Jews and the SPD. The Influence of Jewish Intelligence on German Exile Social Democracy (1933-1945)

This article argues that Jewish intelligence strongly influenced the political and ideological development of the German Social-Democratic Party (SPD) during the interwar period. The exile-SPD, the Sopade, significantly contributed to the reinterpretation of Marxism through the Jewish-dominated party-press. This thorough process of revision was favoured by the ideological exchange the Jewish Sopade members maintained with like-minded antifascist organisations in exile. The article refers to the ongoing transnational transfer by exemplarily illustrating the political debate about new socialist impulses from France, Great Britain and Italy. Ultimately, it suggests that the Jewish component in exile was responsible for the assimilation of federalist and liberal visions into the social democratic theoretical framework, which eventually contributed to the transformation of the SPD from a working class to a catch-all party in the late 1950s.