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A groundbreaking historical reexamination of one of the most infamous episodes in the history of anti-Semitism Joseph Suss Oppenheimer--"Jew Suss"--is one of the most iconic figures in the history of anti-Semitism. In 1733, Oppenheimer became the "court Jew" of Carl Alexander, the duke of the small German state of Wurttemberg. When Carl Alexander died unexpectedly, the Wurttemberg authorities arrested Oppenheimer, put him on trial, and condemned him to death for unspecified "misdeeds." On February 4, 1738, Oppenheimer was hanged in front of a large crowd just outside Stuttgart. He is most often remembered today through several works of fiction, chief among them a vicious Nazi propaganda movie made in 1940 at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. The Many Deaths of Jew Suss is a compelling new account of Oppenheimer's notorious trial.
Drawing on a wealth of rare archival evidence, Yair Mintzker investigates conflicting versions of Oppenheimer's life and death as told by four contemporaries: the leading inquisitor in the criminal investigation, the most important eyewitness to Oppenheimer's final days, a fellow court Jew who was permitted to visit Oppenheimer on the eve of his execution, and one of Oppenheimer's earliest biographers. What emerges is a lurid tale of greed, sex, violence, and disgrace--but are these narrators to be trusted? Meticulously reconstructing the social world in which they lived, and taking nothing they say at face value, Mintzker conjures an unforgettable picture of "Jew Suss" in his final days that is at once moving, disturbing, and profound. The Many Deaths of Jew Suss is a masterfully innovative work of history, and an illuminating parable about Jewish life in the fraught transition to modernity.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix Note to Readers xi Introduction 1 First Conversation 23 1 The Inquisitor 25 Part 1 Vita Ante Acta 25 Part 2 Species Facti 55 Second Conversation 100 2 A Convert's Tale 103 Third Conversation 171 3 Joseph and His Brothers 177 Fourth Conversation 224 4 In the Land of the Dead 231 Afterword 280 List of Illustrations 287 List of Abbreviations 289 Notes 291 Index 323



