Theodor Fritsch
Encyclopedia
Theodor Fritsch, originally Emil Theodor Fritsche (28 October 1852, Wiedemar – 8 September 1933, Markkleeberg
), was a German
publisher and pundit. His anti-semitic writings did much to influence popular German opinion against Jews
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His writings also appeared under the pen names Thomas Frey, Fritz Thor, and Ferdinand Roderich-Stoltheim.
He is not to be confused with his son, also Theodor Fritsch (1895-1946), likewise a bookseller and member of the SA
.
where he learned casting and machine building. He then undertook study at the Berlin Institute of Technology, graduating as a technician in 1875. In the same year he found employment in a Berlin factory. He gained independence in 1879 through the founding of a technical bureau associated with a publishing firm. In 1880 he founded the "Deutsche Müllerbund" (the miller's league) which issued the publication "Der Deutsche Müller" (the German Miller). In 1898 he founded the "Saxon Small Business Association." He devoted himself to this organization and to the interests of crafts and small businesses (Mittelstand
), as well as to the spread of anti-Semitic propaganda. When he changed his name to Fritsch is unclear.
in 1894, where it became an organ for Sonnenberg's party under the name "German Social Articles."
Fritsch founded a Leipzig publishing firm, Hammer-Verlag, in 1902, whose flagship publication was "The Hammer: pages for German Sense" (1902-1940). The firm issued German translations of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and "The International Jew" (collected writings of Henry Ford
from The Dearborn Independent
) as well as many of Fritsch's own works.
, one of the first deputies of the "Antisemitic People's Party," founded by Böckel and Oswald Zimmermann, to the Reichstag
. The party was renamed the Reform party in 1893, achieving sixteen seats. The party failed, however, to achieve significant public recognition. One of Fritsch's major goals was to unite all anti-semitic political parties
under a single banner; he wished for anti-semitism to permeate the agenda of every German social and political organization. This effort proved largely to be a failure, as by 1890 there were over 190 various anti-semitic parties in Germany. He also had a powerful rival for the leadership of the anti-semites in Otto Böckel
, with whom he had a strong personal rivalry.
Fritsch founded the Reichshammerbund
(Reich's Hammer League) in 1912, one of the first political groups to adopt the swastika
. He also founded the secret Germanenorden
in that year. Members of these groups formed the Thule Society in 1918, which eventually sponsored the creation of the Nazi party. The Reichhammerbund was eventually folded into the Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund
, on whose advisory board Fritsch sat. He later became a member of the German Völkisch Freedom Party
. In the general election of May, 1924, Fritsch was elected to serve as a member of the National Socialist Freedom Movement
, a party formed in alliance with the Völkisch Freedom Party by the Nazis as a legal means to election after the Nazi party had been banned in the aftermath of the Munich Putsch. He only served until the next election in December, 1924.
, Fritsch was upset by the changes brought on by rapid industrialization and urbanization
, and called for a return to the traditional peasant values and customs of the distant past, which he believed exemplified the essence of the Volk.
In 1893, Fritsch published his most famous work, The Handbook of the Jewish Question also known as the Anti-Semitic Catechism
which leveled a number of conspiratorial charges at European Jews and called upon Germans to refrain from intermingling with them. Vastly popular, the book was read by millions and was in its 49th edition by 1944 (330.000 copies). The ideas espoused by the work greatly influenced Hitler and the Nazis during their rise to power after World War I
. Fritsch also founded an anti-semitic journal - the Hammer (in 1902) and this became the basis of a movement, the Reichshammerbund
, in 1912.
His better known book, The Riddle of the Jew's Success was published in English in 1927 under the pseudonym F. Roderich-Stoltheim, and dealt with the negative impact that Jewish values and the centralization of the German economy in Jewish hands had on the German people. This book was recently republished by Noontide Press, and was the subject of a media controversy after it was banned by Amazon.com and other online book sellers.
Markkleeberg
Markkleeberg is a town in the Leipzig district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Pleiße, approx. 7 km south of Leipzig.In 1813 much of the Battle of Leipzig took place where today's Markkleeberg is situated....
), was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
publisher and pundit. His anti-semitic writings did much to influence popular German opinion against Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His writings also appeared under the pen names Thomas Frey, Fritz Thor, and Ferdinand Roderich-Stoltheim.
He is not to be confused with his son, also Theodor Fritsch (1895-1946), likewise a bookseller and member of the SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
.
Life
Fritsch was born Emil Theodor Fritsche, the sixth of seven children to Johann Friedrich and August Wilhelmine (neé Ohme) Fritsche. Four of his siblings died in childhood. He attended vocational school in DelitzschDelitzsch
Delitzsch is a large district and also an important regional center in Saxony. With over 26,300 inhabitants Delitzsch is the largest city in the northern district of Saxony...
where he learned casting and machine building. He then undertook study at the Berlin Institute of Technology, graduating as a technician in 1875. In the same year he found employment in a Berlin factory. He gained independence in 1879 through the founding of a technical bureau associated with a publishing firm. In 1880 he founded the "Deutsche Müllerbund" (the miller's league) which issued the publication "Der Deutsche Müller" (the German Miller). In 1898 he founded the "Saxon Small Business Association." He devoted himself to this organization and to the interests of crafts and small businesses (Mittelstand
Mittelstand
Mittelstand refers to small and medium-sized enterprises in German-speaking countries, especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Economic and business historians have been increasingly giving Mittelstand companies more and more credit for Germany's economic growth in the beginning of the 20th...
), as well as to the spread of anti-Semitic propaganda. When he changed his name to Fritsch is unclear.
Publishing
Fritsch created an early discussion forum, "Antisemitic Correspondence" in 1885 for anti-Semites of various political persuasions. He offered editorship of it to right-wing politician Max Liebermann von SonnenbergMax Liebermann von Sonnenberg
Max Liebermann von Sonnenberg was a German officer who became noted as an anti-Semitic politician and publisher...
in 1894, where it became an organ for Sonnenberg's party under the name "German Social Articles."
Fritsch founded a Leipzig publishing firm, Hammer-Verlag, in 1902, whose flagship publication was "The Hammer: pages for German Sense" (1902-1940). The firm issued German translations of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and "The International Jew" (collected writings of Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
from The Dearborn Independent
The Dearborn Independent
The Dearborn Independent, a/k/a The Ford International Weekly, was a weekly newspaper established in 1901, but published by Henry Ford from 1919 through 1927. It was notorious for its antisemitic content , and its publication in English of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion...
) as well as many of Fritsch's own works.
Political Activities
In 1890, Fritsch became, along with Otto BöckelOtto Böckel
Otto Böckel was a German populist politician who became one of the first to successfully exploit anti-Semitism as a political issue in the country.-Path to politics:...
, one of the first deputies of the "Antisemitic People's Party," founded by Böckel and Oswald Zimmermann, to the Reichstag
Reichstag
Reichstag may refer to:*Reichstag – the diets or parliaments of the Holy Roman Empire, of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, and of Germany from 1871 to 1945** Reichstag ** Reichstag...
. The party was renamed the Reform party in 1893, achieving sixteen seats. The party failed, however, to achieve significant public recognition. One of Fritsch's major goals was to unite all anti-semitic political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
under a single banner; he wished for anti-semitism to permeate the agenda of every German social and political organization. This effort proved largely to be a failure, as by 1890 there were over 190 various anti-semitic parties in Germany. He also had a powerful rival for the leadership of the anti-semites in Otto Böckel
Otto Böckel
Otto Böckel was a German populist politician who became one of the first to successfully exploit anti-Semitism as a political issue in the country.-Path to politics:...
, with whom he had a strong personal rivalry.
Fritsch founded the Reichshammerbund
Reichshammerbund
Reichshammerbund was a German anti-Semitic movement founded in 1912 by Theodor Fritsch.Based on The Hammer, a journal founded by Fritsch in 1902, the Bund argued that Jewish influences had contaminated Germany and attempted to argue that their racism had a basis in biology...
(Reich's Hammer League) in 1912, one of the first political groups to adopt the swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
. He also founded the secret Germanenorden
Germanenorden
The Germanenorden was a völkisch secret society in early 20th century Germany...
in that year. Members of these groups formed the Thule Society in 1918, which eventually sponsored the creation of the Nazi party. The Reichhammerbund was eventually folded into the Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund
Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund
The Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund was the largest, most active, and most influential anti-Semitic federation in Germany after the first World War, and one of the largest and most important organization of the German völkisch movement during the Weimar Republic, whose...
, on whose advisory board Fritsch sat. He later became a member of the German Völkisch Freedom Party
German Völkisch Freedom Party
The German Völkisch Freedom Party was a right-wing and antisemitic political party of Weimar Germany that took its name from the Völkisch movement, a populist movement focused on folklore and the German Volk....
. In the general election of May, 1924, Fritsch was elected to serve as a member of the National Socialist Freedom Movement
National Socialist Freedom Movement
The National Socialist Freedom Movement , or NSFB) or National Socialist Freedom Party was a German political party created in April 1924 in the aftermath of the Munich Putsch. Adolf Hitler and many Nazi Party leaders were jailed after the attempted coup and the Nazi party was outlawed in what...
, a party formed in alliance with the Völkisch Freedom Party by the Nazis as a legal means to election after the Nazi party had been banned in the aftermath of the Munich Putsch. He only served until the next election in December, 1924.
Works
A believer in the absolute superiority of the Aryan raceAryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
, Fritsch was upset by the changes brought on by rapid industrialization and urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
, and called for a return to the traditional peasant values and customs of the distant past, which he believed exemplified the essence of the Volk.
In 1893, Fritsch published his most famous work, The Handbook of the Jewish Question also known as the Anti-Semitic Catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
which leveled a number of conspiratorial charges at European Jews and called upon Germans to refrain from intermingling with them. Vastly popular, the book was read by millions and was in its 49th edition by 1944 (330.000 copies). The ideas espoused by the work greatly influenced Hitler and the Nazis during their rise to power after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Fritsch also founded an anti-semitic journal - the Hammer (in 1902) and this became the basis of a movement, the Reichshammerbund
Reichshammerbund
Reichshammerbund was a German anti-Semitic movement founded in 1912 by Theodor Fritsch.Based on The Hammer, a journal founded by Fritsch in 1902, the Bund argued that Jewish influences had contaminated Germany and attempted to argue that their racism had a basis in biology...
, in 1912.
His better known book, The Riddle of the Jew's Success was published in English in 1927 under the pseudonym F. Roderich-Stoltheim, and dealt with the negative impact that Jewish values and the centralization of the German economy in Jewish hands had on the German people. This book was recently republished by Noontide Press, and was the subject of a media controversy after it was banned by Amazon.com and other online book sellers.