After their founding in 1923/24, the two organizations ‘Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold’ [Black, Red and Gold Banner of the Reich] and ‘Republikanischer Schutzbund’ [Republican Protective League] found themselves in a similar situation. Both rallied primarily Social Democrats against anti-democratic movements to defend the Weimar Republic. There was a difference, though: whereas the Reichsbanner assessed political hatred against Jews as an instrument of fascist and German nationalist parties and reacted to antisemitic propaganda during the 1920s, the Schutzbund did not deal intensively with antisemitism. This article examines both organizations’ defense strategies against antisemitism and analyzes their self-perceptions alongside the political configurations that gave rise to the Reichsbanner’s and the Schutzbund’s counterstrategies.