Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten: Correspondence and papers

R:\Document collections\MF54\Working images\39 frames 313-627 <p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Readers need to reserve a reading room terminal to access a digital version of this archive.</strong></span></p><p>Most of the papers in this collection relate to the activities of the <em>Westdeutscher Landessportverband</em> which was affiliated to the <em>Sportbund im Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten</em>, consisting of correspondence and circulars, detailing the activities of the organisation, and shedding some light on the relationship with other bodies such as the <em>Zionistische Vereinigung für Deutschland</em> and the <em>Deutscher Makkabikreis</em></p> The <em>Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten</em> was founded in 1919 to combat the resurgence of antisemitism during WWI. From the outset it was both a defence organisation and a veterans' association. It endeavoured to be apolitical but was regarded as assimilationist when compared with other Jewish organisations such as the <em>Zionist Centralverein</em>. It became the second largest German Jewish organisation with 30-40,000 membership at its peak, publishing its own fortnightly newspaper, <em>Der Schild</em>.<p>By 1924, at its national congress the R.j.F. resolved to include physical training for the young. Atheletics and, in particular, boxing were promoted, the latter as a form of self-defence and a means to counter the claim that Jews were weak and cowardly.</p>As antisemitism increased during the Weimar years, links with other non-Jewish veterans' associations decreased. By the time the Nuremberg race laws had been brought into force, any privileges that the <em>Reichsbund</em> might have enjoyed, by virtue of members' service to the fatherland, were gone. Open