Jewish Address Book for Greater Berlin, 1929-1930 – Documentation of the Jewish Community of Berlin Before the ...

Jewish Address Book for Greater Berlin, 1929-1930 – Documentation of the Jewish Community of Berlin Before the Nazis' Rise to Power
Jüdisches Adressbuch für Gross-Berlin [Jewish Address Book for Greater Berlin]. Managing editor: H. Arnold. Berlin: Goedega Verlags-Gesellschaft, [1929]. German.
An address book of the Jews of Berlin for the years 1929-1930, listing more than seventy thousand Berliner Jews (about a third of the Jewish population of Berlin at the time). Alphabetical entries include last and first name, occupation and address. A small drawing of a telephone earpiece was added next to telephone owners.
The address book includes advertisements for hundreds of Jewish places of business and companies in Berlin (some printed on color paper). It ends with several texts about the Jewish community of Berlin (reviewing the educational system, the welfare system, religious services and more) and a list of dozens of Jewish associations and organizations, grouped by various categories: general associations, aid associations, synagogue and community associations, youth associations, professional organizations, cultural associations, women's association, students' associations, Zionist associations, sports associations and more.
Even before publication, this book provoked much controversy among the Jews of Berlin, some of whom saw it as an act of defiance exposing the Jews of the city to grave danger. In the introduction to this edition, the editors extensively addressed the atmosphere in Berlin and the claims of their opponents: "There are of course Jews who object to a Jewish address book, since they are not interested in seeing themselves described as Jews in print. We do not consider such an objection to be valid. We know very well that the anti-Jewish movement nowadays has a distinct tendency to identify any person with a Jewish-sounding name as a Jew. […] the German Jews, in general, see themselves as a loyal organ of the German people […] they proved it during the World War, when tens of thousands sacrificed their lives for the German people and homeland".
The publishers intended to print a new directory once every two years; however, only one additional edition was published, in 1931, before the Nazi party rose to power.
496, [2] pp. + [5] advertisement plates. Approx. 29 cm. Good condition. Stains (mostly to margins). Closed and open tears to first and last leaves (some restored. Pieces of paper for reinforcement on one of the leaves). One plate detached. Inked stamps to first leaf and a pen notation to inside front cover. The cover is stained and slightly worn. The spine is restored.