ABSTRACT
The charges that Jews ran the German economy, manipulated anti-German political movements, and fostered decadent cultural trends were patently false. That these accusations were believed wholly or partially by millions of Germans has prompted scholars to seek the roots of anti-Semitism in abnormal psychology. The most successful post-Holocaust reassessment of the psychological roots of anti-Semitism was made by Eva Reichmann, a German Jewish sociologist and journalist. Critics of the psychological approach to anti-Semitism correctly point out that it offers insufficient insight into why the Jews were singled out for attack. The Nazi program of February, 1920, known as the "Twenty-five Points", established the party line on the Jewish question that was to remain unchanged throughout the Weimar years. The Nazis were able to attract hard-core anti-Semites with racialist appeals without having to fear that this would drive away an equal or greater number of potential followers.
