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In dem Beitrag werden eine historische Einordnung und eine Erklärung aktueller Migrationsbewegungen sowie rechter Gegenmobilisierungen gegeben. Außerdem stellt der Autor dar, welche Schlussfolgerungen aus der Geschichte zu ziehen sind für aktuelle Strategien im Umgang mit Populismus, Extremismus und Demagogen. more...

[Research on anti-Semitism as an academic subject and a public task] Wolfgang Benz’ article is based upon a summary of the research that for more than three decades has been pursued at Zentrum fur Antisemitismusforschung, within the Technical University of Berlin. At the beginning, the research was mostly aimed at historical and contemporary studies of anti-Semitism, but in recent years it has been concerned with racism towards other groups than Jews, for example anti-Ziganism and Islamophobia. Benz emphasizes that the research paradigm of the centre, where an extensive experience with empirical studies of racism and discrimination is combined with an advanced theoretical approach starting from the importance of historical and social explanatory factors, can be used both as a methodological and theoretical source of inspiration for other types of research on contemporary racism or right-wing extremism. Publication history: A translation of Benz’ published retirement lecture ”Antisemitismusforschung als akademisches Fach und offentliche Aufgabe” from Jahrbuch fur Antisemitismusforschung 19 (2010). (Published 16 September 2013) Citation: Benz, Wolfgang (2013) ”Antisemitismforskning som akademiskt amne och allman uppgift”, in Det vita faltet II. Samtida forskning om hogerextremism , special issue of Arkiv. Tidskrift for samhallsanalys , issue 2, pp. 167–183. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13068/2000-6217.2.6 more...

Die Ideologie des Nationalsozialismus bestand aus Versatzstücken der im 19. Jahrhundert entstandenen Rassenlehre, verbunden mit Sozialdarwinismus. Der Anteil der Nationalsozialisten lag in der Instrumentalisierung dieser Ideen in der Politik. Seit dem 18. Jahrhundert verbreitete sich die Überzeugung, dass Menschen aufgrund naturwissenschaftlicher Merkmale genetische Ungleichheiten aufweisen und so unterschiedliche Wertigkeiten erfahren. So waren der Theorie Gobineaus zufolge äußere Merkmale bestimmend für die Intelligenz und den Charakter des Menschen und stellten zugleich eine Legitimierung des Imperialismus und Kolonialismus einer als überlegen angesehenen weißen Rasse dar. Daraus entwickelte sich die Idee der Rassereinheit, die in der Eugenik Ausdruck fand. "Auslese" und "Ausmerze" waren tragende Begriffe der Bewegung und gleichzeitig Methoden zur Differenzierung zwischen der "arischen" Rasse und den minderwertigen Rassen. Hans F. K. Günther propagierte und popularisierte die im Nationalsozialismus geltenden rassenideologischen Grundsätze in seiner "Kleinen Rassenkunde". Das gab den Auftakt zum Vernichtungskrieg gegen angeblich Minderwertige und nahm ihnen den Platz in der "Volksgemeinschaft". Schlagwörter Rassismus - Eugenik - Euthanasie - Volksgemeinschaft - Sterilisation National Socialist ideology was comprised of various "set pieces" taken from the racial doctrines in vogue in the 19 th century, which were then combined with Social Darwinism. The specifically National Socialist input resided in instrumentalizing these ideas for political purposes. Since the 18 th century, the conviction, based on characteristics determined by scientific research, that humans were genetically dissimilar and therefore of differing value, had gained widespread credence. In the theory put forth by Gobineau for example, external characteristics were seen as determining an individual's intelligence and character, a view that simultaneously legitimized the imperialism and colonialism of a reputably superior "white" race. Out of this conglomerate emerged the idea of racial purity, which found specific expression in eugenics. "Selection" and "eradication" were leading concepts of this movement and at the same time methods for differentiating between the "Aryan" and inferior races. Hans F. K. Günther propagated and popularized these principles of Nazi racial ideology in The Racial Elements of European History. Renouncing their right to be part of the Volksgemeinschaft, this signaled the prelude to the war of extermination waged against allegedly inferior peoples. Keywords racism - eugenics - euthanasia - sterilization - Social Darwinism more...

Why did the majority of German Jews not escape the impending catastrophe caused by Hitler and the National Socialists by fleeing from Hitler's sphere of influence? Those who ask this naive question neither think about the economical and administrative difficulties which stand in the way of emigration nor do they consider the political hurdles put in the way of German, and later other European, Jews by potential receiving countries. Loss of status, almost always incurred by emigration, and a lack of professional qualifications for the country of immigration proved further difficulties. Assimilated German Jews' identification with Germany was a significant, maybe even the most significant reason, which stood psychologically in the way of emigration.(1) Very few German Jews reacted to the new German government with thoughts of emigration. The realization that the basis for Jewish life in Germany was lost was not widespread among Jews in the spring of 1933. The difficulties of emigration (these ranged from the "Reichsfluchtsteuer" emigration tax and progressive economic harassment to pillage and plunder before emigration) were one hurdle; the problems posed by the immigration authorities (proof of available means, professional qualifications, affidavits and guarantors) were the other.(2) At the time of Hitler's rise to power 550,000 Jews lived in Germany. Only 38,000 left in 1933. In 1934 the number of emigrants came to 23,000, whereas in 1935 20,000 German Jews emigrated. The Nuremberg Laws, which classified the Jews of Germany as second-class citizens without political rights, caused a small increase (25,000). During the year of the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936, emigration declined again. The biggest exodus, amounting to 40,000 emigrants, took place in 1938 and was caused by antisemitic harassment following the Anschluss of Austria, which had a Jewish population of 190,000, and following the November pogrom in Germany. In 1939, 75,000 to 80,000 Jews left the National Socialist sphere of influence. By 1939 it was clear that anti-Jewish policies were being stepped up; this became apparent in the violent expulsion of 17,000 Polish Jews, in the pogroms of "Kristallnacht," and in numerous laws and policies including required registration of Jewish possessions and the compulsory addition of Sara and Israel as additional forenames for Jews. To start with, France was the most favored country of exile; Austria (until 1938), Czechoslovakia, and the Saarland, which was under a mandate by the League of Nations, were the first stages. Up to the autumn of 1938, 11,000 Jews fled to Great Britain, but after the November pogrom another 40,000 found refuge there. Palestine and the U.S. were the most popular destinations for exile. Because of the restrictive quota system introduced by Britain in Palestine, which it held under a League of Nations mandate, only a small number of the Jews wishing to immigrate there were allowed to do so. The British tried to prevent illegal immigration by all possible means. A quota system also regulated entry to the U.S.A., and this was coupled with the requirement to provide an affidavit from a U.S. citizen guaranteeing that the immigrant would not become a burden to the welfare system. Less than 50,000 German Jews found refuge in Palestine, whereas 130,000 made a new home in the U.S.A. All in all, only half of the German Jewish population succeeded in escaping National Socialist persecution by emigrating.(3) Until 1939 the National Socialist government both encouraged and hindered emigration simultaneously. Forcing Jews out of the economy increased their desire to emigrate, but the plundering of Jewish capital and high taxes hindered them from doing so. The insidious nature of the regime revealed itself in its hope of exporting antisemitism. This could be achieved, it was calculated, if the expelled impoverished Jews became a social problem in their country of exile. After the Anschluss of Austria and annexation of the Sudeten German regions, the flight of Jews from the National Socialist sphere of influence became the main focus of attention in the neighboring states. … more...

Technische Universitat Berlin To belittle the significance of or deny that the Nazi state committed genocide against European Jews is a punishable offence in Germany and Austria, in Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania and Poland. With this, legislators sought to protect Holocaust victims and their descendants from affront and insult. Further, this criminal sanction is the constitutional state’s response to antiSemitism, and so is more than acknowledging and honouring the presence of a Jewish minority in society or the official result of lessons drawn from history. Due to Germany’s historical responsibility for the Holocaust, how the genocide of the Jews is approached and handled is first and foremost a problem confronting German political culture. more...