The attack on Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas on October 7, 2023 marks a deep turning point for the Jewish and Israeli communities in Germany. Jews are faced with the task of dealing with the traumatic consequences of the deadly attack and the related anti-Semitic threats. Starting in February 2024, the research project examines the experience of the phase since October 7th, 2023 from the perspectives of Jews of different generations and social backgrounds in urban and rural areas in Germany. The perceptions, classifications and effects from Jewish perspectives are analysed on the empirical basis of narrative interviews, group discussions and documented observations from research participants. Changes in processing are reconstructed over time and in connection with previous and current events. The study is funded by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency and being carried out at the research department of the Competence Center and the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Anti-Semitic violence and discrimination is a form of collective violence directed against groups. The term collective violence describes the use of violence by people who see themselves as members of a group and attack other groups for ideological reasons in order to achieve political, economic or social goals (Wilkinson/Marmot 2003). Therefore, collectively directed violence affects entire communities and develops traumatic potential (Auerbach2022). People who have suffered from exclusion and persecution often experience a variety of consequences for decades afterwards (Moré 2015). It can be assumed that antisemitism has a lasting impact on the psychological and social well-being of those affected. In antisemitism research here, the effects of antisemitic discrimination and violence on the everyday life, well-being and health of Jews have hardly been examined.

The study’s interest concerns the following research questions:

• How do the events affect the physical, psychological and social well-being as well as the everyday life of Jews of different origins and age groups in Germany?
• To what extent do Jews in Germany experience discrimination in connection with the public reactions to the terror against Israel since October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Israel and the Gaza Strip?
• What role do the transgenerational transmissions of the Shoah, previous experiences with terror and displacement and other wars play in the impact and processing of current experiences?

Contact: hoppe@zwst-kompetenzzentrum.de