There was this 'compliment' that I got: 'Oh, you're pretty, for a Jew.
There are a lot more anti-Semitic incidents than you might generally think.
That's Anna: cancer researcher in Munich.
And Doron: Judge in Berlin.
What most people only see when it hits the headlines, they experience in everyday life:
discrimination, because they’re Jews.
It's a current and real problem.
It never went away It can be subtle; it can be in your face.
Sometimes, antisemitism can be hard to recognize...even in yourself.
But no, no, no, don't run away: You don't have to necessarily have a malicious
intention to say something antisemitic.
I'd describe myself as a liberal Jew
Here, we have a traditional-oriented community.
There was one bad incident where someone drove by the front of the synagogue on a bike or
a motorbike and shouted 'Heil Hitler!'.
This was during drop-off time for the kids at daycare.
At about 8:30 a.m., when a lot of parents bring their children.
And then at a party I was confronted with: 'Did Hitler forget one or something?
Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany, responsible for the systematic murder of 6
million Jews.
As a Jew, what do you do in such a situation?
It’s um...I was pretty stunned.
I was interviewed – it was supposed to be for a feature in a major German magazine.
Afterward we had a coffee and we were sitting together and then out of nowhere came the
question: 'But come on, let's be honest...with Jews it’s always about the money, right?'
And you just think: Wait a minute.
Did I hear that right?
And that's just one trope that's been doing the rounds for centuries.
In fact:
Antisemitic tropes are nothing new
They've been passed down and reappear in every era … repackaged, seemingly shiny and new,
for the next generation.
Antisemitism comes in many different forms.
Mirjam Wenzel, Director of Frankfurt Jewish Museum, Germany.
So, let's look at that example about wealth and money.
Historically, of course, Jews were excluded from many professions in Europe.
And among the jobs they were allowed to do was, traditionally, dealing with coins or
exchanging money.
That was the case in the early modern period, and this led to the idea that Jews have something
to do with money.
Times of crisis provide particularly fertile ground for spreading antisemitic tropes and
conspiracies.
An age-old and murky myth: the hidden hand.
You can't see it, it's not there, but there is an assumption that there is something sinister.
Arie Dubnov, History professor, George Washington University.
We saw it even in cases like the COVID pandemic, right?
These questions of who exactly benefits from COVID?
And then implying that actually it's a conspiracy of a Jewish, you know, businessmen and companies
that are producing the vaccines and so on.
It’s a convenient idea that there’s a small group of people secretly controlling
the world.
In reality, it’s an ungrounded conspiracy theory that’s reeeally old.
That, of course, is absolutely the core antisemitic narrative.
And it's a Christian one.
This “hidden hand” is a baseless antisemitic trope dating back as far as the Middle Ages,
when Christianity strove to become the dominant religion in Europe – and began to persecute
Jews.
And that means that the conspiracy theory that Jews are doing something in secret is
always part of the mobilization of feelings, which in turn leads to acts of violence.
I’ve confronted this a lot and I just wonder: what do Germans actually talk about over,
say, family Christmas dinner if antisemitic conspiracy theories pop up at the table?
Do you stay silent or do you say something?
Yes, you should say something, because:
Ignoring antisemitism won't make it magically go away
Let's stay in Germany for a while.
So, why does it seem like it's so difficult for a lot of Germans to confront antisemitism
today?
Maybe because they see it as something gone and overcome?
I think a lot of people associate antisemitism solely with the Second World War and the belief
that Hitler created antisemitism and it was all over in 1945.
And that's just completely ahistorical.
So that's another thing:
Antisemitism isn't just a Nazi thing
But, although Jews were long subjected to violence, expulsions, forced conversions and
systematic persecution, the Nazi era was undoubtedly without parallel.
Starting in 1933, the Nazis used antisemitic legislation and propaganda to create a culture
of segregation and hostility.
All over Nazi-occupied Europe, Jews were eventually detained in ghettos and deported to concentration
or death camps, where they were subjected to forced labor, atrocities and mass murder.
By the time Nazi Germany surrendered, six million Jews had been murdered.
The minute we automatically think that the step next of antisemitism is already the Holocaust,
we find it problematic to identify the more sinister, the more mundane, the discriminatory
practices, the tropes, the trafficking of stereotypes that is not going to automatically
lead tomorrow, God forbid, to complete nihilism and genocidal practices.
So are you an antisemite, only if you advocate sending Jews to the gas chambers?
And anything less is legitimate criticism and debate on the matter?
So don't be mistaken:
The bar for antisemitism isn't set at murder
It can also sound like this: You look pretty for a Jew'.
But what does that do to a person?
You notice it when my grandmother gives me matzoh crackers on Passover and I put them
in the car and she says: 'No, never leave them lying around, hide them.
I don't want my neighbor to see that we're Jewish.
There are a lot of Jews in my circle of friends who aren't open about being Jewish because
they've had bad experiences with antisemitism.
It's just stressful for me to pretend 24/7 and I'm open about being Jewish.
If someone has a problem with it, they should just sort that out with me.
I think there are many different reactions, because it's quite distinct, even in the same
person.
There ' s the feeling of: I'll get my suitcase out.
I have to be better prepared for what's happening.
Can I really permanently belong to society here?
Am I sufficiently protected?
Where do move to?
For some Jews that one place they can feel safe is Israel – the world's only Jewish
state.
Since 1950, Jews from all over the world and Gentile converts to Judaism are entitled to
settle in Israel and receive full Israeli citizenship if they want to.
For me, as a practicing Jew, it's meaningful when I can celebrate Jewish holidays there...
And, it's a safe haven.
And there's also the feeling that there's a country that's a place to simply be and
to maybe not have the feeling of being in a minority.
This has historically been of great importance to Jews.
But walking down the street wearing my Star of David and knowing that nothing will happen
is an incredible feeling as a Jew.
But the decades since the founding of the state of Israel have seen a new facet of antisemitism
emerge: Israel-related antisemitism.
More often than not, political events linked to Israel also prompt a rise in antisemitic
attacks...way beyond Israel's borders.
Especially, when there's a flare-up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As soon as there's conflict in Israel, the atmosphere here immediately becomes tougher,
more uncomfortable.
So what's always a bit irritating for me is when I say that I'm Jewish and then people
criticize me for Israel's policies or blame me for it.
I don't have an Israeli passport, I can't vote there, I don't have the right to vote
there.
I don't have a say in the political situation and I'm not Israeli.
In fact, the vast majority of Jews around the world are not Israeli and many have no
connection with the country.
When someone asks me, 'What do you think about what’s going on in Israel right now?'
And without an accusatory undertone and without: ‘What are you and your people doing there
again?', but simply: 'What do you make of it?', then I talk and, of course, I answer
them normally.
But, it's not what you say, it's how you say it.
So let’s debunk another murky myth:
Jews all over the world are not responsible for Israeli policy
Of course, the Israeli government can be criticized, but where do you draw the line between antisemitism
and political debate?
I would draw the line in several cases, demonstrating not in front of the Israeli embassy, but in
front of a synagogue that's already starting to blur the line.
There you already see one of the central problems: In criticism of the Israeli government's policy,
there's very often the connotation of questioning the right to exist.
Or, automatically, you're forcing Jews – whether they want to talk about Israel or not – when
they enter the room to state their position regarding Israel.
Are you pro or against?
Where do your loyalties lie?
You have to state very clearly up front.
This is also, if not borderline antisemitism, but upfront antisemitism.
It automatically assumes that the average Jew, per definition, by them being Jewish,
are in a way 'agents of the Israeli government' and so on and so and so forth.
So how to handle this political hot potato – not talk about it at all?
That's why I'm a bit cautious about this idea that 'you mustn't talk about Israel at all.'
Of course Israel is close to us and, of course, it means more to most of us than many other
countries.
But, yes, you can just talk about it normally.
So Criticizing Israeli policy: fine.
Conflating Israeli state policy and Jewish life: not fine, and often antisemitic.
Today, antisemitism is even easier to spread -- thanks to social media.
Which means you should be extra cautious when it comes to where you're getting your information:
It's like reading the fine print on any food that we put into our body.
We need to be careful.
The fact [this 'information'] is simply out there and people are retweeting it or sharing
it on Facebook doesn't guarantee anything in terms of its validity.
Often, unfortunately, the opposite.
So with that in mind:
Don't believe everything you read
The world over, Jews experience antisemitism.
No matter when or where, and it ultimately it boils down to the same tropes, the same
prejudices, the same hatred.
Battling it is arduous.
And yet: There’s so much more to being Jewish – than fighting this hatred.
That's perhaps something I'd wish for: Continuing to take a look at active Jewish life and showing
what's actually happening.
Because there'’s always a great danger on the Jewish side, too, that you only think
within these dimensions [of antisemitism] and you actually forget the positive sides
a bit.
Personally, I can't identify with this victim role at all.
I always wear my Star of David openly and I am a proud Jew.
And that's how I walk through the streets of Munich, as a proud Jewish woman.