Theodore N. Kaufman
Encyclopedia
Theodore Newman Kaufman (sometimes wrongly given as "Theodore Nathan Kaufmann") (February 22, 1910 - April 1, 1986) was a Jewish-American businessman and writer. In 1939 he published pamphlets as chairman of the American Federation of Peace that argued that America should not fight in foreign wars. In 1941 he wrote and published Germany Must Perish!
which called for the sterilization of the German people and the distribution of the German lands. The text was used extensively in Nazi propaganda
, often as a justification for the persecution of Jews, and was specifically cited as an excuse to round up the Jews of Hanover, Germany.
and Fannie Newman. His parents had married on March 14, 1909. His father had been a reporter for the Berliner Morgen-Zeitung
in Berlin, Germany before emigrating to the United States
in 1905. Theodore's three brothers were Herbert, Julian, and Leonard.
He attended South Side High School
in Newark, New Jersey
and graduated around 1928.
In 1934 he was arrested along with his father, Anton Kaufman
, for the robbery of Sandor Alexander Balint of Budapest
. Balint had developed a process to speed the aging of wine. The Kaufmans had purchased this formula from Balint, but later came to believe that the formula was "worthless". Theodore Kaufman's mother died in 1939.
Kaufman traveled to the Sahara Desert and wrote: "you look at the horizon all day long and feel that you are staring at eternity." In Biskra
he met Clare Frewen Sheridan
.
Eventually settling down in the business world, Kaufman was the owner of a small advertising
and ticket agency in South Orange, New Jersey
. He published the New Jersey Legal Record. Kaufman founded the Argyle Press of Newark, New Jersey
to publish his political pamphlets.
. In a section of the pamphlet on the American Federation of Peace's beliefs, Kaufman advocated for "the strongest possible military defense of the United States" and stated that "by keeping absolutely aloof from foreign wars and entanglements the American People face a truly great future." That same year, the group also issued publications with more contentious messages, one of which read:
Two years later he shifted his focus to the forced mass-sterilization of all German men under 65 and the sterilization of most German women under 45. This would eliminate "inbred Germanism," he proposed, thus solving a great deal of humanity's problems. He also promoted the distribution of Germany's lands among the neighboring countries. His effort was spearheaded by the self-publication of the book Germany Must Perish!
Although Kaufman's book had a minimal impact in the United States, it achieved notoriety in Nazi Germany
, where propagandists used it as evidence of an international Jewish plan to destroy the German people. On July 24, 1941, the Nazi Party's newspaper, Volkischer Beobachter
, published a front-page article on the book titled: "The Product of Criminal Jewish Sadism: Roosevelt Demands the Sterilization of the German People." The newspaper alleged that Kaufman was a close ally of Samuel Irving Rosenman
, a well-known advisor to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and that: "Given the close relationship of the writer to the White House, this monstrous war program can be seen as a synthesis of genuine Talmudic hatred and Roosevelt’s views on foreign policy." At the time, the German leadership was engaged in a propaganda campaign designed to rally popular support for the German invasion of the Soviet Union
. Antisemitism in general, and Kaufman's ideas in particular, became a focus of this campaign.
Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
read the book in early August and immediately grasped its value, writing in his diary
: "This Jew did a real service for the enemy [German] side. Had he written this book for us, he could not have made it any better." Under Goebbels' direction, Germany Must Perish! continued to receive significant media attention in Germany. Portions of the book were read on national radio, and Goebbels ordered the printing of five million copies of a pamphlet that summarized Kaufman's ideas.
Nazi propaganda often used Kaufman's pamphlet as a justification for the persecution of Jews. When the Nazis required German Jews to wear a yellow badge
on their clothing on September 1, 1941, they published a flyer explaining to the German people that those individuals wearing the star were conspiring to implement Kaufman's plan for the destruction of Germany. When the Jews of Hanover
were forced from their homes on September 8, 1941, German authorities cited Kaufman's book as one of the reasons. Kaufman responded by saying:
The Nazi propaganda ministry
continued to publish pamphlets, posters and flyers on Kaufman's ideas through the end of the war, and also urged newspapers and public speakers to remind Germans of Kaufman's book. Kaufman's last major appearance in Nazi propaganda occurred in late 1944, when a five-page section on him was included in the widely-published booklet Never!, which described a number of alleged plots to destroy Germany. Randall Bytwerk, an historian of communications at Calvin College
, concluded that "[a] German at the time could not have missed encountering" propaganda about Kaufman.
His final publication through Argyle Press was the March 1942 brochure titled "No More German Wars! Being an outline for their permanent cessation". It contained no more writing on the sterilization of Germans or discussion of German land distribution, but made very moderate proposals for democratic re-education of the German population.
He enlisted in the US Army in New Mexico
on April 24, 1942. His three brothers also served.
, failed to locate Kaufman in the records of the city of Newark and in other sources.
He died in April 1986 in East Orange, New Jersey
.
Germany Must Perish!
Germany Must Perish! is the title of a 104-page book written by Theodore Newman Kaufman and self-published in 1941, which advocates the genocide, through sterilization of all Germans, and the territorial dismemberment of Germany...
which called for the sterilization of the German people and the distribution of the German lands. The text was used extensively in Nazi propaganda
Nazi propaganda
Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...
, often as a justification for the persecution of Jews, and was specifically cited as an excuse to round up the Jews of Hanover, Germany.
Early years
He was born in Manhattan, New York on February 22, 1910 to Anton KaufmanAnton Kaufman
Anton Kaufman was a reporter for the Berliner Morgen-Zeitung and later the publisher of the Detroit Daily Chronicle and the Newark Jewish Chronicle. He was blind.-Biography:...
and Fannie Newman. His parents had married on March 14, 1909. His father had been a reporter for the Berliner Morgen-Zeitung
Berliner Morgen-Zeitung
-History:It was first published on 1 April 1889 by Rudolf Mosse as a replacement for the liberal Volks-Zeitung, which had been banned. It was aimed at a more popular readership than Mosse's Berliner Tageblatt. In the initial year the print run was 60,000 copies; by 1900 it reached approximately...
in Berlin, Germany before emigrating to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1905. Theodore's three brothers were Herbert, Julian, and Leonard.
He attended South Side High School
Malcolm X Shabazz High School
Malcolm X Shabazz High School is a four-year public high school in Newark, New Jersey, as part of the Newark Public Schools. The school was formerly named South Side High School, but was renamed in 1972....
in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
and graduated around 1928.
In 1934 he was arrested along with his father, Anton Kaufman
Anton Kaufman
Anton Kaufman was a reporter for the Berliner Morgen-Zeitung and later the publisher of the Detroit Daily Chronicle and the Newark Jewish Chronicle. He was blind.-Biography:...
, for the robbery of Sandor Alexander Balint of Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. Balint had developed a process to speed the aging of wine. The Kaufmans had purchased this formula from Balint, but later came to believe that the formula was "worthless". Theodore Kaufman's mother died in 1939.
Kaufman traveled to the Sahara Desert and wrote: "you look at the horizon all day long and feel that you are staring at eternity." In Biskra
Biskra
Biskra is the capital city of Biskra province, Algeria. In 2007, its population was recorded as 207,987.During Roman times the town was called Vescera, though this may have been simply a Latin transliteration of the native name. Around 200 AD under Septimius Severus' reign, it was seized by the...
he met Clare Frewen Sheridan
Clare Frewen Sheridan
Clare Sheridan , was an English sculptress and writer who is known primarily for creating busts for famous sitters, and writing diaries recounting her worldly travels...
.
Eventually settling down in the business world, Kaufman was the owner of a small advertising
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
and ticket agency in South Orange, New Jersey
South Orange, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 16,964 people, 5,522 households, and 3,766 families residing in the township. The population density was 5,945.3 people per square mile . There were 5,671 housing units at an average density of 1,987.5 per square mile...
. He published the New Jersey Legal Record. Kaufman founded the Argyle Press of Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
to publish his political pamphlets.
World War II
Kaufman was a radical pacifist intent on preventing American involvement in future wars in Europe. In 1939, under the auspices of the "American Federation of Peace", an unknown entity of which he was the president and probably only member, Kaufman produced several publications. One pamphlet, titled "Passive Purchase" advocated the establishment of a two-week period during which Americans would curtail their spending in order to demonstrate public opposition to American intervention in European conflictsUnited States non-interventionism
Non-interventionism, the diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations in order to avoid being drawn into wars not related to direct territorial self-defense, has had a long history in the United States...
. In a section of the pamphlet on the American Federation of Peace's beliefs, Kaufman advocated for "the strongest possible military defense of the United States" and stated that "by keeping absolutely aloof from foreign wars and entanglements the American People face a truly great future." That same year, the group also issued publications with more contentious messages, one of which read:
- "A possible plea to Congress. ... Have Us All Sterilized! ... If You Plan On Sending Us To A Foreign War ... Spare Us Any Possibility Of Ever Bringing Children Into This World — Into This Country Of Ours!"
Two years later he shifted his focus to the forced mass-sterilization of all German men under 65 and the sterilization of most German women under 45. This would eliminate "inbred Germanism," he proposed, thus solving a great deal of humanity's problems. He also promoted the distribution of Germany's lands among the neighboring countries. His effort was spearheaded by the self-publication of the book Germany Must Perish!
Germany Must Perish!
Germany Must Perish! is the title of a 104-page book written by Theodore Newman Kaufman and self-published in 1941, which advocates the genocide, through sterilization of all Germans, and the territorial dismemberment of Germany...
- "Since Germans are the perennial disturbers of the world's peace ... they must be dealt with like any homicidal criminals. But it is unnecessary to put the whole German nation to the sword. It is more humane to sterilize them. The army groups, as organized units, would be the easiest and quickest to deal with. ... The population of Germany, excluding conquered and annexed territories, is about 70,000,000, almost equally divided between male and female. To achieve the purpose of German extinction it would be necessary to only sterilize some 48,000,000 -- a figure which excludes, because of their limited power to procreate, males over 60 years of age, and females over 45. ... Taking 20,000 surgeons as an arbitrary number and on the assumption that each will perform a minimum of 25 operations daily, it would take no more than one month, at the maximum, to complete their sterilization. ... The balance of the male civilian population of Germany could be treated within three months. Inasmuch as sterilization of women needs somewhat more time, it may be computed that the entire female population of Germany could be sterilized within a period of three years or less. Complete sterilization of both sexes, and not only one, is to be considered necessary in view of the present German doctrine that so much as one drop of true German blood constitutes a German. Of course, after complete sterilization, there will cease to be a birth rate in Germany. At the normal death rate of 2 per cent per annum, German life will diminish at the rate of 1,500,000 yearly. Accordingly in the span of two generations that which cost millions of lives and centuries of useless effort, namely, the elimination of Germanism and its carriers, will have been an accomplished fact. By virtue of its loss of self-perpetuation German Will will have atrophied and German power reduced to negligible importance."
Although Kaufman's book had a minimal impact in the United States, it achieved notoriety in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, where propagandists used it as evidence of an international Jewish plan to destroy the German people. On July 24, 1941, the Nazi Party's newspaper, Volkischer Beobachter
Völkischer Beobachter
The Völkischer Beobachter was the newspaper of the National Socialist German Workers' Party from 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from February 8, 1923...
, published a front-page article on the book titled: "The Product of Criminal Jewish Sadism: Roosevelt Demands the Sterilization of the German People." The newspaper alleged that Kaufman was a close ally of Samuel Irving Rosenman
Samuel Irving Rosenman
Samuel Irving Rosenman was a U.S. lawyer, judge, Democratic political figure, and presidential speechwriter.-Personal life and political career:...
, a well-known advisor to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and that: "Given the close relationship of the writer to the White House, this monstrous war program can be seen as a synthesis of genuine Talmudic hatred and Roosevelt’s views on foreign policy." At the time, the German leadership was engaged in a propaganda campaign designed to rally popular support for the German invasion of the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. Antisemitism in general, and Kaufman's ideas in particular, became a focus of this campaign.
Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
read the book in early August and immediately grasped its value, writing in his diary
Goebbels Diaries
Joseph Goebbels, a leading member of the German National Socialist Party and Propaganda Minister in Adolf Hitler's government from 1933 to 1945, kept a diary from 1923, when he was an unemployed ex-student with no interest in politics, until shortly before his death by suicide in Berlin on 1 May 1945...
: "This Jew did a real service for the enemy [German] side. Had he written this book for us, he could not have made it any better." Under Goebbels' direction, Germany Must Perish! continued to receive significant media attention in Germany. Portions of the book were read on national radio, and Goebbels ordered the printing of five million copies of a pamphlet that summarized Kaufman's ideas.
Nazi propaganda often used Kaufman's pamphlet as a justification for the persecution of Jews. When the Nazis required German Jews to wear a yellow badge
Yellow badge
The yellow badge , also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order to mark them as Jews in public. It is intended to be a badge of shame associated with antisemitism...
on their clothing on September 1, 1941, they published a flyer explaining to the German people that those individuals wearing the star were conspiring to implement Kaufman's plan for the destruction of Germany. When the Jews of Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
were forced from their homes on September 8, 1941, German authorities cited Kaufman's book as one of the reasons. Kaufman responded by saying:
- "This is just a flimsy pretext for another of the innate cruelties of the German people ... I don't think it was my book that prompted this barbarity. They employed every possible German cruelty against the Jews long before my book was published."
The Nazi propaganda ministry
Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was Nazi Germany's ministry that enforced Nazi Party ideology in Germany and regulated its culture and society. Founded on March 13, 1933, by Adolf Hitler's new National Socialist government, the Ministry was headed by Dr...
continued to publish pamphlets, posters and flyers on Kaufman's ideas through the end of the war, and also urged newspapers and public speakers to remind Germans of Kaufman's book. Kaufman's last major appearance in Nazi propaganda occurred in late 1944, when a five-page section on him was included in the widely-published booklet Never!, which described a number of alleged plots to destroy Germany. Randall Bytwerk, an historian of communications at Calvin College
Calvin College
Calvin College is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1876, Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church and stands in the Reformed tradition of Protestantism...
, concluded that "[a] German at the time could not have missed encountering" propaganda about Kaufman.
His final publication through Argyle Press was the March 1942 brochure titled "No More German Wars! Being an outline for their permanent cessation". It contained no more writing on the sterilization of Germans or discussion of German land distribution, but made very moderate proposals for democratic re-education of the German population.
He enlisted in the US Army in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
on April 24, 1942. His three brothers also served.
Post-war years and death
After World War II, Kaufman disappeared entirely from public life. One scholar, Berel Lang, a Visiting Professor of Philosophy and Letters at Wesleyan UniversityWesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, failed to locate Kaufman in the records of the city of Newark and in other sources.
He died in April 1986 in East Orange, New Jersey
East Orange, New Jersey
East Orange is a city in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the city's population 64,270, making it the state's 20th largest municipality, having dropped 5,554 residents from its population of 69,824 in the 2000 Census, when it was the state's 14th most...
.
Writings
- "Life Liberty Pursuit of Happiness - Where? In The Graves of European Battle Fields?" American Federation of Peace, Newark, NJ, (circa 1938-1942)
- "A Will and Way to Peace: Passive Purchase" Theodore N. Kaufman, American Federation of Peace, Newark, NJ, 1939, 10-page pamphlet
- Germany Must Perish!Germany Must Perish!Germany Must Perish! is the title of a 104-page book written by Theodore Newman Kaufman and self-published in 1941, which advocates the genocide, through sterilization of all Germans, and the territorial dismemberment of Germany...
, Argyle Press, Newark, NJ, 1941, 104-page brochure - "No More German Wars! Being An Outline For Their Permanent Cessation" Argyle Press, Newark, NJ, 1942, 16-page brochure