Irena Ostmeyer. Zwischen Schuld und Sühne: Evangelische Kirche und Juden in der SBZ und DDR 1945-1990. Berlin: Institut für Kirche und Judentum, 2002. 400 S. ISBN 978-3-923095-75-9.

Reviewed by Axel Fair-Schulz (Department of History, State University of New York at Buffalo)
Published on H-German (June, 2004)

Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ has triggered the latest incarnation of ongoing debates around the theological and practical connections between Christianity and Anti-Semitism. Irena Ostmeyer's carefully researched and well-written Zwischen Schuld und Suehne: Evangelische Kirche und Juden in der SBZ und DDR 1945-1990 offers a good overview of the Protestant side of this debate within the context of former East Germany. Her project, originally a Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Potsdam under the supervision of Julius Schoeps (also director of the Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum--Europaeisch-Juedische Studien), is a cogent effort at reconstructing the reactions and approaches of the mainstream Evangelical Church toward Jews and Judaism in the GDR. She is sensitive to the obvious and more hidden dimensions of this complex theme and takes into sober consideration the evolving views of East German Protestantism, as well as various regional differences. Ostmeyer includes theological, historical, as well as social features of the relationship between Evangelical Churches and Jews in her book. Given that reconstruction is this work's strongest suit, Ostmeyer also offers considerable analysis. Further scholarship could render a more rigorously theorized synthesis, integrating her findings into the larger body of work on the relationship of Christianity toward Judaism and the long shadow of the Holocaust. It might also be necessary for further scholarly efforts to integrate the wealth of Ostmeyer's material into the overall history of East Germany.

Ostmeyer divided her work into two major parts: the Evangelical Church's coming to terms with Judaism (in nine chapters) and the development of new relationships between the Evangelical Church and the Jewish congregations/Jews in the GDR (composed of three chapters). At the outset, Ostmeyer provides a user-friendly overview of the scholarly literature as well as explicating her definition of "Evangelical Church," composed of the eight independent regional Churches (Landeskirche Anhalt, Evangelische Kirche in Berlin-Brandenburg, Evangelische Kirche des Goerlitzer Kirchengebietes, Evangelische Landeskirche Greifswald, Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Mecklenburgs, Evangelische der Kirchenprovinz Sachsen, Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskriche Sachsens, as well as the Evangelische-Lutherische Kirche in Thueringen). Ostmeyer excludes the Catholic Church because of its marginal influence in the GDR. She also does not mention the various smaller Christian denominations, even when they happen to be part of the general Protestant tradition. Given how voluminous her material on the mainstream Evangelical Church is, this choice of exclusion might be justified. Yet further research must focus on a more comparative direction and probe whether and to what extent the findings on the Evangelical Church are confirmed and/or complicated by data from the other denominations.

Ostmeyer's definition of "Judaism" includes religious, cultural, and historical features. The scope of her book focuses on Jewish life and identity in Germany after the Shoah and founding of Israel. She has acquired considerable expertise within Judaism and is, in her writing, explicitly conscious of her own Christian background. Thus the concept of a "Christian-Jewish," rather than a "Jewish-Christian," dialogue is not to be understood as establishing a hierarchy. In addition, Ostmeyer also draws attention to the relative passivity of the East German Jewish side of the unfolding dialogue, locating the reasons for this within the small number of Jews, their overall strong loyalty toward the "anti-Fascist" state, the difficulties of the small Jewish congregations to accommodate religiously very different members, fears and recollections of difficult times (such as in the early 1950s), as well as the related wish to just be among themselves in peace. This is augmented further by what Ostmeyer somewhat harshly calls the "theological incompetence" on the part of the majority of the GDR's Jews (p. 304).

Centering her narrative on the Evangelical perspective, Ostmeyer identifies four major phases of Christian-Jewish interaction in the GDR. The time period between 1945-60 is characterized by outrage toward Nazi crimes, as well as compassion for the especially or obviously victimized Jews. This however, went hand in hand with a stubborn refusal to accept any tangible responsibility, particularly in the realm of theology. Yet as time went by, this approach became increasingly nuanced. Several voices within East German Protestantism worked toward a more critical reflection on the relationship between Christian theology and anti-Semitism. One such figure, Professor Heinrich Vogel, pushed for such a re-orientation already in the spring of 1950. Nevertheless his efforts were dwarfed because many Protestants feared that an ecclesiastical admission of guilt would translate into demands for financial compensation (p. 49). The major theological paradigm of the time period was still informed by the notion that the Jews had rejected Jesus Christ and thus would bear some measure of responsibility for their own fate. Thus, in this mindset, Christians should try to convert Jews; this approach essentially precluded any real dialogue based on a relationship of equals.

The author places the second phase of Christian-Jewish interaction between 1960-1961 and 1978. It is marked by a transformation of Evangelical efforts, from the attempts to convert Jews (the so-called Judenmission) to a more genuine dialogue based on mutual respect. This process was pushed even further after 1978, impelled by the fortieth anniversary of the events of November 9, 1938. The remembrance of Kristallnacht, now seen as Pogromnacht (given the somewhat belittling implications of the former term), jump-started further practical manifestations of dialogue, commemoration, as well as theological reflections. Ostmeyer views the last phase as being characterized not just by the Evangelical Church admitting to human guilt but theological guilt as well, regarding anti-Semitism and the Shoah. This phase coalesced around the remembrances of the fiftieth anniversary of the Pogromnacht in 1988. It required a new generation of theologians, Church leaders, and motivated rank-and file membership to spur this development.

Overall Ostmeyer argues that it was not so much the Church leadership as highly motivated individuals working for these changes. Perhaps more detailed biographical sketches would have added to her excellent analysis. Interestingly enough, the majority of East German Evangelical ministers, vicars, and catechists remained uninterested in Jewish culture and learning. Ostmeyer diagnoses the shortcomings in their theological training, which amounted to only a very sketchy knowledge of Judaism. Thus it was ultimately a numerically small group, within the Jewish and the Christian communities, that actively pushed for genuine dialogue and some measure of reconciliation.

The actions of Evangelical Christians toward developing a greater awareness of Jewish heritage and experiences led, already in the 1950s, toward taking better care of Jewish cemeteries, particularly the low profile "forgotten cemeteries" not taken care off by the SED regime. This combined with more spectacular actions, such as lobbying the Evangelical Church on behalf of the beleaguered Jewish cemetery in Berlin-Weissensee, led to tensions between the state and the Church. The SED regime had planned, in 1982-83 and again in 1986, to build a highway right through what constituted Europe's largest Jewish grave site. The strong opposition of the Church, among other factors, convinced the state to give up on this design (p. 301).

Church groups that focused on Jewish matters also often lobbied on behalf of a re-evaluation of the GDR's hostile stance toward Israel, demanding the establishment of diplomatic relations as well as offering an official East German admission of guilt. This, however, collided directly with the GDR's claims of being the anti-fascist German state. Engaged Evangelical Christians thus became direct competitors with the regime, frequently pointing out its ideological blind spots.

Ostmeyer argues that in essence the East German Evangelical Church voiced a position independent of the state's point of view. While it seems indeed the case, that they articulated alternatives to official GDR positions, they also remained firmly grounded in the political, socio-economic, and cultural orbit of their state. Thus future research could explore in more detail the complex interconnections between the regime's perspective(s) and the alternative(s) offered by the Evangelical Church.

Overall, Ostmeyer did a superb job of presenting and evaluating an immense amount of archival material, combined with interviews and the ever-expanding secondary literature. Her book is a very useful resource for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars in the field.

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Citation: Axel Fair-Schulz. Review of Ostmeyer, Irena, Zwischen Schuld und Sühne: Evangelische Kirche und Juden in der SBZ und DDR 1945-1990. H-German, H-Net Reviews. June, 2004.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=9452

Copyright © 2004 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at hbooks@mail.h-net.org.