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After reading Oliver Twist, I note that Fagin is referred to as 'The Jew' and is portrayed quite negatively, especially in his appearance. Nevertheless, there is a certain feature of Fagin that we, as the reader, are positioned to like about him - he's not completely bad like Bill Sikes. Hence, my question is how did the Nazis view (by view, I mean was it banned, or strongly recommended etc.) the text Oliver Twist?

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  • I added a tag. Interesting question! Commented Apr 2, 2014 at 10:51
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    you've read the book, so that's fair enough. as i understand it the book paints him very much blacker than his portrayal in the famous musical and films (which might be the Fagin many readers here are more familiar with, me included). So it's hard to imagine the Nazis unhappy with Dickens' Fagin. Commented Apr 2, 2014 at 21:40
  • how the hell is that a histoy question? It refres to psychology maybe...
    – Bak1139
    Commented Jun 23, 2014 at 10:28
  • @Bak1139 This is most definitely an historical question, as it is inquiring as to an historical attitude. It's received 9 up votes, suggesting it has fair community support behind it Commented Jun 24, 2014 at 1:57

1 Answer 1

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The Nazis certainly approved of Oliver Twist. As early as 1923 the principal Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter printed a German translation of the book in instalments.

See here:

http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1535

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    This would stand to reason. Fagin's portrayal was "bad enough" for the Nazis; there was no need for him to be portrayed as "maximum bad." Also, Dickensian novels draw an unflattering comparison between the living standards of English industrial workers, and their German counterparts, who earned enough to eat meat twice a week. (This was because of the competition from the Prussian army, who fed its soldiers such rations, which were high for the 18th and 19th centuries.)
    – Tom Au
    Commented Apr 3, 2014 at 17:35

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