WINNIPEG โ Historyโs most uncomfortable lessons are often the ones we most need to confront. Among them is a painful and largely forgotten chapter: a small but vocal group of German Jews in the early 1930s who openly embraced the rising Nazi movement. They believed that if they assimilated fully and proved their loyalty to German nationalism, they could secure their place in society, even as that society was turning against them.
Today, in a very different context, some Jews are once again drawn to a seductive idea: that by aligning themselves with dominant ideological trends, especially the โwokeโ worldview that now shapes large swaths of Western culture, they can gain acceptance, protection, and moral legitimacy. History suggests the opposite. When Jews subordinate their identity to fashionable ideologies or majority approval, they risk losing far more than they gain.
This is not an equivalence comparison. It is a comparison of patterns. And patterns matter.
The Forgotten Jews Who Welcomed Hitler
Contrary to popular belief, a handful of Jewish organizations in Weimar Germany supported or welcomed the nationalist movement that paved the way for Hitler. Two groups stand out:
- The Association of German National Jews (VnJ), founded in 1921 by Max Naumann.
- The German Vanguard (Der deutsche Vortrupp), created in 1933 by Hans-Joachim Schoeps.
These groups represented only a tiny fraction of German Jewry. They were fringe. They were wrong. And they were destroyed by the very movement they embraced.
But their existence, however marginal, matters.
These were not self-hating Jews. They were assimilated, patriotic, and loyal. They believed that if Jews renounced political Zionism, distanced themselves from Eastern European Jews, and presented themselves solely as โGerman citizens of Mosaic faith,โ they would be accepted.
They misread the moment. Fatally.
They believed antisemitism could be appeased.
They believed assimilation could purchase safety.
They believed loyalty would protect them.
It didnโt.
Nazi antisemitism was racial, uncompromising, and total. Jews could not โfit inโ their way out of danger. By 1935, Naumannโs group was banned, its leaders jailed, its members ostracized, and eventually all of German Jewry was marked for extermination.
Their tragedy teaches us a timeless lesson: assimilation does not protect Jews from antisemitism, especially when the dominant ideology is hostile to Jewish identity itself.
The Modern Temptation: Woke Ideology and Jewish Identity
Todayโs ideological pressures are not Nazism. But the dynamics of assimilation, the impulse to seek belonging through self-erasure, have resurfaced in a new form.
“Woke” ideology presents itself as moral, progressive, and compassionate. Many of its adherents sincerely believe in fighting discrimination and pursuing justice. Those goals, in isolation, are noble.
But the ideological framework that has taken hold in universities, activist circles, and parts of the media leaves little room for Jews. as Jews.
Under the rigid oppressor-vs-oppressed lens:
- Jews, especially Ashkenazi Jews, are often cast as privileged โwhiteโ oppressors.
- Jewish history of persecution is frequently minimized or reframed.
- Israel is designated an โimperialistโ or โcolonialโ state, making Zionist Jews suspect.
- Jewish identity is tolerated only when privatized, diluted, or stripped of national meaning.
This worldview demands ideological conformity. Nuance is treated as betrayal. Jewish history, Jewish nationalism, and even Jewish safety are reinterpreted through an external political lens.
For some Jews, especially younger ones, adopting this framework seems like a path to belonging. It offers moral clarity, social approval, and the comfort of aligning with the cultural mainstream.
But there is a cost: Jewish identity is trimmed to fit the ideology, not the other way around.
The historical parallel is not exact, but the psychological pattern is identical.
The Perils of Assimilation by Ideology
1. Acceptance Granted by Others Can Be Revoked Without Notice
Just as German Jews believed their โGermannessโ would shield them, some modern Jews believe progressive activism will place them on the โright side of history.โ
But ideological acceptance is fickle.
It evaporates the moment Jewish identity diverges from the dominant narrative.
That moment is already here.
2. Assimilation Requires Self-Denial
The Jews who embraced German nationalism rejected Zionism, denounced Eastern Jews, and subordinated Jewish identity to German identity.
Today, some woke-aligned Jews, consciously or not, follow a similar pattern:
downplaying Zionism, recasting Jewish identity as purely religious, or treating Jewish national memory as an inconvenience.
When identity becomes negotiable, it becomes fragile.
3. Jews Cannot Outsource Their Safety
The German Jews who served in the First World War believed that their patriotism earned them permanent security. They were wrong.
Modern Jews who believe that solidarity in progressive coalitions will protect them from antisemitism are repeating that mistake.
Solidarity that evaporates when Israel is mentioned is not solidarity.
Safety that depends on ideological conformity is not safety.
A Warning, Not a Weapon
This op-ed is not an attack on progressive Jews. Many progressive Jews remain deeply committed to Jewish values, Jewish continuity, and Israelโs survival. Many fight antisemitism courageously.
The argument is narrower:
Any ideology, left or right, that demands Jews weaken, redefine, or apologize for their Jewish identity is a threat to Jewish continuity.
Whether the ideology calls itself nationalist or woke, the danger is the same: self-betrayal through assimilation.
The Responsibility of Memory
The small number of German Jews who welcomed Hitler does not represent Jewish history. But they provide one of their most haunting cautionary tales.
They remind us that Jewish vulnerability is rarely obvious at the time.
They remind us that ideological conformity is not protection.
They remind us that Jewish identity must never be traded for social acceptance.
And they remind us that safety comes not from assimilation, but from clarity, community, and the courage to stand apart when necessary.
For Jews today, especially in the diaspora, the lesson is simple:
Belonging is never worth the price of self-erasure.
Identity is never worth sacrificing for applause.
History remembers the Jews who tried to fit in, only because they disappeared.
We must choose differently.
