The Passion of Max Von Oppenheim : Archaeology and Intrigue in the Middle East From Wilhelm II to Hitler

Born into a prominent German Jewish banking family, Baron Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946) was a keen amateur archaeologist and ethnologist. His discovery and excavation of Tell Halaf in Syria marked an important contribution to knowledge of the ancient Middle East, while his massive study of the Bedouins is still consulted by scholars today. He was also an ardent German patriot, eager to support his country's pursuit of its "place in the sun". Excluded by his part-Jewish ancestry from the regular diplomatic service, Oppenheim earned a reputation as "the Kaiser's spy" because of his intriguing against the British in Cairo, as well as his plan, at the start of the First World War, to incite Muslims under British, French and Russian rule to a jihad against the colonial powers. After 1933, despite being half-Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws, Oppenheim was not persecuted by the Nazis. In fact, he placed his knowledge of the Middle East and his connections with Muslim leaders at the service of the regime. Ranging widely over many fields - from war studies to archaeology and banking history - 'The Passion of Max von Oppenheim' tells the gripping and at times unsettling story of one part-Jewish man's passion for his country in the face of persistent and, in his later years, genocidal anti-Semitism. Cover 1 Half-title Page 2 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Illustrations 10 Acknowledgments 14 A notes on translations 14 Foreword 18 Introduction 24 I. Family background, diplomatic career, role in World War I 28 1. The Oppenheims 30 2. The Charm of the Orient 40 3. Attaché in Cairo. “The Kaiser’s Spy” 60 4. The Spectre of Pan-Islamism and Jihad. The Background of Oppenheim’s 1914 Denkschrift betreffend die Revolutionierung der islamischen Gebiete Unserer Feinde 74 5. Oppenheim’s 1914 Denkschrift 108 6. Promoter of German Economic Expansion and the Berlin-Baghdad Railway 134 II. The Archaeologist: Tell Halaf 144 7. Discovery and Excavation, Publications and Critical Reception 146 8. Financial Difficulties. The Fate of the Tell Halaf Finds 174 III. “The Kaiser’s Spy” under National Socialism. “Leben im NS-Staat” 186 9. Questions 188 10. The Oppenheims and their Bank under National Socialism 190 11. Waldemar and Friedrich Carl von Oppenheim, so-called “Quarter-Jews,” during the National Socialist Regime: Work for the Abwehr (German Counter-Intelligence) and Association with the Conservative “Widerstand” (German Resistance) 198 12. Max von Oppenheim, “Half-Jew,” during the National Socialist Regime 232 Oppenheim and the Race Question 232 Support of the Regime 249 13. Plotting for Nazi Germany. Oppenheim’s Role in the Middle East Policy of the Third Reich 258 14. Max von Oppenheim’s Last Years 304 IV. Max von Oppenheim’s Relation to National Socialism in Context. Some Responses of “Non-Aryan” Germans to National Socialism 310 15. Two Jewish Organizations: the Verband nationaldeutscher Juden (Association of German National Jews) and the Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten (Jewish War Veterans Association) 312 16. Some Individuals: Schoeps, Pevsner, Kantorowicz, Landmann 320 17. By Way of Conclusion 352 Appendix of Originals and Translations of Passages Quoted 364 Index of Names 406 Back Cover 418 "Born into a prominent German Jewish banking family, Baron Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946) was a keen amateur archaeologist and ethnologist. His discovery and excavation of Tell Halaf in Syria marked an important contribution to knowledge of the ancient Middle East, while his massive study of the Bedouins is still consulted by scholars today. He was also an ardent German patriot, eager to support his country's pursuit of its "place in the sun". Excluded by his part-Jewish ancestry from the regular diplomatic service, Oppenheim earned a reputation as "the Kaiser's spy" because of his intriguing against the British in Cairo, as well as his plan, at the start of the First World War, to incite Muslims under British, French and Russian rule to a jihad against the colonial powers. After 1933, despite being half-Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws, Oppenheim was not persecuted by the Nazis. In fact, he placed his knowledge of the Middle East and his connections with Muslim leaders at the service of the regime. Ranging widely over many fieldѕђ́ؤfrom war studies to archaeology and banking historуђ́ؤThe Passion of Max von Oppenheim tells the gripping and at times unsettling story of one part-Jewish man's passion for his country in the face of persistent and, in his later years, genocidal anti-Semitism."-- Provided by publisher "Born into a prominent German Jewish banking family, Baron Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946) was a keen amateur archaeologist and ethnologist. His discovery and excavation of Tell Halaf in Syria marked an important contribution to knowledge of the ancient Middle East, while his massive study of the Bedouins is still consulted by scholars today. He was also an ardent German patriot, eager to support his country's pursuit of its "place in the sun". Excluded by his part-Jewish ancestry from the regular diplomatic service, Oppenheim earned a reputation as "the Kaiser's spy" because of his intriguing against the British in Cairo, as well as his plan, at the start of the First World War, to incite Muslims under British, French and Russian rule to a jihad against the colonial powers. After 1933, despite being half-Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws, Oppenheim was not persecuted by the Nazis. In fact, he placed his knowledge of the Middle East and his connections with Muslim leaders at the service of the regime. Ranging widely over many fields--from war studies to archaeology and banking history--The Passion of Max von Oppenheim tells the gripping and at times unsettling story of one part-Jewish man's passion for his country in the face of persistent and, in his later years, genocidal anti-Semitism."--Publisher's website