Lovable Crooks and Loathsome Jews: Antisemitism in German and Austrian Crime Writing Before the World Wars

by T.S. Kord

Overview

In the years leading up to the World Wars, Germany and Austria saw an unprecedented increase in the study and depiction of the criminal. Science, journalism and crime fiction were obsessed with delinquents while ignoring the social causes of crime. As criminologists measured criminals' heads and debated biological predestination, court reporters and crime writers wrote side-splitting or heart-rending stories featuring one of the most popular characters ever created--the hilarious or piteous crook. The author examines the figure of the crook and notions of "Jewish" criminality in a range of antisemitic writing, from Nazi propaganda to court reporting to forgotten classics of crime fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476670126
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	11/05/2018
Pages:	347
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

T.S. Kord is a professor at University College London, the author of ten books and the recipient of six major awards for her writing. She lives in London.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Settings
Criminals and Mass Men in ­Pre-Totalitarian Peace Time
Characters: Crime Theories
Compulsion v. Conspiracy: German and Jewish Criminals
in Criminology (1890s–1914)
Incorrigibles v. Inferiors: German and Jewish Criminals
Criminal Biology (1919–1939)
Conflicts: Crime Cases
A Conman Plays a Captain: The Case of Wilhelm Voigt
(Berlin, 1906)
A Conwoman Nabs a Captain: The Case of Tamara von
Hervay (Leoben, Austria, 1904)
A Tale of Two Thieves: The Case of Franz and Erich Sass
(Berlin, 1920s)
A Tale of Two Editors: The Case of Hugo Bettauer and
Rudolf Olden (Vienna, 1920s)
Plots: Crime Stories
Tragic Criminals and Farcical Justice (1890s–1914)
Farcical Criminals or Tragic Victims (1926–1939)
Resolutions?
Neverending Stories (1950–2001)
Chapter Notes
Filmography
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

This is the most illuminating interpretation of the critical forces that shaped the Holocaust written in the last fifty years. A stunning, scary, and fabulous book.”—Michael Berkowitz, author of The Crime of My Very Existence: Nazism and the Myth of Jewish Criminality.

From the Publisher