a German state which could represent the interests of all people, which is one reason why he became bitterly depressed as that faith was betrayed again and again as Nazism became more entrenched. [12: Ibid., 319.]

Bibliography

Klemperer, Victor. I Will Bear Witness, Volume 1: A Diary of the Nazi Years: 1933-1941

New York: Modern Library, 2016.