Antisemitism in Tourist Facilities in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume XXVIII

Antisemitism in Tourist Facilities in Weimar Germany

The article examines the antisemitism encountered by Jews in Germany during their vacations. Whereas most Jews did not encounter antisemitism directly, it is clear that there were tourist facilities, hotels, and pensions in the Weimar Republic that refused to receive Jews. In other facilities, Jews encountered antisemitic symbols, slogans, and propaganda, while some places actually served as favored meeting points for antisemites. There were businesses that refused to serve Jews, and people holding official or semi-official positions who did not hide their antisemitism. In some places, Jewish vacationers were subject to insult, violence, or boycott by other vacationers. The popular coastal areas were known to have a large concentration of antisemitic tourist facilities, and Jews had to take these factors into account in planning their vacations. The last part of the article examines cases where hoteliers displayed antisemitism even though they conducted business with Jews and were not known to be antisemitic. Thus, there was widespread latent antisemitism in German society, and this allowed radical antisemites to engage in activities against Jews.