The antisemitism debates in the second and third quarters of 2022 were shaped by the international art exhibition documenta fifteen which took place in Kassel for 100 days. This does not mean that the conspiracy narratives surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian war against Ukraine have disappeared. However, the debate about documenta fifteen makes it clear how German society deals with antisemitism and in particular with antisemitism related to Israel. It was already pointed out at the beginning of 2022 that antisemitic incidents could occur in the context of the art show. The notice was dismissed and ignored. But with the opening of the exhibition, the warning was confirmed in every respect: documenta fifteen showed a variety of antisemitic depictions, which remained largely inconsequential. The conclusion of the situation report: German society does not deal well with antisemitism.
The representations and the handling of the representations form a focal point of our situation picture. In addition to documenta fifteen , several events such as the debate surrounding the BGH judgment on the Wittenberg “Judensau” made it possible to observe how Jewish perspectives and voices are heard but ultimately not taken into account. An interview with the Israeli sociologist Natan Sznaider and a selection of antisemitic incidents that occurred in Germany in the second and third quarters show how concrete and real the threat to Jews in the Federal Republic is.
