History, Memory, and Means of Communication: the Case of Jew Süss

Abstract

Joseph Süss Oppenheimer’s three years as financial advisor to the Duke of Württemberg yielded a plethora of poems, chronicles, witticisms, stories, novels, films, and historical research describing and analyzing his life. This successful Jew, born to an Orthodox family in the late seventeenth century, made his mark as a brilliant financier in the early eighteenth century, and was subsequently executed in disgrace. The fact that now, nearly 300 years after his death, his character is the focus of works of art and scientific studies indicates his uniqueness and the diverse perspectives and ways of commemorating his personality. Süss was a man of contradictions: his family designated him for rabbinical studies, yet he found his vocation as a tradesman; he was brought up in the Jewish ghetto of Heidelberg, but matured in the light of prominent Central European courts; he deeply understood the complexities of commerce and law, and sought to revise them radically; he planned wide-ranging institutional reforms, yet failed to comprehend the political map when it concerned him personally; he was possessive, a hedonist, and a womanizer, and tormented himself before his death; he was among the first Jews to have fully assimilated, but died with Shema Yisrael on his lips (Gerber, 1990; Stern, 1950, 1973 [1929]).