The Re-emergence of Anti-Semitism in Post-Communist Europe

I should like to draw attention to the Journal for the Study of Antisemitism’s special issue, “Eastern European Antisemitism” (Vol. 4, Issue # 2, 2012), which is now available on line at http://www.jsanitsemitism.org/pdf/jsa_4-2.pdf

Guest edited by Andras Kovacs, Professor of Sociology at the Central European University, Budapest, and specialist in the subject of anti-Semitism in post-war Europe, this special issue discusses and analyses the findings of important sociological research by eminent European academics on the re-emergence of anti-Semitism in Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia since the fall of communism.

Noting that more than 4 million victims of the Holocaust came from Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia owing to both passive observance and active support of the ghettoization and deportation of Jews to the death camps, a series of articles show how the anti-Semitism of the pre-war period never left these countries but remained throughout the communist era in both the private and political spheres, so that the apparent “re-emergence” of post-communist anti-Semitism is not only a relic of communism itself but is also a continuation of the old anti-Jewish prejudices that haunted Europe before the war.

What is particularly interesting about the research presented in this series of articles is the description of the forms that the anti-Semitism took during the pre-war period and during the communist era, and how that anti-Semitism has been reconstituted since the fall of communism. Specifically, the research provides empirical data on the size of anti-Semitic groups within the current societies of Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, their typical social features and attitudes, and draws a comparable picture of the changes in anti-Jewish prejudice since the pre-war period to the present day.

Finally and significantly the research addresses and assesses the risk of anti-Semitism becoming a defining element in the future politics and social life of each of these four Eastern European countries.

After reading the results of this scholarly research, which is well-articulated in the articles presented, one is left with the inescapable conclusion that the “Jewish Question” has reappeared in today’s Eastern Europe, even if in a different guise.

But it is not just Eastern Europe which appears to be plagued by the re-emergence of anti-Semitism. The Journal also provides a series of essays by eminent anti-Semitism scholars and analysts that draw on various events, such as the attempt by British actors to prevent Israeli actors from performing at the Globe Theatre in May 2012, to discuss the reality of contemporary anti-Semitism in countries such as England, Holland, Switzerland, and Finland. Other essays address topics such as anti-Semitism in Hollywood (with particular reference to Mel Gibson!), the Rachel Corrie story, and why there is no peace in the Middle East. In fact, it is the breadth and richness of the coverage in this special issue of the Journal for the Study of Antisemitism that makes it excel.

Further, as with all issues of the Journal for the Study of Antisemtism, Volume 4, Issue # 2, offers a good number of scholarly reviews of recent books and films on the topic of anti-Semitism. These include, but are not limited to, reviews of Wistrich’s ‘From Ambivalence to Betrayal’, Klein’s ‘Nazi Germany, Canadian Responses’, Kressel’s ‘The Sons of Pigs and Apes’, Rickman’s ‘Hating the Jews’ and Dieudonne’s film ‘L’antisemite.’

In sum, Volume 4, Issue # 2 of the Journal for the Study of Antisemtism is outstanding, offering a wealth of knowledge and insight to anyone who is interested in anti-Semitism. It takes work to recognise anti-Semitism in its many manifestations, the work of understanding and judgment. The contributors to this special issue have done that work for us. I highly recommend that you read it.