HEINRICH HEINE - Repositories

Heinrich Heine
then it was not surprising that the approach of some
critics to him should be colored by their predilections
or prejudices towards this ancient historic
group. On the one hand, George Eliot, a poetess
who adored the biblical people, was bound to see
in his Jewishness a badge of honor. On the other
hand, Richard Garnett, who admired him but not
his race, sought an excuse for his faults on the
ground that they were the faults of his race. On the
one hand, English writers of Jewish origin extolled
the fine traits of their gifted kinsmen; on the other
hand, antisemitic propagandists could find in his
prose and verse ample fuel for their agitation. It
was, therefore, to be expected that the reactionary
movements, which cropped up after the First World
War and which ascribed the Russian Revolution
to long-fostered Jewish machinations, would see in
Heine not only the contemporary of Marx and Lassalle
but also the ancestor and inspirer of Leon
Trotzky and Russian Communism. Such views
abounded in Germany. They were less frequent in
France. They were least audible in England. But
they were not entirely absent. Thus, in January,
1920, the dignified Quarterly Review opened its
columns to an article by Count de Soissons on The
Jews as a Revolutionary Leaven.
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