Volume 4 No 1 - Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

A Bisl Antisemitic?
Tuvia Tennenbom’s I Sleep in Hitler’s Room
(New York: The Jewish Theatre of America, 2011). 356 pp. $15
Michael Bates*
Tuvia Tennenbom’s book offers an idiosyncratic, Gonzoesque account
of one Jewish journalist’s search for Germanness in contemporary Germany.
Early in the preface, we are warned of a disquieting account of
Rowohlt Verlag reneging on their contract to publish the book in Germany,
that while “it’s a horrible thing [ . . . ] to accuse a whole nation of racism,”
it is a “more horrible thing to find out that this is the truth” (xvi). The
unceremonious elision of I Sleep in Hitler’s Room from Rowohlt Verlag’s
portfolio, following the publisher’s realization that the book suggests Germany
remains, at least latently, an antisemitic nation, only supports the
author’s claim. The two ubiquitous enemies of truth in Tennenbom’s travelogue,
capitalism and censorship, which are characteristic of the German
zeitgeist he portrays, unite within this decision: to publicly acknowledge the
depth and range of antisemitic thought in Germany would be bad for
Rowohlt’s bottom line.
The polished veneer of Germany’s economic success is balanced precariously
against the recurring claims of those whom Tennenbom meets—
the Jews (not the Christians) are rich and control the media, the banks, and
the political agendas of the world. It seems, therefore, that Rowohlt failed to
receive the memo regarding the change of ownership. The author’s day trip
to Volkswagen’s Autostadt, while comprising one of the book’s shortest
episodes, offers one of its most brilliant insights into the German people’s
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