Announcing LBI's Forum on Antisemitism and Democracy

In contemporary discourse around the rise in antisemitism worldwide and antisemitism’s enduring role in antidemocratic political movements, the experience of German-speaking Jews is a frequent reference point. The collapse of Weimar democracy and the antisemitism of the Nazis are indeed profoundly instructive about the danger of unchecked hatred of Jews, but ideally the historical allusions of contemporary pundits would not be the end of an argument, but the beginning of historical investigations. How did German and Austrian Jews perceive antisemitism, and how were they impacted? How did they respond, as individuals and as communities, and how did their responses succeed or fail?

In order to contribute to this discourse, LBI is holding a series of events that will pair a historian and a public intellectual to examine key moments in German-Jewish history between 1914 and 1933 – both on their own terms, and as touchstones for understanding today’s world.

October 22, 2024 at 6:30 PM: Antisemitism as a Pillar of Fascism with John Ganz and Gavriel D. Rosenfeld. Watch this event on YouTube.

October 29, 2024 at 6:30 PM: "As a Jew" – Identity, Conflict, and Politics with Emily Tamkin and Philipp Nielsen

November 3 at 12:00 PM: Fighting Back – Jewish Responses to Antisemitism with Michael Brenner and Jane Eisner.

These events will be in person at the Center for Jewish History. In case you cannot make the live events, they will be recorded and subsequently posted online.