Meron Mendel

Since the massacre by the terrorist organization Hamas on October 7, 2023, it has been clear that anti-Semitism is also a massive problem in Germany. The media reports on anti-Semitic incidents almost every day. Jews no longer feel safe and are often victims of discrimination and hatred. More than 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, Jewish life in Germany is still often exposed to anti-Semitic hostility. Schools, kindergartens and synagogues must be guarded. In the wake of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on German streets, aggressive anti-Semitic agitation by angry Islamist mobs is increasingly occurring. Politics is failing to act on its promise. But the breeding ground for this is older. The documentary attempts to show that, based on age-old hatred, stereotypes and prejudices, anti-Semitism from the right-wing, from left-progressive circles and the middle of society is omnipresent in Germany.

In recent years, resentments and hatred towards Jews have become increasingly aggressive, louder and more brutal. What is at the roots of this development? Statistics show an extreme rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Germany but also worldwide. Berlin, for example, has become the city with the highest number of such attacks in Europe. Whether it’s from the left or the right, among Muslims or simply in normal everyday life - Jews and Jewish institutions are increasingly being threatened and violently assaulted in this country. In this series by Richard C. Schneider, experts and scientists, as well as those affected, attempt to explain the intentional or unintentional mechanisms of anti-Jewish hostility on the basis of historical, social and ideological developments.