Barmat scandal

The Barmat scandal (German: Barmat-Skandal) was a political scandal that occurred in the Weimar Republic in 1925. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and to a lesser extent the German Centre Party, were implicated in acts of corruption, war profiteering, fraud, bribery, and other financial misconduct with businessman Julius Barmat between 1918 and 1924. High-ranking SPD officials and a Centre Party minister were investigated and publicly accused of misconduct in an investigation by the Prussian Landtag.

The Barmat scandal was a major political affair in Germany and provided the German right-wing with a basis for attacking the SPD and the Weimar Republic itself. Gustav Bauer, the former Chancellor of Germany, was forced to resign his seat in the Reichstag for his involvement. The scandal damaged the SPD's reputation in the run-up to the 1925 German presidential election and contributed to right-wing candidate Paul von Hindenburg being elected President of Germany.

Antisemitism in connection with the Barmat scandal also featured prominently in Nazi propaganda, since Barmat was Jewish, and argued that wealthy Jew were exploiting the Weimar Republic and the SPD to do their bidding.

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