Search Results

Diaspora Identities: Jewish Bakeries and Baked Goods in London and Berlin

Author(s): Romanek, Devorah

Date: 2008

Topics: Food, Jewish Identity, Artefacts and Material Culture, Jewish Culture, Main Topic: Other, Jewish Neighbourhoods

Abstract: This essay investigates how material culture acts as an agent of cultural construction when social and cultural practices are geographically displaced. It does this by taking a comparative look at current Jewish Diaspora communities in London and Berlin, and by analyzing the production, consumption and broader meaning of three Jewish baked goods – matzos, challah and bagels - in the context of Diaspora communities in these two cities. The comparison between London and Berlin also allows a consideration of the construction of 'locality'/'setting', particularly in the transient sense of a fluid concept of sense-of-place as constructed against a backdrop of material culture; additionally, the level of religious observance; the contrast of notions of 'fixed' and 'fluid', and 'traditional' and 'cosmopolitan'; and the agency of the baked goods themselves is observed and analyzed.

A Globalized Conflict: European Anti-Jewish Violence during the Second Intifada

Author(s): Smith, Robert B.

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: New Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Muslim, Antisemitism: Left-Wing, Hate crime, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Israel Criticism, Main Topic: Antisemitism

Abstract: The globalization of the Arab–Israeli conflict during the period of the second intifada against Israel (from the autumn 2000 through at least the spring of 2005) has fostered anti-Jewish violence in Europe and throughout the world. With this globalized conflict as a context, this paper explores the effects of four explanatory factors on counts of anti-Jewish violence in 10 European countries. These factors are the relative sizes of a country’s Jewish and Muslim populations; how interpretations of the events in the Middle East mobilize the perpetrators; the unresponsiveness of bystanders; and the ambivalence of ordinary Europeans. Poisson multilevel models of the effects of these social structural and attitudinal variables suggest that all four factors contribute to violence. The violence counts include major attacks like shootings, knifings, bombings, and arson; and major violent incidents like vandalism and physical aggression without the use of a weapon.

Lietuvos moksleivių nuostatos žydų atžvilgiu ir etninės tolerancijos ugdymas

Translated Title: Ethnic tolerance and attitudes towards Jews of the Lithuanian high school students

Author(s): Šutinienė, Irena

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism: Attitude Surveys, Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Education against, Attitudes to Jews, Holocaust Education, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Surveys, Schools: Seconday / High Schools

Abstract: Ethnic tolerance of the Lithuanian high school students aged at 16-17 as well as antisemitism in their attitudes towards Jews is analysed in the article on the basis of survey data. Incoherence is felt in many students' tolerance attitudes. Only active tolerance is related to "genuine", coherent non-antisemitsm. Among two types of antisemitic stereotypes and prejudices the few students accept traditional political antisemitism, but the antisemitic stereotypes of Holocaust history in Lithuania arc accepted in a bigger proportion. The effects of the participation of the schools in the Tolerance education projects and initiatives on the students' tolerance attitudes and antisemitic stereotypes in their attitudes towards Jews are analysed as well.

Nienawiść na łódzkich murach. Antysemityzm i homofobia

Translated Title: Hate speech on Lodz walls – anti- Semitism and homophobia

Author(s): Desperak, Iza

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism, Hate crime, Football, Main Topic: Antisemitism

Abstract: Tekst poświęcony jest opisaniu zjawiska łódzkiej moralnej mowy nienawiści, szczególnie jej aspektu antysemickiego i homofobicznego. Łódź zdaje się być podzielona na sektory należące do dwóch klubów i ich zwolenników. Malują oni komunikaty nawołujące do nienawiści na niemal wszystkich ulicach i budynkach miasta, będące wyrazem walki o podbicie nowych lub utrzymanie wczesnej podbitych terytoriów. Większość tych napisów i malunków posługuje się wizerunkiem uniwersalnego i odwiecznego wroga - zwolennika przeciwnego klubu. Jest on zazwyczaj portretowany jako Żyd, gej lub kurwa czy transwestyta. W tekście tym staram się - miedzy innymi na podstawie analizy fotografii - sklasyfikować owe postacie wroga oraz poddać analizie źródła tego zjawiska. Antysemityzm i homofobia młodych łódzkich kibiców przypominają niepokojąco dyskurs rasistowski, faszystowski i rasistowski.

Russian Food Stores as Transnational Enclave? Coping with the Reality of Immigration in Israel and Germany

Author(s): Bernstein, Julia

Editor(s): Engel, Gisela; Scholz, Susanne

Date: 2008

Topics: Food, Immigration, Aliyah, Main Topic: Other, National Identity, Russian-Speaking Jews

Meandry tożsamości mniejszości żydowskiej w Polsce. Trzy pokolenia rodziny żydowskiej w Zagłębiu Dąbrowskim

Translated Title: Meanders of identity of the Jewish minority in Poland. Three generations of a Jewish family in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie

Author(s): Pactwa, Bożena; Domagała, Anna

Editor(s): Mucha, Janusz; Pactwa, Bożena

Date: 2008

Topics: Family and Household, Age and Generational Issues, Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Oral History and Biography

Between Authenticity and Ethnicity: Heritage Tourism and Re-ethnification Among Diaspora Jewish Youth

Author(s): Lev Ari, Lilach; Mittelberg, David

Date: 2008

Topics: Birthright (Taglit), Educational Tours, Israel Attachment, Israel-Diaspora Relations, Israel Tours, Israel Experience, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity

Abstract: Heritage tourism takes on a new meaning when conceived and implemented in the framework of a diaspora – homeland context. Trip organisers utilise heritage tourism that identifies the signifiers of national collective identity or Peoplehood and construct an experience of authenticity that supports a newly reconstructed narrative of personal and collective identity that bridges the diaspora and homeland identities. This paper examines into the differential consequences of heritage tourism on the ethnic identity of diaspora travellers from North America and the former Soviet Union to their homeland, specifically contrasting Jewish tourists from different diaspora localities making an otherwise almost identical birthright Israel trip. For both groups, Jewish ethnic identity was strengthened, particularly their emotional attachment to Israel. However, the difference between the two groups was found in the actual factors that explain this post trip attachment to Israel. The experiential component was more prominent among participants from the former Soviet Union, while among North American student participants, Jewish background as well as their higher pre-trip motivations provide an explanation for their high post-trip scores of attachment to Israel. Israel thus serves as the liminal domain of diaspora tourists, where existential authenticity and pre-trip ethnicity as latent as the latter may be, intertwine experientially to generate an expansion of the frame of individual identity of diaspora tourists in their homeland.

De stand van de joodse studies in Nederland, 1990-2008

Translated Title: The state of Jewish studies in the Netherlands, 1990-2008

Author(s): Wallet, Bart

Date: 2008

Topics: Jewish Studies, Main Topic: Education, Universities / Higher Education

Die Linke, Israel und Palästina : Nahostdiskurse in Großbritannien und Deutschland

Translated Title: The Left, Israel and Palestine. Middle East discourses in Great Britain and Germany

Author(s): Ullrich, Peter

Date: 2008

Topics: Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism: Left-Wing, Antisemitism: Muslim, Israel Criticism, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Israeli-Arab Conflict, Main Topic: Antisemitism

Abstract: Die Debatte um das Thema „Die Linke und der Nahostkonflikt“ erhitzt seit Jahren die deutschen Gemüter. In der Diskussion wird immer wieder auf „typisch deutsche“ Bedingungen, Ideen und nicht zuletzt Verdrängungen der Vergangenheit verwiesen.
Mit diesem Band wird erstmals eine Studie vorgelegt, die diesen Fragen wirklich auf den Grund geht, indem sie die linken Nahost- und Antisemitismusdiskussionen in verschiedenen Ländern untersucht. Im Vergleich des linken Umgangs mit dem Nahostkonflikt in der Bundesrepublik und Großbritannien zeigt sich, dass zum Verständnis der deutschen Besonderheiten tatsächlich die Erinnerung an die NS-Zeit einen entscheidenden Schlüssel liefert.
Doch diese Nachwirkungen der deutschen Geschichte haben paradoxe Folgen: sie produzieren einerseits extreme Identifikationen mit den nahöstlichen Konfliktparteien (Israelis oder Palästinensern) und damit eine aggressive innerlinke Auseinandersetzung.
Andererseits stellt dieser konflikthafte deutsche Diskurs den Ausgangspunkt für einen kollektiven Lernprozess und damit für eine vergleichsweise komplexe Wahrnehmung des israelisch-palästinensischen Konflikts dar.

Die doppelt Anderen : eine soziologische Rekonstruktion der Verschränkung von Antisemitismus und Antifeminismus

Translated Title: Double-Others : a sociological study on the intersections of antisemitism and antifeminism

Author(s): Stögner, Karin

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Discourse, Feminism, Interviews, Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism, Jewish Women, Main Topic: Antisemitism

Abstract: Thema dieser Dissertation sind die Strukturverwandtschaften und gesellschaftlichen Funktionsähnlichkeiten von Antisemitismus und Antifeminismus. Der Schwerpunkt der Analyse liegt auf der gesamtgesellschaftlichen Makroebene, wo die Intersektionen sich sowohl über die Korrespondenzen als auch über die Eigenheiten und Differenzen beider Kategorien manifestieren. Aus der Perspektive soziologischer, politischer, ökonomischer und geistesgeschichtlicher Erklärungsansätze wird der Frage nachgegangen, wogegen sich Feindschaft und Abwehr im Antisemitismus und Antifeminismus richten und was der jeweilige Gehalt von Konstrukten des Jüdischen und des Weiblichen ist, die beide im Bereich des Phantasmagorischen und Ideologischen anzusiedeln sind. In sie geht die gesellschaftliche Vorstellung von Natur ebenso ein wie die Überhöhung von Stärke bei gleichzeitiger Abwertung von Schwäche.
Geschlechterbilder und -normen spielen dabei eine bedeutsame Rolle. Nach einer analytischen Auseinandersetzung mit den gesellschaftlichen, historischen, ökonomischen und politischen Fundierungsverhältnissen von Antisemitismus und Antifeminismus werden anhand des antisemitischen und frauenfeindlichen Bildarchivs der Moderne, zumal jenes des Fin de Siècle, die Intersektionen von Antisemitismus und Antifeminismus einer genaueren Betrachtung zugeführt. Auffallend sind vor allem die deutlich gegenderten und rassisierten Imagines des Juden und der Frau, denen gleichermaßen eine Transgression der Geschlechtergrenzen immanent ist.
Sie alle gruppieren sich um einen antiemanzipatorischen Gestus. Diese Imagines sind als performative Akte des Antisemitismus und des Antifeminismus zu fassen, und werden somit nicht bloß als Ausdruck diskriminierender und unterdrückender Diskurse und Strukturen der Gesellschaft analysiert,
sondern als diese Strukturen selbst beständig (re)produzierend. Sie tragen damit zu einer kaum mehr durchdringbaren weil verselbständigten Institutionalisierung von Antisemitismus und Antifeminismus bei. Dieser Institutionalisierung wird in einem Abschnitt über den Umgang mit dem Nationalsozialismus gesondert nachgegangen. Ein weiterer Abschnitt ist der Durchsetzung von Antisemitismus und Antifeminismus auf der Mikroebene des doing difference gewidmet, wo der erlebnisanalytische Aspekt von Juden- und Frauenfeindlichkeit anhand einer Auswertung qualitativer Interviews im Zentrum steht.

Региональные Особенности Коллективной Памяти Студентов О Холокосте В Современной Украине

Translated Title: Regional Peculiarities of Students’ Collective Memory On the Holocaust in Present-Day Ukraine

Author(s): Иванова, Елена

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism, Holocaust, Holocaust Commemoration, Holocaust Education, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Students

B Лабиринте Политизации: Преподавание Холокоста В Школах Республики Молдов

Translated Title: In the Maze of Politicization: Holocaust Studies in Moldova’s Public Schools

Author(s): Думитру, Диана

Date: 2008

Topics: Holocaust, Holocaust Denial, Holocaust Education, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Schools: Seconday / High Schools

Abstract: До сегодняшнего дня в Молдове тема Холокоста на территории Бессарабии, Буковины и Транснистрии, находившихся во время Второй мировой войны под румынской властью, так и не нашла себе места в школьной программе по истории. Это объясняется убежденностью преподавателей в том, что предмет национальной истории должна составлять история этнических молдаван и что изучение Холокоста создает препятствия для сближения национальной идентичности румын и молдаван. Особенное сопротивление этой теме возникло после 2001 г. в контексте конфронтации между историками и коммунистическим правительством, которое стало целенаправленно вводить историю Холокоста в школьную программу. Сталкиваясь с продвижением данной проблематики через Министерство образования, школьные учителя предпочитают поддерживать позицию профессиональных историков, решивших бросить вызов правительству и, соответственно, намеренно сторонятся преподавания и исследования темы Холокоста.

Трансформация гендерных норм и практик в современном иудаизме

Translated Title: Transformation of Gender Norms and Practices in Contemporary Judaism

Author(s): Анистратенко, Светлана Викторовна

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Other, Jewish Women, Gender, Feminism, Family and Household, Orthodox Judaism, Reform/Liberal/Progressive Judaism, Religious Observance and Practice

A Sociological Comparison of Anti-Semitism and Anti-Muslim Sentiment in Britain

Author(s): Meer, Nasar; Noorani, Tehseen

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Comparisons with other communities, Main Topic: Antisemitism

Abstract: Comparisons of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim sentiment 2(the latter also known as ‘Islamophobia’) are noticeably absent in British accounts of race and racism. This article critically examines some public and media discourse on Jewish and Muslim minorities to draw out the similarities and differences contained within anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim sentiment. It provides a rationale for focusing upon the period of greatest saliency for Jewish migrants prior to the Second World War, compared with the contemporary representation of Muslims, and identifies certain discursive tendencies operating within the representations of each minority. The article begins with a discussion of multiculturalism, cultural racism and racialization, followed by a brief exploration of the socio-historical dimensions of Jewish and Muslim groups, before turning to the public representation of each within their respective time-frames. The article concludes that there are both hitherto unnoticed similarities and important differences to be found in such a comparison, and that these findings invite further inquiry.

Zwischen nationalem Opfermythos und europäischen Standards Der Holocaust im ungarischen Erinnerungsdiskurs

Translated Title: Between the national victim myth and European standards: The Holocaust in the Hungarian Discourse of Remembrance

Author(s): Fritz, Regina; Hansen, Imke

Editor(s): Eckel, Jan; Moisel, Claudia

Date: 2008

Topics: Holocaust, Holocaust Commemoration, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Memorials, European Union, Memory

»Das Recht, über die Geschichte zu urteilen«. Der Umgang mit dem Holocaust in Belgien an der Schwelle zum 21. Jahrhundert

Translated Title: 'The right to judge history'. Dealing with the Holocaust in Belgium on the threshold of the 21st century

Author(s): Brüll, Christoph

Editor(s): Eckel, Jan; Moisel, Claudia

Date: 2008

Topics: Holocaust, Holocaust Commemoration, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial

Jewish Languages and Life after Death: Traces of Haketía among the Jews of Gibraltar

Author(s): Benabu, Isaac

Editor(s): Alexander, Tamar; Bentolila, Yaakov

Date: 2008

Topics: Ladino and Haketia, Language, Main Topic: Other, Sephardi Jews

Language and identity among the Sephardim in the Territory of the former Yugoslavia

Author(s): Filipović, Jelena; Vučina Simović, Ivana

Editor(s): Sikimić, Biljana; Ašić, Tijana

Date: 2008

Topics: Sephardi Jews, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity, Ethnicity, Language, Ladino and Haketia, Literature, Newspapers, Magazines and Periodicals

Abstract: In this paper, the question of importance of Judeo--Spanish as the means for maintaining ethnic identity among the Sephardim in the territories of former Yugoslavia is investigated through an analysis of articles dedicated to the topic published in El amigo del puevlo (a Judeo-Spanish periodical which first was published in Serbia, and then in Bulgaria), fragments from the books by Angel Pulido, Los israelitas espanoles y el idioma castellano (Madrid 1904) and Espanoles sin patria y la raza sefardi (Madrid 1905),as well as unpublished documents from the Archive of Serbia and the Jewish Historical Museum in Belgrade.The present analysis suggests that a specific language ideology(negative attitudes towards the minority language in question) has played a crucial role in language shift in favor of the majority languages in the region (which has not jeopardized the concept of ethnic identity and membership), thus supporting findings by other authors(e.g., Myhill 2004, Weis 2000) that the maintenance of ethnic identity among Jews over the centuries has often been strengthened bycultural (religious, traditional, literary, etc.) rather than linguistic criteria. From the theoretical standpoint, this research clearly supports the view that the construction of ethnicity and ethnic identity should be viewed as a complex process in which different factors (language being only one of them) have different values and saliency at different points in time (e.g., see Fishman 1989; 1999)

Denial and Repression of Anti-Semitism: Post-Communist Rehabilitation of the Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic

Author(s): Byford, Jovan

Date: 2008

Topics: Christianity, Antisemitism, Antisemitism: Christian, Main Topic: Antisemitism

Abstract: Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović (1881–1956) is arguably one the most controversial figures in contemporary Serbian national culture. Having been vilified by the former Yugoslav Communist authorities as a fascist and an antisemite, this Orthodox Christian thinker has over the past two decades come to be regarded in Serbian society as the most important religious person since medieval times and an embodiment of the authentic Serbian national spirit. Velimirović was formally canonised by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2003. In this book, Jovan Byford charts the posthumous transformation of Velimirović from 'traitor' to 'saint' and examines the dynamics of repression and denial that were used to divert public attention from the controversies surrounding the bishop's life, the most important of which is his antisemitism. Byford offers the first detailed examination of the way in which an Eastern Orthodox Church manages controversy surrounding the presence of antisemitism within its ranks and he considers the implications of the continuing reverence of Nikolaj Velimirović for the persistence of antisemitism in Serbian Orthodox culture and in Serbian society as a whole. This book is based on a detailed examination of the changing representation of Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović in the Serbian media and in commemorative discourse devoted to him. The book also makes extensive use of exclusive interviews with a number of Serbian public figures who have been actively involved in the bishop’s rehabilitation over the past two decades.

Another Exception: The Jews of France

Author(s): Astro, Alan

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Other, Jewish History, Comparisons with other communities

Interioridades e Exterioridades dos Judeus de Lisboa

Translated Title: Interiorities and Exteriors of the Jews of Lisbon

Author(s): Pignatelli, Marina

Date: 2008

Topics: Jewish Community, Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community

Abstract: Este estudo realizado junto da Comunidade Israelita de Lisboa (C.I.L.) insere-se nos chamados "jewish studies" e enquadra-se na área da etnologia das religiões. O objectivo principal de análise é a imagem que estes judeus têm de si próprios e a que dão para o exterior, bem como a sua rede de relações sociais e éticas.

‘In Persia I was called “The Blonde”’: An Attempt to Analyse how a Jewess Practices Whiteness

Author(s): Nylund Skog, Susanne

Editor(s): Olsson, Annika

Date: 2008

Topics: Jewish Identity, Interviews, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Oral History and Biography, Narrative, Race, Gender, Memory

Authenticity, Autonomy, and Authority: Feminist Jewish Learning among Post-Soviet Women

Author(s): Grant, Lisa

Date: 2008

Topics: Education: Adult Education, Jewish Education, Jewish Women, Main Topic: Education, Jewish Identity

Abstract: This articles explores how a group of women in the Former Soviet Union grapple with questions of Jewish identity and Jewish “authenticity” as they participate in adult Jewish learning program that employs methods of feminist pedagogy and transformative learning. The study reflects on areas of dissonance between the transformational learning process and the tenacity of the women's world assumptions that are shaped by background, history, and worldview. While the learning process seems to be prompting these women to seriously and critically reflect on and reframe their self-understanding as learners and as Jews, their limited content-knowledge combined with a tentative sense of personal authority about Jewish life seems to impede their ability to harmonize their learning with a clear sense of what constitutes authentic practice of Judaism.

Judenhass und Gruppendruck - Zwölf Gespräche mit jungen Berlinern palästinensischen und libanesischen Hintergrunds

Translated Title: Hatred of Jews and peer pressure - Twelve conversations with young Berliners of Palestinian and Lebanese backgrounds

Author(s): Arnold, Sina; Jikeli, Günther

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism: Muslim, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Youth, Interviews

Zwischen Abgrenzen und Anerkennen. Überlegungen zur pädagogischen Begegnung von antisemitischen Einstellungen bei deutschen Jugendlichen muslimischer/ arabischer Herkunft

Translated Title: Between demarcation and recognition. Reflections on the educational encounter of antisemitic attitudes among German young people of Muslim / Arab origin

Author(s): Müller, Jochen

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism: Muslim, Immigration, Jewish - Muslim Relations, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Youth, Antisemitism: Education against

Der Feind kommt aus dem Morgenland. Rechtspopulistische "Islamkritiker" um den Publizisten Hans-Peter Raddatz suchen die Opfergemeinschaft mit Juden

Translated Title: The enemy comes from the Orient. Right-wing populist "Islamic critics" around the publicist Hans-Peter Raddatz are looking for a community of victims with Jews

Author(s): Widmann, Peter

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Other, Antisemitism: Far right, Attitudes to Jews, Islamophobia, Philosemitism, Politics

The Danish Jewish Museum: A New Museum Asserts its Character

Author(s): Laursen, Janne

Editor(s): Goodnow, Katherine; Akman, Haci

Date: 2008

Topics: Jewish Museums, Jewish Heritage, Main Topic: Culture and Heritage

?מהגרים ישראלים מחו"ל - המשכיות יהודית או התבוללו

Translated Title: Israeli Emigrants Abroad - Jewish Continuity or Assimilation?

Author(s): Lev Ari, Lilach

Date: 2008

Topics: Assimilation, Immigration, Israeli Expatriates, Jewish Continuity, Jewish Identity, Main Topic: Identity and Community

Abstract: This report looks at Israelis living in Europe--in particular England and France. It asks whether this population contributes toward Jewish continuity or assimilation.

Jewish Continuity among Israelis in Europe: First and Second Generation Immigrants Compared

Author(s): Lev Ari, Lilach

Date: 2008

Topics: Jewish Continuity, Jewish Identity, Assimilation, Israeli Expatriates, Immigration, Main Topic: Identity and Community

Abstract: This research deals with communities of Israelis living abroad in Europe, in particular England and France. It asks to what extent they contribute toward Jewish continuity and to what extent they are at risk for assimilation.

Aproximación a las principales corrientes actuales del judaísmo religioso y laico en occidente y España

Translated Title: Main current trends in Religious and Secular Judaism in the Western World and in Spain

Author(s): Berthelot, Martine

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Other, Reform/Liberal/Progressive Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Denominations, Secularity

Abstract: El judaísmo no es una entidad unificada; se divide en múltiples corrientes organizadas poniendo de manifiesto las diferencias en cuanto a creencia, valores, filosofía, observancia y prácticas religiosas, así como en conductas sociales u opciones ideológicas. En las siguientes páginas, empezaremos aclarando y situando las principales tendencias actuales en Occidente respecto a la que se suele o solía llamar ‘ortodoxia’, y continuaremos observando la manera en que se ha ampliado y diversificado el judaísmo español en los últimos quince años. Nos situamos desde la sociología de las religiones y en ningún caso desde una perspectiva meramente religiosa o historicista.

Rotten Apples, Bitter Pears: An Updated Motivational Typology of Romania s Radical Right s Anti-Semitic Postures in Post-Communism

Author(s): Shafir, Michael

Date: 2008

Topics: Antisemitism, Main Topic: Antisemitism, Post-1989

Abstract: Post-communist anti-Semitism in Romania and elsewhere in East Central Europe is not necessarily driven by the same motivations. Basically, each of the categories I employ in the taxonomy (updating earlier endeavors) acts out of a different motivation and has a different temporal orientation. What they all share, however, is precisely the attempt to respond to the need to produce what Benedict Anderson called an “imagined community,” in albeit significantly different positive terms of reference. A distinction is made between the following taxonomic categories of “producers” of anti-Semitism: a) “Selfexculpatory nostalgic anti-Semitism;” b) “Self-propelling anti-Semitism”; c) “Neo-populist mercantile anti-Semitism”: d) “Utilitarian anti-Semitism”; e) “Reactive anti-Semitism; and, finally, f) “Vengeance anti-Semitism.”

The Development of Holocaust Consciousness in Contemporary Britain, 1979–2001

Author(s): Pearce, Andy

Date: 2008

Topics: Holocaust Commemoration, Holocaust Memorials, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial

Abstract: This paper seeks to summarise how history and memory of the Holocaust has evolved in Britain from the late 1970s to the creation of Holocaust Memorial Day in 2000. Through reconstructing events and turning points, the paper demonstrates the development of British Holocaust consciousness while also placing it within a broader international context. It is argued that Holocaust Memorial Day marked the apex of a complex process but did not herald the end of British ‘memory-work’; indeed, it is suggested that there is a pressing need to reconsider how the day was created and continues to function.

Why the museum

Author(s): Gebert, Konstanty

Date: 2008

Topics: Holocaust Memorials, Holocaust Education, Jewish Museums, Main Topic: Culture and Heritage, Jewish - Non - Jewish Relations, Memory, Jewish Heritage

Abstract: The article debates the context of the creation of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews which is to open in Warsaw, Poland, in 2010. It analyzes the disappearance of Jewish history from Polish memory after the Shoah, the importance of that history for Poles and Jews alike, and the impact the museum should have for a deepened understanding of their shared, if contested past.

Wars of memory

Author(s): Gebert, Konstanty

Date: 2008

Topics: Holocaust Memorials, Holocaust Commemoration, Holocaust Education, Holocaust, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Educational Tours

Abstract: The article analyzes conflicting Polish and Jewish perspectives on the Shoah, and the impact of the March of the Living on these perspectives. It compares the bitter historical debates between Poles and Jews on Polish-Jewish relations to internal Polish polemics on post-war Polish history, describes mutual misperceptions involved, and postulates an intensification of the debate

Belsize Square Synagogue: Community, Belonging, and Religion among German-Jewish Refugees

Author(s): Lewkowicz, Bea

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Survivors, Oral History and Biography, Refugees, Synagogues

Abstract: This essay highlights the importance of Belsize Square Synagogue founded by German-Jewish refugees in 1939, known from 1940 as the New Liberal Jewish Congregation. Through the oral histories I have collected during my fieldwork, I will outline the history of the congregation focussing on certain themes which have emerged from the interviews, such as ‘belonging’, ‘connections’ and ‘family’. I suggest that belonging to Belsize Square Synagogue constitutes one of the most important forms of collective belonging in the UK for most of the interviewees. The institution of the synagogue helped its members integrate into the new society and also provided a framework in which memories of their continental past and the refugee experiences could be shared and remembered.

“We did also save people”: A Study of Holocaust Education in Romania After Decades of Historical Silence

Author(s): Misco, Thomas

Date: 2008

Topics: Holocaust Education, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Post-1989

Abstract: This research study seeks to understand the current state of Holocaust education in Romanian classrooms and the variety of forces that influence its treatment. By identifying obstacles, challenges, and successes, this study provides a generative knowledge base for curriculum proposals, symposia, and other initiatives that seek to disrupt reticence on this topic. Given the wide range of possible influences on Holocaust instruction, this study employs ethnographic methods to seek out constructed meanings among students, teachers, subject matter, and numerous forces within the milieu. The findings reveal some promises for addressing this history in schools, including teacher autonomy, institutional support, and teacher trainings. Yet Romania faces a number of challenges, such as the legacy of communism, the role of Antonescu in the curriculum, few opportunities to address controversies, limited instructional time, and other institutional and community forces. Holocaust education is a relatively new phenomenon in Romania and understanding its evolution can inform other societies and cultures that are working to introduce Holocaust studies or controversial issues into their curricula. As more post-Soviet and post-communist states attempt to build pluralistic, tolerant, and open-minded societies, their treatment of historical silences and the renegotiation of their past becomes a critical feature for the development of democratic citizens.

Anti‐Semitic Attitudes in Europe: A Comparative Perspective

Author(s): Bergmann, Werner

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Antisemitism, Surveys, Antisemitism: Discourse, Comparative Studies, Antisemitism: Attitude Surveys

Abstract: The article uses available survey data to depict the depth and spread of anti‐Semitic attitudes across Europe. The main assumption is that European anti‐Semitism, both currently and historically, is closely tied to issues and crises of national self‐identification; for this reason, social identity theory is employed to study the varying configurations of anti‐Semitic prejudice. In most European countries, Jews are a small and socially integrated minority. Attitudes toward them are determined less by concrete experiences of cultural differences, or conflicts over scarce resources, but rather by a perceived threat to the national self‐image. This leads to an accentuation of the pertinent prejudices that blame Jews to be responsible for that threat. This perspective brings to light considerable differences between Eastern and Western Europe and the continuing influence of national traditions.

Le début d'une grande alyah? Les Juifs de France « montés » en Israël depuis 2000

Translated Title: Starting Point of a Major Alyah?: On French Jews Who Emigrated to Israel after 2000

Author(s): Sebbane, Jérémy

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Demography and Migration, Aliyah, Emigration, Antisemitism

Abstract: With the upsurge in anti-Semitic actions in France and the murderous conflicts in the Middle East linked to the second intifada, the number of French migrants to Israel clearly increased between 2000 and 2006. The reason for this increase may be anxiety on the part of French Jews over the lack of concern among French administrative services and the media in response to the rise of anti-Jewish demonstrations. However, we should not overlook the fact that the Israeli administration and the Jewish Agency unceasingly encouraged the greatest possible number of Jews to settle in Israel so as to overcome the country’s demographic problems. Whether a deliberate choice or one due to fear, the migrants who idealized Israel were disappointed because of the hardships linked to integration.

Les enseignants des écoles juives

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Education, Jewish Teachers

Elke jood in Antwerpen werkt in de diamant en heeft een sjtreimel op zijn hoofd: clichés over joden in Antwerpen in verklarend historisch perspectief

Author(s): Vanden Daelen, Veerle

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Other, Haredi / Strictly Orthodox Jews, Stereotypes

« Madame le rabbin » ou « Pauline » ? Une pionnière entre stratégies de neutralisation et marges d’autonomie .

Translated Title: "Madam rabbi" or "Pauline"? A pioneer between neutralization strategies and margins of autonomy.

Author(s): de Gasquet, Béatrice

Editor(s): Guichard-Claudic, Yvonne; Kergault, Danièle; Vilbrod, Alain

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Other, Synagogues, Rabbis, Reform/Liberal/Progressive Judaism, Gender, Jewish Women

Jewish Identity Politics and the Scarf Affairs in France

Author(s): Vichniac, Judith E.

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Other, Antisemitism, Representation, Jewish - Non - Jewish Relations, Religion and State

Abstract: Much has been written about the scarf affairs in France and the subsequent legislation banning large religious symbols from the classroom. Less has been written about the major religious leaderships' responses from 1989 when the first affair took place until the debates surrounding the Stasi Commission in 2003. This article traces the evolution of their thinking with special emphasis on the splits within the Jewish leadership within the context of a rise of anti-Semitic acts.

When the Local Is Transnational: Time-Space, Conflict and Community (Re)construction Within Polish-Jewish Emigres' Diaspora

Author(s): Starnawski, Marcin

Editor(s): Fragoso, António; Kurantowicz, Ewa; Lucio Villegas Ramos, Emilio

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity, Interviews, Emigration, Diaspora, Oral History and Biography, Jewish Community

Between anti‐Semitism and Islamophobia: Some thoughts on the new Europe

Author(s): Bunzl, Matti

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Identity and Community, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Comparisons with other communities

Abstract: The apparent resurgence of hostility against Jews has been a prominent theme in recent discussions of Europe. At the same time, the adversities of the Muslim populations on the continent have received increasing attention as well. In this article, I attempt a historical and cultural clarification of the key terms in this debate. I argue against the common impulse to analogize anti‐Semitism and Islamophobia. Instead, I offer an analytic framework that locates the two phenomena in different projects of exclusion. Anti‐Semitism was invented in the late 19th century to police the ethnically pure nation‐state; Islamophobia, by contrast, is a formation of the present, marshaled to safeguard a supranational Europe. Whereas traditional anti‐Semitism has run its historical course with the supersession of the nation‐state, Islamophobia threatens to become the defining condition of the new Europe.

The Radegast Station Holocaust Monument - Its History, Contemporary Function and Perception in the Eyes of Tourists and Lodz Inhabitants

Author(s): Cudny, Waldemar

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Memorials, Surveys

Abstract: The article presents the problems of the Lodz Ghetto organized by the Germans during World War II and the role of the ghetto railway station - called Radegast Station. The author also describes the contemporary function of the station, paying particular attention to the initiative of the local authorities, which led to building a monument within its premises, commemorating the Holocaust of the Lodz Jewish population. Following that, the author presents the results of a survey conducted in the monument area in 2007, which allowed the local authorities' activity and its indirect influence on the image of Lodz to be assessed.

Holocaust lists and the Memorial Museum

Author(s): Lustiger Thaler, Henri

Date: 2008

Topics: Jewish Museums, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Holocaust Memorials

Abstract: The article looks at Holocaust related death lists in the permanent exhibition of the Bergen-Belsen Memorial Museum. The museum opened to the general public in October of 2007. I argue that Holocaust lists are best understood as memorial objects which project a particular kind of aura. This aura also surrounds the sacral and criminal landscape of Bergen-Belsen, which the lists have come to represent and mediate. It is the relationship of list to landscape that structures their shared auratic resonances, in the interplay between presence (what is documented in the list) and absence (names that have been destroyed, never to be retrieved). In the case of the lists of Bergen-Belsen this is even more nuanced, in that there were two landscapes where the detritus of the genocide unfolded: the iconic mass graves of Belsen and the displaced persons camp, several kilometers down the road from the concentration camp, where the sick and dying were transported after the liberation. Given that there is no original list of the dead in the mass graves of the concentration camp, the death lists in the displaced persons camp take on a more complex memorial meaning. In conclusion, I make the argument that the memorial experience of Bergen-Belsen is a useful template from which to view other transnational sites of destruction and crimes against humanity.

Not what we expected: the Jewish Museum Berlin in practice

Author(s): Chametzky, Peter

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Culture and Heritage, Jewish Museums

Abstract:
An extensive existing literature studies Daniel Libeskind’s deconstructivist design for the Jewish Museum Berlin (JMB). This article focuses instead on the museum’s exhibits from 2001 to today, their evolution in response to visitor criticisms, and their discursive setting, all of which exhibit museum and marketing professionals’ attempts to deal with, and to an extent to overcome, the theory driven and Holocaust-laden architectural programme. The JMB, in practice, while including the Holocaust as one component of visitors’ experiences, instead emphasizes Jews and things Jewish as a positive component of a ‘postnational’ version of the German national narrative.

Innocent Culprits - Silent Communities. On the Europeanisation of the Memory of the Shoah in Austria

Author(s): Kovacs, Eva

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Memory, Holocaust Commemoration, National Identity, Oral History and Biography

Abstract: The Shoah destroyed the substance of Austrian Jewishness. The emigration of the survivors after 1945 and the indignation of the Austrian society resulted in the dislocation of the memory of the Shoah itself. The Shoah provoked a massive social amnesia during the first two to three decades after World War II in Europe. The long silence was broken by the American television series Shoah in 1979 and by the Waldheim affair in 1986. Since the second half of the 1990s, a large‐scale restitution process and a new government program of commemoration have begun. Seemingly, Austria has successfully joined the mainstream of the European culture of memory. However, Austrian Jews as victims or survivors gradually came to be missing or played a minor role in the daily practice of the local and national politics of memory. One has the impression that the ‘local Jews’ have been overshadowed by the Europeanisation of the Shoah. The paper presents an Austrian case as a paradoxical example of ‘creative forgetting’ or ‘forgetting by remembering’.

Евреи в постсоветских странах: самосознание и образование

Translated Title: Post-Soviet Jewry: Identity and Education

Editor(s): Эпштейн, Алек Д

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity, Jewish Education

Reconsidering the Development of Academic Jewish and Israel Studies in Russian

Author(s): Epstein, Alek D.

Editor(s): Khanin, Ze'ev; Epstein, Alek D.; Chernin, Velvl

Date: 2008

Topics: Main Topic: Education, Jewish Education, Israel Education, Jewish Studies, Universities / Higher Education

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