For many German Jews, their “Germanness” came through most strongly when they reflected on the plight of other Jews from or living in Eastern Europe. Since many German Jews were from the Polish lands, they also reflected on their own Polish heritage and the national strivings of the Poles. Thus Germanness was often caught in a complex field of cross-cutting loyalties, and distinctions among Jews were often seen through a German lens. This snapshot shows the varieties of ways in which German Jews may have viewed their role as mediators between East and West and how their own migration background contributed to their careers.