In the history of Western perceptions of Jews and the 'Jewish problem', the First World War marks... more In the history of Western perceptions of Jews and the 'Jewish problem', the First World War marks a period of change which was, among other things, influenced by the course of the war on the Eastern Front. The German occupation of large parts of Russian Poland in 1915 brought the difficult conditions of Eastern European Jewry closer to public attention in the West, not only in Central Europe, but also in neutral states. For the Scandinavian writers who travelled to occupied Poland in 1916 and 1917, the direct encounter with East European Jewry was a new and often disturbing experience. Their travelogues represent an illuminating and, so far, unused source for Scandinavian perceptions of Jews in Eastern Europe, focusing on the 'ghetto' as the physical embodiment of Eastern Jewish life. Analysing these accounts, the present article discusses the different depictions of Warsaw's Jews thematically and identifies three interwoven perspectives of the 'ghetto': as a site of extreme poverty; as a foreign ('oriental') element in Europe; and as an archetype of Jewish life in general. Encountering the 'ghetto'
The Shifting Boundaries of Prejudice: Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Contemporary Norway, 2020
The chapter explores how the concept of antisemitism was used in the Norwegian public sphere in t... more The chapter explores how the concept of antisemitism was used in the Norwegian public sphere in the post-Holocaust period. Was antisemitism regarded as a problem for Norwegian society and accordingly scandalised? How were the boundaries of expression (of what can be said about Jews) defined and negotiated: by consensus or conflict? Analysing two central debates that took place in 1960 and 1983 respectively, the chapter traces a fading consensus about the definition of antisemitism. In 1960, the Norwegian public unanimously condemned any flare-up of Nazi ideology, race hatred and antisemitism, and did not allow any space for expressions of neo-Nazism and Holocaust denial. In 1983, by contrast, there was no consensus in the Norwegian public about the question of whether the radical condemnation of Israel (“Zionism is racism”) that had developed in the Norwegian radical Left after 1967 should be seen as illegitimate antisemitism, or as legitimate criticism protected by the freedom of speech.
Antisemitism in the North: History and State of Research, ed. by Jonathan Adams and Cordelia Heß, 2019
Historical research on antisemitism in Norway developed relatively late and unsystematically. It ... more Historical research on antisemitism in Norway developed relatively late and unsystematically. It had to contend with the prevalent view that antisemitism was virtuallyn on-existent in Norwegian society since so few Jews lived in the country, or that it was at most a marginal phenomenon, limited to sectarian circles on the extreme political right.Challengingt he self-image of Norway as a tolerant country, historical research over the last decades has uncovered various manifestations of an exclusionist tradition towards Jews in Norwegian history: from the total ban on Jews in the Constitution of 1814 to the prohibition of kosher slaughter in 1929,from the rejection of Jewish refugees in the 1930s to collaboration and complicity in the arrests and expropriation of Norwegian Jews under German occupation. Focusing on mainstream societal actors, such as the press at the beginning of the twentieth century ,research has shown that caricatures of "the Jew" as a morally corrupt and harmful foreigner served as a negative foil to Norwegian identity. This form of stereotyping provided a repository of negative images of Jews for the Norwegian public, which would persist irrespective of the issues of the day.
The Norwegian Constitution of May 1814 was regarded as the most liberal constitution of its time,... more The Norwegian Constitution of May 1814 was regarded as the most liberal constitution of its time, yet it was also radically exclusive against Jews, Jesuits and monastic orders. None of these groups were allowed to enter the kingdom, and those who did, even accidentally, were subject to imprisonment and deportation. Why did the Norwegian Constituent Assembly introduce Europe’s most antisemitic clause to Europe’s most liberal constitution? The essays collected in this volume present new historical research on the exclusion of Jews in the Norwegian Constitution to an international public. They examine the intellectual origins of the anti-Jewish clause, explore the enforcement of the constitutional ban in vivid detail and place the Norwegian case into a broader transnational European context.
In the history of Western perceptions of Jews and the 'Jewish problem', the First World War marks... more In the history of Western perceptions of Jews and the 'Jewish problem', the First World War marks a period of change which was, among other things, influenced by the course of the war on the Eastern Front. The German occupation of large parts of Russian Poland in 1915 brought the difficult conditions of Eastern European Jewry closer to public attention in the West, not only in Central Europe, but also in neutral states. For the Scandinavian writers who travelled to occupied Poland in 1916 and 1917, the direct encounter with East European Jewry was a new and often disturbing experience. Their travelogues represent an illuminating and, so far, unused source for Scandinavian perceptions of Jews in Eastern Europe, focusing on the 'ghetto' as the physical embodiment of Eastern Jewish life. Analysing these accounts, the present article discusses the different depictions of Warsaw's Jews thematically and identifies three interwoven perspectives of the 'ghetto': as a site of extreme poverty; as a foreign ('oriental') element in Europe; and as an archetype of Jewish life in general. Encountering the 'ghetto'
The Shifting Boundaries of Prejudice: Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Contemporary Norway, 2020
The chapter explores how the concept of antisemitism was used in the Norwegian public sphere in t... more The chapter explores how the concept of antisemitism was used in the Norwegian public sphere in the post-Holocaust period. Was antisemitism regarded as a problem for Norwegian society and accordingly scandalised? How were the boundaries of expression (of what can be said about Jews) defined and negotiated: by consensus or conflict? Analysing two central debates that took place in 1960 and 1983 respectively, the chapter traces a fading consensus about the definition of antisemitism. In 1960, the Norwegian public unanimously condemned any flare-up of Nazi ideology, race hatred and antisemitism, and did not allow any space for expressions of neo-Nazism and Holocaust denial. In 1983, by contrast, there was no consensus in the Norwegian public about the question of whether the radical condemnation of Israel (“Zionism is racism”) that had developed in the Norwegian radical Left after 1967 should be seen as illegitimate antisemitism, or as legitimate criticism protected by the freedom of speech.
Antisemitism in the North: History and State of Research, ed. by Jonathan Adams and Cordelia Heß, 2019
Historical research on antisemitism in Norway developed relatively late and unsystematically. It ... more Historical research on antisemitism in Norway developed relatively late and unsystematically. It had to contend with the prevalent view that antisemitism was virtuallyn on-existent in Norwegian society since so few Jews lived in the country, or that it was at most a marginal phenomenon, limited to sectarian circles on the extreme political right.Challengingt he self-image of Norway as a tolerant country, historical research over the last decades has uncovered various manifestations of an exclusionist tradition towards Jews in Norwegian history: from the total ban on Jews in the Constitution of 1814 to the prohibition of kosher slaughter in 1929,from the rejection of Jewish refugees in the 1930s to collaboration and complicity in the arrests and expropriation of Norwegian Jews under German occupation. Focusing on mainstream societal actors, such as the press at the beginning of the twentieth century ,research has shown that caricatures of "the Jew" as a morally corrupt and harmful foreigner served as a negative foil to Norwegian identity. This form of stereotyping provided a repository of negative images of Jews for the Norwegian public, which would persist irrespective of the issues of the day.
The Norwegian Constitution of May 1814 was regarded as the most liberal constitution of its time,... more The Norwegian Constitution of May 1814 was regarded as the most liberal constitution of its time, yet it was also radically exclusive against Jews, Jesuits and monastic orders. None of these groups were allowed to enter the kingdom, and those who did, even accidentally, were subject to imprisonment and deportation. Why did the Norwegian Constituent Assembly introduce Europe’s most antisemitic clause to Europe’s most liberal constitution? The essays collected in this volume present new historical research on the exclusion of Jews in the Norwegian Constitution to an international public. They examine the intellectual origins of the anti-Jewish clause, explore the enforcement of the constitutional ban in vivid detail and place the Norwegian case into a broader transnational European context.
Jewish Studies in the Nordic Countries Today, Apr 11, 2016
This article provides a first critical overview of the historiography of Jewish immigration and i... more This article provides a first critical overview of the historiography of Jewish immigration and integration in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. While the experience of immigration has been crucial for Scandinavian Jewry, scholarly interest in Jewish migration history only emerged during the 1980s in connection with the focus on migration and ethnicity in Swedish research and the adaptation of sociological concepts of migration in general historiography. By analysing key historiographical works, focusing on their approaches and main narratives, this article aims at a critical methodological self-reflection. It identifies two major approaches to Jewish immigration history in current Scandinavian historiography: the demographic and social history approach, focusing in particular on the role of Jewish immigrants in the labour market, their settlement and housing conditions and their social mobility; and the cultural history approach, reconstructing and preserving the vanished world of Yiddish immigrant culture.
Mediating Modernity. Challenges and Trends in the Jewish Encounter with the Modern World. Essays in Honor of Michael A. Meyer, ed. by Michael Brenner and Lauren B. Strauss, 2008
Edward Said taught readers of French and English scholarship and literature to appreciate numerou... more Edward Said taught readers of French and English scholarship and literature to appreciate numerous assumptions about the East they had previously made unthinkingly. Said's notorious neglect of German Orientalismas insufficiently determined by colonialismhas unintentionally ...
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History of Antisemitism
the 1980s in connection with the focus on migration and ethnicity in Swedish research and the adaptation of sociological concepts of migration in general historiography. By analysing key historiographical works, focusing on their approaches and main narratives, this article aims at a critical methodological self-reflection. It identifies two major approaches to Jewish immigration history in current Scandinavian historiography: the demographic and social history approach, focusing in particular on the role of Jewish immigrants in the labour market, their settlement and housing conditions and their social mobility; and the cultural history approach, reconstructing and preserving the vanished world of Yiddish immigrant culture.