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I was listening to an interview with Ray Kurzweil and noticed when looking at his wikipedia page that his parents had to flee Austria before WW2. I've noticed that for several other accomplished Jewish Americans as well (having ancestors that fled Germany or Austria before WW2 or left after WW2). I've also come across some books that discussed the impact of the Nazi anti-semitic laws and drove out large numbers of doctors and other intellectuals from German speaking lands and I have to wonder what would the 20th century and 21st century have looked like if Jews in German speaking countries of Europe never faced Nazi persecution and either having to flee or died in the Holocaust. What do you think would the German speaking world look like with a vibrant Jewish intellectual life? Would Jews have assimilated more or would they stay a distinct people and offer a different cultural perspective within Germanic society?