Anti-Semitism in the Middle Ages and today: Luther in the lead – culture

Lea Rosh said it very clearly this Thursday evening in the Jewish Community Center on Fasanenstrasse when she greeted them: “Anti-Semitism kills”. And: “He is there. He was never gone ”. And it is increasing in Germany, in 2020 alone there were almost 2,400 anti-Semitic crimes, 30 percent more than in 2018.

That is why Rosh, as chairman of the support group for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, initiated a series of lectures with the Jewish Community and the Moses Mendelsohn Foundation, which should provide information about the various forms of anti-Semitism: about right-wing extremist anti-Semitism or the communist-left, Islamic like that of modern media. Christian anti-Semitism kicks off the series this evening, if you will one of the roots of the evil, which is not least found in the New Testament.

The historian and Mendelsohn Foundation chairman Julius H. Schoeps speaks about the “power of images” and starts with the medieval “Judensau” sculptures and images

These are still to be found today in at least 30 churches, cathedrals and cathedral buildings in Germany. Over the centuries, they had “had a lasting impact on the way people feel and think, and thus the consciousness of the population,” says Schoeps.

Anti-Semitism from Martin Luther to the Nazis

And then add example to example, from woodcuts with Jews riding backwards on a pig, to sayings such as “suck the milk, fris deu den trek / that’s your best taste” to images showing Jews with them sucking on the teats of a sow with a pointed cap on his head.

It is suggested that “Jews are related to pigs”. According to Schoep, it is thought-provoking that “the derisive swear words ‘Judensau’ or ‘Judenschwein’ have more or less become independent over the centuries and no longer need the existence of the authentic Jew. They have become free-floating, prejudiced labels that can be directed against anyone. “

Perhaps Schoeps, who is a great speaker, uses those swearwords one idea too often in his otherwise inspiring lecture; the arc that he then draws from the Middle Ages to the distant and not so distant past and the present is taut with striking examples.

There are the National Socialists and the churchmen who followed them, for example the Thuringian regional bishop Martin Sasse, who like many Nazis made use of Luther and his teachings; there are the demonstrators on the streets in German cities who last shouted “Israeli child murderer” at the anti-Israel demonstrations during the recent Gaza war or who once again made associations with farm animals.

And there was that notorious anti-Semite, the reformer Martin Luther. Or the Archbishop of Mainz Rabanus Maurus, who drew the connection between Jews and pigs in the 9th century. “The Christian world perceived the existence of Jews as a nuisance,” concludes Schoeps, “as something unbearable. No matter what the misfortune it was, only the Jews were always held responsible. “

Should the anti-Jewish passages in the New Testament be deleted?

It is a shame that Schoeps only briefly touches on anti-Judaism in the New Testament, the images of the Jews as “Satan” or “brood of snakes and vipers”, the stereotypes that have established themselves in Christianity. What is the situation here with the psyche of a religion that thinks that it is differentiating itself from another that has existed for much longer? On the other hand, that would have gone beyond the scope of a single lecture.

But how do you get these pictures out of your mind? Also the cliché images with which magazines add texts about modern Judaism?

Schoeps expands his subject by addressing the problem of subsequent changes to children’s books, for example, to racist terms, to the subtle anti-Semitism of Wilhelm Busch, for example. And: “It is not far from the thought to also demand the removal of anti-Jewish passages and statements in the New Testament”.

However, Schoeps speaks out against the removal of anti-Jewish sculptures. One may remember the “Judensau” relief on the facade of the Wittenberg town church, the removal of which was rejected by the Naumburg Higher Regional Court after a complaint by the Jewish community in the second instance.

According to Schoeps, it should not be the task of the courts to “deal with controversial issues relating to the culture of commemoration”. Instead, he pleads for historical contextualizations, for enlightenment and even more enlightenment, despite all the power that pictures have: “We have to (…) point out the absurdity of these pictures, because we have no other choice.”(On Monday, July 5th, 7:00 pm, Oliver Decker from the University of Leipzig will speak about “Racism and Anti-Semitism”: on Monday, August 23rd, 7:00 pm, Richard Herzinger will talk about communist and left-wing anti-Semitism.)