(GERMANY)

Anti-Semitic work focusing upon the downfall of "Jud Süss," Joseph Oppenheimer, notorious Court Jew. Of course, historically it would have been impossible for the pseudo-messiah of Izmir (1620-1676) and Joseph Oppenheimer (1699-1738) to have held a conversation, this is one of the fanciful liberties taken by the anonymous satirist. Joseph Oppenheimer was the sole financial advisor to the Duke of Württemberg. Oppenheimer sought to enrich the State Treasury and concentrate governmental power in the hands of the Duke. Oppenheimer’s efforts to establish an absolute rule based on a system of mercantile economy aroused the fierce opposition of conservative elements in the country. Upon the death of the Duke, his Protector, Oppenheimer was arrested and condemned to death. He was publicly hanged and his remains left exhibited in an iron cage. Jud Suess' undoing was cause for merriment in anti-Semitic circles remaining a subject of ridicule in Germany for centuries to come. (See EJ XII, cols. 1428-30)