Mayer Carl von Rothschild (1820-1886)
and Moses Hess (1812-1875)
Eighty-six years after his death, Moses
Hess's mortal remains were exhumed from
the Jewish cemetery in Cologne,
transported to Israel and re-buried. He
undoubtedly would have liked that. Hess
was a staunch Jewish nationalist, a
pre-Zionism Zionist. "The Communist
rabbi Moses" (as Hess was dubbed by his
friend Arnold Ruge) was also an
collaborator of Karl Marx, a Freemason,
a devotee of the Talmud, an unabashed
Jewish racial supremacist, and staunch
believer in the destruction of
Christianity and future reign of the
Jewish Messiah.
In 1842, Mayer Carl von Rothschild
married his cousin Louise de
Rothschild, the daughter of the world's
richest man (Nathan Mayer
Rothschild). Through her mother, Louise
was Karl Marx's
second-cousin-once-removed, i.e. her
mother (Hannah) was the aunt of Karl
Marx's mother (Henriette).
Also in 1842, Moses Hess, through his
position as editor of the Rheinische
Zeitung (Rhenish
Newspaper), meet the young writer Karl
Marx for the first time. Soon afterwards describing him
to his friend Berthold Auerbach, as the
man who "will give the final blow to all
medieval religion and politics".
I've posted previously here and here the
evidence that German-Jewish poet
Heinrich Heine, was the mutual friend of
Karl Marx and James de Rothschild (Mayer
Carl's uncle). But it transpires that
Karl Marx and the Rothschilds had
another mutual acquaintance in Moses
Hess.
The International Institute for Social
History (IISH)
in Amsterdam, hold many of the papers of
Moses Hess, and within them are found
the following six correspondences:
(An archive note reads: "J.J. Speyer was
private secretary of Baron Carl von
Rothschild")
- A general/unaddressed letter of introduction for Hess, written by J.J. Speyer. October 14, 1860
- A letter of introduction for Hess, written by J.J. Seyer to Mr. Goldschmidt. October 14, 1860
- Letter from "[Louis?]"* Rothschild to Moses Hess. December 5, 1861
- Letter from J.J. Speyer to Moses Hess. June 20, 1862
- Letter from J.J. Speyer to Moses Hess. January 30, 1863
- Letter from J.J. Speyer to Moses Hess. January 25, 1864
* Mayer Carl von Rothschild's wife was
named Louise, and she was almost
certainly the author of that letter.
The IISH say that Moses Hess papers they
hold are not restricted, so if any
German speakers want to pop in to the
IISH next time they're in Amsterdam, and
then let me know what these letters say,
I'd be most grateful (although I won't
be holding my breath for a prompt
response).
Some of the letters of Moses Hess can be read in: 'The Revival of Israel: Rome and Jerusalem, The Last Nationalist Question' by Moses Hess.
ReplyThis opinion from his 'Sixth Letter' is typical of the man:
''[....] on the basis of my long experience, I feel inclined to assert that Germany as a whole, in spite of its collective intellectuality, is in its practical social life far behind the civilized nations of Europe. The race war must first be fought out and definitely be settled before social and humane ideas become part and parcel of the German people, as was the case with the Romance peoples which after a long historical process, finally defeated race antagonism''
Moses Hess, Rome and Jerusalem, a Study in Jewish Nationalism, p.80.
First published in 1862. Reissued by the Zionist leader Max Bodenheimer in 1899. First translated into English during the First World War then republished in Jan 1943; one month after the World Jewish Congress persuaded the British House of Commons to announce that the Jews of Europe were being slaughtered by Germans in the predicted ''race'' war.
See here: 'Rome and Jerusalem, a Study in Jewish Nationalism' (Classic Reprint) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CJSWGU/ref=cm_cd_asin_lnk
Good point, well made.
ReplyI've been reading his book the last two days. There's a full copy here:
http://archive.org/stream/romeandjerusale02waxmgoog#page/n4/mode/2up
"A Jew belongs to his race and consequently also to Judaism, in spite of the fact that he or his ancestors have become apostates. It may appear paradoxical, according to our modem religious opinions, but in life, at least, I have observed this view to be true. The converted Jew remains a Jew no matter how much he objects to it."
p.98: http://archive.org/stream/romeandjerusale02waxmgoog#page/n100/mode/2up
Sounds terribly familiar.