About the Book
We live in uncertain and unsettling times. Tragically, today’s global culture is rife with violent bigotry, nationalism, and antisemitism. The rhetoric is not new; it is grounded in attitudes and values from the 1930s and the 1940s in Europe and the United States.
Antisemitism on the Rise is a collection of essays by some of the world’s leading experts, including Joseph Bendersky, Jean Cahan, R. Amy Elman, Leonard Greenspoon, and Jürgen Matthäus, regarding two key moments in antisemitic history: the interwar period and today. Ari Kohen and Gerald J. Steinacher have collected important examples on this crucial topic to illustrate new research findings and learning techniques that have become increasingly vital with the recent rise of white supremacist movements, many of which have a firm root in antisemitism.
Part 1 focuses on the antisemitic beliefs and ideas that were predominant during the 1930s and 1940s, while part 2 draws comparisons between this period and today, including examples of ways to teach others about contemporary antisemitism. The volume seeks to inform readers about the historical progression of antisemitism and in doing so asks readers to think about what is at stake and how to bridge the gap between research and teaching.
Author Bio
Ari Kohen is a professor of political science, Schlesinger Professor of Social Justice, and director of the Harris Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is the coeditor (with Gerald J. Steinacher) of Unlikely Heroes: The Place of Holocaust Rescuers in Research and Teaching (Nebraska, 2019) and the author of In Defense of Human Rights: A Non-Religious Grounding in a Pluralistic World. Gerald J. Steinacher is the James A. Rawley Professor of History at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is the author of Humanitarians at War: The Red Cross in the Shadow of the Holocaust.
Praise
“Antisemitism on the Rise includes a broad and engaging array of research and essays, including scholars and practitioners among the writers. The contributions are well grounded in research or experience.”—Kevin Spicer, author of Hitler’s Priests: Catholic Clergy and National Socialism
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Ari Kohen and Gerald J. Steinacher
Part 1. History of Antisemitism
1. Underestimating German Antisemitism: The Case of Carl Schmitt, the Frankfurt School, and Weimar Jewish Elites
Joseph W. Bendersky
2. Antisemitism and Totalitarian Movements: Thinking Again about Hannah Arendt
Jean Cahan
3. Nazi Antisemitism as Ideology and Genocidal Practice: The Case of Alfred Rosenberg
Jürgen Matthäus
4. “Semites” on Display: David Gordon Lyon and the Jewish Other at Harvard University, 1889–1926
Timothy Turnquist
5. Use and Abuse of the Bible: German Christian Antisemitism in the 1930s and 1940s
Leonard Greenspoon
6. The Forgotten Jewish Atlantis: Poznań and the Legacy of Antisemitism
Łukasz W. Niparko
Part 2. Contemporary Antisemitism
7. Antisemitism and Its Transnational Inhibitions: 1930s Europe and Now
R. Amy Elman
8. bds, Antisemitism, and Israeli Identity
Shlomo Abramovich
9. The Role of Antisemitism in Holocaust Education in the Jewish and Secular School Classroom
Scott B. Littky
Contributors
Index
