Varieties of Antisemitism: History, Ideology, Discourse (review)

Antisemitism has proven remarkably diverse, both in forms of expression and in geographic extent. Its study therefore allows for disciplinary diversity and comparative or transnational approaches. This compilation demonstrates the continuing possibilities in the study of "the longest hatred."

The first section, "Rethinking the Holocaust," emphasizes nuance. Whether it involves the function of antisemitism or the issue of regional variation, the cumulative effect of these first six essays is to reinforce the importance of avoiding the easy or the broad generalization while demonstrating some potentially valuable and fruitful avenues for future study. David Biale addresses the question of modern vs. pre-modern through an examination of the discourses of Nazi antisemitism, arguing that "the ritual murder and racist languages of blood . . . in gutter publications like Der Stürmer were at once medieval and modern, or better, modernized versions of medieval religious tropes" (pp. 46-47). In one of the most impressive contributions, Holly Case shows how territorial disputes between Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia contributed to the development of antisemitic rhetoric, influenced anti-Jewish legislation, and ultimately affected the fate of the Jews in each during the Second World War. A "regional rather than national perspective," she writes, "can thus help historians gain a better understanding of how genocide happens in a given state context" ( p. 76). A regional approach can also help us understand the differing opportunities for resistance and chances for survival. Barbara Epstein contrasts the experience of inmates of the Minsk ghetto (and Belorussia generally) with that in the ghettos of Warsaw or Vilna: "What was striking about Minsk . . . was not that some people turned in Jews but that the vast majority resisted the pressures to do so, and in many cases [helped] Jews" ( p. 144).

The second and largest section, "Varieties of Antisemitism," is heavily weighted toward Poland, with two essays treating the Jedwabne controversy that followed the publication of Jan Gross's Neighbors. Peter Kenez tells the horrifying and depressing story of pogroms in Hungary after the Holocaust, a tale paralleling Jan Gross's equally disturbing recent study, Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz. In both cases the people's less-than-noble inclinations made it "comforting to believe that Jews had deserved their fate" ( p. 224). As Kenez suggests, the worse we behave toward a group the more we dislike them. As did the Poles, Hungarians saw themselves as victims of the war and therefore not responsible for anyone else's suffering. Reluctance to return ill-gotten property and the popular association of Jews with Communism were prominent in both cases. There were some Jews among the Communist leadership in Poland, but the situation was even more extreme in Hungary, where the new government was largely in the hands of individuals of Jewish heritage. Similarly to Gross's effort to explain the Communist takeover in Poland, Kenez notes that "The Communists did not create antisemitism, but consciously or unconsciously contributed to and exploited it. In effect, the party attempted to turn the extant powerful antisemitic currents to its own advantage in its struggle for power, and in the process sacrificed the interests and in a handful of cases the lives of Jewish citizens" (p. 233).

A highlight of the second section is Milton Shain's overview of antisemitism and the far right in South Africa, a case involving both "imported" German elements and domestic factors. Shain shows the possibility of significant antisemitism in a country where there already exists a strongly established prejudice against another outsider group. The parallels with the United States at the same time are striking. George Fredrickson's grouping of Nazi Germany, South Africa, and the American South as "overtly racist regimes"¹ thus gains further credence if we look at all three in terms of their Jews and not just the latter two's treatment of Blacks. As Shain writes, "we need to understand context and the intellectual currents aiding or undermining anti-Jewish sentiment. Antisemitism may be ever present...