Götz Aly und Hans-Ulrich Wehler über Kapitalismus, Antisemitismus

Abstract

Götz Aly’s book Europa gegen die Juden 1880–1945 (Europe against the Jews 1880–1945) is a sequel to his earlier published treatise Warum die Deutschen? Warum die Juden? Gleichheit, Neid und Rassenhass (Why the Germans? Why the Jews? Equality, Envy, and Racial Hatred). Both volumes explore the impact of envy on policies of ‘social’ justice and national homogeneity in the interwar period, thereby pointing out the negative aspects of social engineering. As its predecessor, Europa gegen die Juden has been, therefore, criticized by commentators of a more interventionist outlook. One of Aly’s most prominent – and sternest – critics is the historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler. This essay presents a critical assessment of Aly’s argument, the replies of his critics, and Wehler’s views on the market economy, interventionism and ‘social’ justice.