(no subject)
Emil Julius Gumbel’s Four Years of Political murder was written to draw attention to the countless assassinations that occurred in Weimar Germany from 1918 until 1922. Gumbel, focused on the 354 political assassinations committed by those on the German political right and the corrupt legal system that failed to give appropriate punishments to those who committed these crimes. Gumbel contrasts these political murders with similar crimes perpetrated by those on the German political left who received much harsher penalties for the crimes they committed. Gumbel’s article is significant because one of the many repercussions he suffered from writing it was being banned from attending German academic institutions.
Emil Julius Gumbel was born in Munich Germany on the 18th of July 1891. Gumbel was the son of a Jewish banker and was the first of three children. Although both Gumbel’s parents were Jewish he neither repelled nor accepted the attacks against his Jewish heritage made by anti-Semites which plagued his life in Germany. Gumbel was an academic and a social activist. Although his academic and activist lifestyles intermingled he managed to keep them fairly separate throughout his life. Gumbel who was once called “the one man party” held no defining obligations to any particular political group or party but held core political values which he rigidly adhered to. Gumbel was a fervent pacifist, a democratic socialist and thought that the Communist Soviet Union in the 1920’s was “progressive”. Gumbel lacked tact when it came to expressing opinions on sensitive issues and this caused him great problems throughout his life. The statements Gumbel made in relation to soldiers who died during World War 1 best demonstrate this. Gumbel was quoted as linking victims with the “field of dishonour”, this statement and other statements which caused problems for Gumbel were characteristic of Gumbel’s confidence to state his opinion with no regard for the consequences. Gumbel was forced to leave Germany in order to continue his academic career after the publication of Four Years of Political Murder8. Gumbel spent considerable time along with his wife and children in France before problems there forced him to migrate to the United States of America. Gumbel continued his academic career in the United States but scaled down his social activism9.
In order to contemplate how over three hundred assassinations could be committed without punishment it is important to gain an understanding of the historical context in which these murders were committed. According to Gumbel, right-wing interests still heavily controlled the media, the court system and the army in Weimar Germany. Gumbel believed that these interests allowed the court to view those committing crimes against pacifist socialist politicians as part of the establishment and those they were assassinating as the enemy. According to Gumbel, army officers and soldiers committed all of the assassinations he attributed to the right. Gumbel contrasts these cases with the assassinations or riots carried out by the left, which resulted in harsh penalties ranging from life imprisonment to the death penalty. Gumbel believes that the judges who presided over these cases based their verdict upon the political affiliations of the offenders rather than the evidence within the cases.
Gumbel wrote Four Years of Political Murder in order to bring to public attention a corrupt law that allowed German officers to give orders to shoot alleged “Spartacists”. This law was being used to allow courts to acquit soldiers who had assassinated left wing politicians and leaders. The Officers accused of producing the order to kill the alleged “Spartacists” then routinely claimed that their order was either taken out of context or not an official order. Gumbel describes therefore how both officers and soldiers were guilty, but no one was punished for the crimes committed. Gumbel’s argument is supported by civil cases in which the court acknowledged that the assassinations were in fact illegal and did take place.
It is hard to contemplate how 354 murders went unpunished in a supposed democracy, but Gumbel attempts to explain the relationship between the courts, the media, the army and the community. Gumbel describes how “public opinion in general approves… for clever propaganda has taught it that every enemy of militarism is a Spartacist, therefore an enemy of humanity, therefore open game”. According to Brenner, the media and academics within Universities as well as the general public were openly hostile to pacifists during and after World War 1.10 Gumbel describes how the media openly stated that it was unfortunate that certain political figures were not assassinated. This kind of journalism it could be argued heavily swayed public opinion against left wing politicians. This public opinion therefore enabled assassinations to take place without a public backlash against the army officials involved. Gumbel describes how these assassinations robbed the left of all its leaders and subsequently crushed the working class movement.
Gumbel’s opinions relating to “political murders then and now”, is quite bizarre and seems to contradict his moral beliefs and the majority of his arguments in Four Years of Political Murder. Gumbel stated that ‘earlier (previous political murders) a certain resolve was part of political murder… a certain heroism was not to be denied: the perpetrator risked life and limb.’ This is quite a strange argument coming from someone who appeared so passionate about pacifism and humanity. In trying to comprehend these statements in regards to Gumbel’s other beliefs it is apparent that he is trying to illustrate that committing an assassination is no longer something that will alter the life of the person committing the crime. It is still quite difficult to comprehend however that Gumbel would see such an act as a “heroic deed”.
Gumbel’s document is useful to a historian trying to understand both the psychological state of the German people during the Weimar republic and the power that right-wing interests held within Germany at this time. It is also significant in tracing the rise of the Nazi party and their rise in Weimar and Post Weimar Germany. The significance of the Nazi party is not present in the article itself, but in the role they played in the demise of Gumbel’s academic career as a result of writing Four Years of Political Murder among other things.It was the Nazis and other significant right wing factions that campaigned to have Gumbel fired from his post at Heidelberg University between 1930 and 1932. Gumbel and his document are significant from a historians perspective because he was a pacifist and a social democrat living in a German society dominated by fascists, people against democracy and war mongers. In evaluating Gumbel’s writing therefore a historian must take into account that Gumbel’s ideological stance severely affected his views on society and his work must be viewed accordingly.
Gumbel’s article is also significant because his bravery in publishing an article about such a dangerous topic, considering his ideological stance, shed light on a number of deaths that perhaps otherwise would not have been considered assassinations by historians in years to come. The plight that Gumbel suffered after writing Four Years of Political Murder illustrates how difficult it was to hold pacifist ideals during the rise of the Nazi party in Germany in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Gumbel’s story is an illustration of the role the Nazi party and other right wing groups played in removing political freedom within German Universities. Four Years of Political Murder is significant because it illustrates how right wing Germans destroyed the foundations of the working class movement in German society.
Emil Julius Gumbel was born in Munich Germany on the 18th of July 1891. Gumbel was the son of a Jewish banker and was the first of three children. Although both Gumbel’s parents were Jewish he neither repelled nor accepted the attacks against his Jewish heritage made by anti-Semites which plagued his life in Germany. Gumbel was an academic and a social activist. Although his academic and activist lifestyles intermingled he managed to keep them fairly separate throughout his life. Gumbel who was once called “the one man party” held no defining obligations to any particular political group or party but held core political values which he rigidly adhered to. Gumbel was a fervent pacifist, a democratic socialist and thought that the Communist Soviet Union in the 1920’s was “progressive”. Gumbel lacked tact when it came to expressing opinions on sensitive issues and this caused him great problems throughout his life. The statements Gumbel made in relation to soldiers who died during World War 1 best demonstrate this. Gumbel was quoted as linking victims with the “field of dishonour”, this statement and other statements which caused problems for Gumbel were characteristic of Gumbel’s confidence to state his opinion with no regard for the consequences. Gumbel was forced to leave Germany in order to continue his academic career after the publication of Four Years of Political Murder8. Gumbel spent considerable time along with his wife and children in France before problems there forced him to migrate to the United States of America. Gumbel continued his academic career in the United States but scaled down his social activism9.
In order to contemplate how over three hundred assassinations could be committed without punishment it is important to gain an understanding of the historical context in which these murders were committed. According to Gumbel, right-wing interests still heavily controlled the media, the court system and the army in Weimar Germany. Gumbel believed that these interests allowed the court to view those committing crimes against pacifist socialist politicians as part of the establishment and those they were assassinating as the enemy. According to Gumbel, army officers and soldiers committed all of the assassinations he attributed to the right. Gumbel contrasts these cases with the assassinations or riots carried out by the left, which resulted in harsh penalties ranging from life imprisonment to the death penalty. Gumbel believes that the judges who presided over these cases based their verdict upon the political affiliations of the offenders rather than the evidence within the cases.
Gumbel wrote Four Years of Political Murder in order to bring to public attention a corrupt law that allowed German officers to give orders to shoot alleged “Spartacists”. This law was being used to allow courts to acquit soldiers who had assassinated left wing politicians and leaders. The Officers accused of producing the order to kill the alleged “Spartacists” then routinely claimed that their order was either taken out of context or not an official order. Gumbel describes therefore how both officers and soldiers were guilty, but no one was punished for the crimes committed. Gumbel’s argument is supported by civil cases in which the court acknowledged that the assassinations were in fact illegal and did take place.
It is hard to contemplate how 354 murders went unpunished in a supposed democracy, but Gumbel attempts to explain the relationship between the courts, the media, the army and the community. Gumbel describes how “public opinion in general approves… for clever propaganda has taught it that every enemy of militarism is a Spartacist, therefore an enemy of humanity, therefore open game”. According to Brenner, the media and academics within Universities as well as the general public were openly hostile to pacifists during and after World War 1.10 Gumbel describes how the media openly stated that it was unfortunate that certain political figures were not assassinated. This kind of journalism it could be argued heavily swayed public opinion against left wing politicians. This public opinion therefore enabled assassinations to take place without a public backlash against the army officials involved. Gumbel describes how these assassinations robbed the left of all its leaders and subsequently crushed the working class movement.
Gumbel’s opinions relating to “political murders then and now”, is quite bizarre and seems to contradict his moral beliefs and the majority of his arguments in Four Years of Political Murder. Gumbel stated that ‘earlier (previous political murders) a certain resolve was part of political murder… a certain heroism was not to be denied: the perpetrator risked life and limb.’ This is quite a strange argument coming from someone who appeared so passionate about pacifism and humanity. In trying to comprehend these statements in regards to Gumbel’s other beliefs it is apparent that he is trying to illustrate that committing an assassination is no longer something that will alter the life of the person committing the crime. It is still quite difficult to comprehend however that Gumbel would see such an act as a “heroic deed”.
Gumbel’s document is useful to a historian trying to understand both the psychological state of the German people during the Weimar republic and the power that right-wing interests held within Germany at this time. It is also significant in tracing the rise of the Nazi party and their rise in Weimar and Post Weimar Germany. The significance of the Nazi party is not present in the article itself, but in the role they played in the demise of Gumbel’s academic career as a result of writing Four Years of Political Murder among other things.It was the Nazis and other significant right wing factions that campaigned to have Gumbel fired from his post at Heidelberg University between 1930 and 1932. Gumbel and his document are significant from a historians perspective because he was a pacifist and a social democrat living in a German society dominated by fascists, people against democracy and war mongers. In evaluating Gumbel’s writing therefore a historian must take into account that Gumbel’s ideological stance severely affected his views on society and his work must be viewed accordingly.
Gumbel’s article is also significant because his bravery in publishing an article about such a dangerous topic, considering his ideological stance, shed light on a number of deaths that perhaps otherwise would not have been considered assassinations by historians in years to come. The plight that Gumbel suffered after writing Four Years of Political Murder illustrates how difficult it was to hold pacifist ideals during the rise of the Nazi party in Germany in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Gumbel’s story is an illustration of the role the Nazi party and other right wing groups played in removing political freedom within German Universities. Four Years of Political Murder is significant because it illustrates how right wing Germans destroyed the foundations of the working class movement in German society.