Antisemitism Before the Holocaust: Re-evaluating Antisemitic Exceptionalism in Germany and the United States, 1880–1945.

Richard E. Frankel's article, "Antisemitism Before the Holocaust: Re-evaluating Antisemitic Exceptionalism in Germany and the United States, 1880–1945," challenges the assumption that antisemitism in the United States was fundamentally different from the more extreme German version that led to the Holocaust. Frankel argues that scholars have overlooked common threads of antisemitism and have assessed its severity in both countries primarily in light of Auschwitz. By examining American history, Frankel aims to provide a more accurate understanding of the dangers of antisemitism in the United States. He also sheds light on German antisemitism through a comparative approach. The article highlights the global labor market's role in the emergence of antisemitism and its connection to anti-Chinese populism. Frankel argues that German nationalism had already established an exclusionary trait defining national identity in opposition to Jews before the era of Jewish mass migration. He also emphasizes that antisemitic campaigns and rhetoric in the United States during and after World War I were not significantly different from those in Germany. Frankel concludes that American Jews were victimized at an unprecedented level during this time. The article challenges the notion that American antisemitism was comparatively moderate and aims to inspire further research on the manifestations of antisemitism in modern history. [Extracted from the article]