Volume 32, Issue 2 - Themenheft Antisemitismus als Code. Forschung – Prävention – Intervention (Hg. von Leo Roepert)

The common distinction between the concepts of »Anti-Judaism« and »Antisemitism« has recently been challenged by medievalists. The present study investigates how the concepts are related, taking its starting point from the widespread association of »Jews« with »money«. Based on two case studies – the Liber floridus of Lambert of Saint-Omer ( c .1121) and the Viennese scholars Henry of Langenstein and Henry Totting of Oyta (both d. 1397) – it argues that the patristic distinction between Jewish ›carnality‹ and Christian ›spirituality‹ provided the binary code used to distinguish between good and bad in the economic world.

This article analyzes the turn towards Israel in parts of the German and Austrian extreme right since 2010 in a historical perspective. Both political parties in the focus of the analysis, AfD and FPÖ, and the extreme right in general have a history of antisemitism, antizionism and hostility towards Israel and Zionism. After establishing antizionism as an inherent part of antisemitism almost from its outset, several exceptions from this rule are analyzed with respect to the relationship of the two. All of the introduced positive references towards Zionism and Israel from an antisemitic background will turn out to be based on antisemitic images of Jews, Zionism and the State of Israel. They fulfill a certain end to antisemitism itself, its denial and its bearers, and thus serve the preservation of the ideology rather than, as has been suggested, marking an end to antisemitism or being solely strategically motivated.

In the social sciences, it is often argued that in right-wing populism anti-Semitism does not play an important role and that cultural racism has taken over its function. In contrast, this article aims to show that right-wing populism reproduces anti-Semitic patterns in a codified form. First, it will be shown that problematic definitions and explanatory approaches are widespread in social science discourse, which contribute to the fact that the anti-Semitic content of right-wing populism is barely perceived. Subsequently, by analyzing two case studies – an essay by AfD politician Alexander Gauland and a speech by Donald Trump – it is shown that right-wing populist discourses asserting a struggle between the people and the »globalist elite« reproduce anti-Semitic patterns even though »Jews« are not explicitly mentioned. Finally, it is argued that this phenomenon can be grasped with the concept of structural anti-Semitism. With this term, it can be made clear that right-wing populism indeed has an anti-Semitic potential and that the contents and functions of anti-Semitism and racism must be distinguished.

Today’s anti-Semitism in European societies is often said to have been imported on a large scale by Muslim immigrants. It needs to be revealed that this is a historically abbreviated representation useful for particular political purposes – especially from the right. The influence of medieval European-Christian anti-Judaism and modern anti-Semitism on the Muslim world has a centuries-old history and is usually disregarded in the debate. Nevertheless, there are clear anti-Jewish terms and conventions in Islamic tradition. However, some of these codes are not immediately recognizable as anti-Jewish to a European audience. They are still widely used in today’s politics and popular culture of Muslim societies both in the Middle East and the West. The article aims to provide orientation on the genesis and development of this cultural exchange of hate and refute one-sided accusations.

Actually, there is no potential for anti-Semitism in leftist ideology, since ethnic or religious identity characteristics are not supposed to play a role there. Nevertheless, there were and are anti-Semitic attitudes among leftists. A look at the German left in the past and present makes this clear: As early as in Marxʼs writings, anti-Semitic stereotypes can be detected. The Communist Party in the Weimar Republic also instrumentalized such stereotypes. And in the Communist organizations in the Federal Republic of Germany, anti-Israel views often had an anti-Semitic background. This also applies to the autonomous movement or the left-wing terrorism of the 1970s to 1980s. Nowadays, such attitudes can be observed in protest movements critical of capitalism, but also among the supporters of the BDS boycott movement. However, it is necessary to differentiate: A one-sided hostility towards Israel can, but does not have to be an expression of an anti-Semitic position.

Using examples from the late 19th century to the present, it will be discussed to what extent anti-Semitism was shaped by a »legal code«. The pressure of legal repression, however weak it may have been at times, caused anti-Semites to retreat to language formulas that were no longer (or not yet) legally objectionable, without therefore giving up their convictions. This borderline is fundamentally semantically indeterminable, because associations, puns and cynicism cannot be banned. The legal instruments often come to nothing, because a judiciary under the rule of law may only sanction deeds, not thoughts. Each judgement inevitably redefines this borderline, at least in nuances. By contributing in this way to constituting the discursive framework of anti-Semitism, even if there is a broad social consensus of its ostracism, the law is both a partial solution and part of the problem.

Education is possibly the profession most frequently addressed with expectations of dealing with contemporary forms of antisemitism. However, the topic is not prominently discussed in the field of didactics and teachers report of feelings of overburdening, dealing especially with forms of antisemitism relating to the State of Israel and the Middle East Conflict. These forms are the most controversial variations of antisemitism and also the ones often not mentioned and also not interpreted and responded appropriately. The paper argues for a stronger awareness of non-intended effects of education on antisemitism. It shows their relevance focussing three exemplary contexts regarding spontaneous interventions to antisemitic statements as well as pedagogic concepts represented in published documents. Without a profound understanding of antisemitism as a complex phenomenon with specific patterns, awareness for possible non-intended effects can hardly be reached.

Antisemitism today is omnipresent, yet mostly misunderstood, underestimated and trivialized. In schools as well, antisemitic acts are becoming increasingly aggressive and expressible. To combat and prevent Jew-hatred has been the ongoing commitment of antisemitism-critical education. Nevertheless, a (critical) theory-driven insight into the functionality of antisemitism raises why the current educational practice that can be stated as merely imparting knowledge and facts is not sufficient but, urgently, must be supplemented by a self-related and emotion-reflective approach developed in this paper in order to be able to achieve more sustainable success on the educational level. The need to deeper reflect on emotions and the subconsciousness as major roots of antisemitism leads the author to the proposal of specific dialogical-introspective methods, which will be critically contextualized in the end.

Hidden in the attics of old synagogues in Germany, the very last remnants of former Genizot survived unnoticed not only the NS period, but also the following years of secular use of these buildings. Since the 1950s Genizot have been found mostly in the course of renovation work on the synagogues. After ages of storage in the attics, Genizah findings are usually in very bad condition. The finders standing before dirty »shambles out of paper« often considered Genizot to be rubbish. Only after some time researchers began to study the material, soon realizing that these findings were much more than »sacred trash«, since they could provide insight into the life of Jewish rural communities from the 17th to 19th century. Till today, dozens of Genizot have been saved in Germany. The Genisaprojekt Veitshöchheim and other researchers are dealing with the inventory, the digitization and the publication of the finds. However, there are still hardly any studies drawing concrete conclusions about Jewish community life based on the Genizah findings.