A schoolbook publisher has apologized for using an antisemitic
illustration in a text about the euro crisis.
The book will not be removed from German schools’ bookshelves, however.
Based in Berlin, the Klett-Verlag publisher told Vice magazine blogger
Philipp Frohn that the “regrettable mistake” would be corrected in a
future edition, which will not come out for several years.
At issue is an image in the firm’s textbook about politics, called
“Impulses 2.” It depicts the euro as a Pacman-like chomping mouth
about to devour Europe superimposed over a symbol with the words
“Rothschild Bank.”
The notion that the Jewish banking family is controlling the world for
its own selfish purposes “is a classic antisemitic conspiracy theory that
the Nazis made good use of,” Frohn wrote.
“The message to pupils
… is clear: The driving force behind the whole nasty affair is a bank. A
Jewish bank,” he added.
The book credits the notorious American illustrator David Dees, whose
work the New York-based Anti-Defamation League called “antisemitic and
conspiratorial” in a 2008 report. The ADL noted that Dees, on his own
website, said he hoped his images would “wake others up about the
onslaught of the elite’s power hungry world government plan of
domination.”
His current illustrations include portrayals of Hillary Clinton as a
zombie; Donald Trump chained around the neck by a golden fob bearing the words
“The Fed” and a Star of David; and work suggesting that mass
shootings in schools are a Jewish conspiracy against the NRA.
Frohn said the publisher reacted with surprise to his questions about
how Dees’ illustration ended up in the textbook, which has been used in schools
across Germany since 2012. The publisher responded after “internal
discussions” to say that “the use of this caricature is in fact a
regrettable mistake,” and promising to remove the image from its online
version of the chapter “as soon as possible.” But it could take years
before a new edition is published, a spokesperson added.
Furthermore, the spokesperson said the publisher no longer knows which
external subcontractor was responsible for the content, but “we don’t work
together anymore.”
“Schoolbooks should help
students learn media literacy,” Frohn said. “And in times of
right-wing propaganda, this skill should be more important than ever.”
