ROSENBERG, ARTHUR

ROSENBERG, ARTHUR (1889–1943), German communist leader and historian. Born in Berlin, Rosenberg lectured in history at Berlin University and joined the German Independent Social Democratic Party (uspd) in 1918. Two years later, he became attached to the German Communist Party (kpd), in which he achieved considerable prominence as communist City Councilor of Berlin, a member of the Party Central Committee, and a member of the Reichstag from 1924 to 1928. Rosenberg joined the extreme left-wing faction but in 1927 left the Communist movement altogether largely in protest at the failure of the Soviet Comintern to deal with the question of China. He withdrew from political life, and devoted himself to scholarly work. After Hitler's seizure of power, Rosenberg left Germany and lived in Liverpool, England, where he was granted a fellowship at the university. He went to New York in 1938 and taught history at Brooklyn College until his death. Rosenberg converted to Christianity in his youth but later was active in Jewish student and academic circles in Germany and England. The fact that he became adviser to the Avukah Zionist Students Federation of America testifies to the radical change in his religious views.

His many publications include: Geschichte des Bolschewismus von Marx bis zur Gegenwart (1932; History of Bolshevism, 1934); Demokratie und Sozialismus (1938; Democracy and Socialism, 1939); Geschichte der deutschen Republik (1935; History of the German Republic, 1936); and Die Entstehung der deutschen Republik, 1871–1918 (1928; Birth of the German Republic, 1931).

add. bibliography:

H. Schachenmayer, Arthur Rosenberg (1964); F.L. Carsten, in: Historians in Politics (1974), 315–27; R.W. Mueller, G. Schaefer (eds.), "Klassische" Antike und moderne Demokratie: Arthur Rosenberg… (1986); L. Riberi, Arthur Rosenberg (2001); M. Kessler, Arthur Rosenberg (2003).

[Noam Zadoff]