Jewish Self-Hate

The diagnosis of Jewish self—hatred has become almost commonplace in contemporary cultural and political debates, but the concept’s origins are not widely appreciated. In its modern form, it received its earliest and fullest expression in Theodor Lessing’s 1930 book Der jüdische Selbsthaß.

Written on the eve of Hitler’s ascent to power, Lessing’s hotly contested work has been variously read as a defense of ...