Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

August 19, 2026

How Hitler’s Economic Minister Learned Hebrew

“By no means a bad preparation for a banking career.”

In 1929, at an international conference in Paris, the American Jewish media executive David Sarnoff developed an unlikely friendship with Hjalmar Schacht, then the head of Germany’s central bank. At one point, Sarnoff brought up German anti-Semitism and the growing popularity of the Nazis, leading to a heated exchange which culminated in Schacht reciting Bible verses in Hebrew, and explaining that he had a doctorate in the language. 

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