if there's a rhythm to life then we're missing the beat

the term “anti-Semitism” was created specifically to name this new racial hatred of Jews. it was coined in 1879- 4 years before Kafka was born. 

in “the metamorphosis”, Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a "monstrous vermin". in kafka’s real world, jews woke up one morning, in their country that they were told was now enlightened and accepting of all people, and found out that they were now considered “monstrous vermin”. and then 6 million jews of his generation were exterminated. 

In short, between 1745 and 1859 in the Kingdom of Bohemia (what is now the Czech Republic), there was a law that limited the number of Jewish families. A census taken in 1787 showed that there were 8,541 Jewish families in Bohemia; preferring round numbers, the government increased the limit to 8,600. And for close to a hundred years, that was the limit. If a Jewish man wanted to get married and get a marriage license, he had to emigrate from the country. Otherwise, they had to wait until an existing Jewish father died. Usually, this meant that a son inherited the spot from his father (and wouldn't that cast a fun pall on a wedding, knowing that you can only have it because your father is dead?), but when a married Jewish man died without a son, the spot went up for someone to acquire.

But to apply for the spot, you needed to pay three years taxes, prove that you possessed at least 300 florians, had a school education, pass some exams, and be at least 24 years old.

Franz Kafka's grandfather passed those requirements.