Alien, everyman, Jew: The dialectics of Dutch “philosemitism” on the eve of world war II

Abstract

This chapter proposes to reexamine a Dutch philosemitic classic: Antisemitisme en Jodendom (Antisemitism and Judaism), a collection of eleven antifascist essays published in 1939 by philosopher Hendrik Pos and the Comité van Waakzaamheid. Throughout the book, Judaism was merely instrumental; its primary concern was to defend international Civilization against ultranationalist barbarism. The author zooms in on the articles on the Jewish contribution to Western ethics, philosophy, and literature (by Menno ter Braak), to find out which intellectual paradigms and clichés had nourished their argumentation. It is shown that the Jewish condition anno 1939 was never on the radar. The book was thus a prime example of utilitarian Western philosemitism, of gentiles backing the Jewish cause only in support of a non-Jewish agenda.