Background
2021 will be an important and decisive year for Germany. After the Bundestag elections in September, Germany will have a new Chancellor for the first time in 16 years. With this comes a discussion of the future and direction of German politics but also what that means for Germany identity. One important cultural aspect regards Germany’s relationship to its past, the future of multiculturalism and rise of Antisemitism and Islamophobia. As a debate rages in the U.S. about Critical Race Theory and the teaching of U.S. history, teachers and academics in the U.S. might ask: what can we learn from Germany and how it comes to terms with the past? What can we learn from German history about resistance, moral courage and protecting human dignity (enshrined in Article 1.1 of the German Constitution)? This summer an international academic debate arose over Germany’s historical relationship to Israel and its Jewish population as well as what it means to be Jewish in Germany. Australian historian and genocide researcher Prof. Dirk Moses published a controversial article entitled “The German Catechism” in which he argues “the memory of the Holocaust as a break with civilization is the moral foundation of the Federal Republic. To compare it with other genocides is therefore considered a heresy, an apostasy from the right faith. It is time to abandon this catechism.”1 While many German historians and academics took issue with Moses stance others supported his position. How does this impact Jewish life in Germany today? These are some of the topics that will be explored in our series of events.
Central Questions to be Explored
What are the main issues in the coming Bundestag Elections and how does cultural history impact the parties? What can we learn about German-Jewish relations in the past and the role of activism in fighting Antisemitism? How have controversies today impacted the teaching of history and what parallels can we find between the U.S. and Germany? What does Jewish life in Germany look like today and what differences/similarities are there to Jewish communities in our state and region?
September Events
German Elections: Germany and Europe’s post-Merkel future (September 2021)-Professor Eric Langenbacher, Georgetown and AISCG: “Bundestag Elections 2021”
German Elections: Germany and Europe’s post-Merkel future (September 2021) – Global Studies Roundtable: “German elections: Parties and Themes”
October Events
The White Rose and Intolerance Past and Present (October 2021) – Sophie Scholl and the White Rose
The White Rose and Intolerance Past and Present (October 2021) – Critical Race Theory and the Teaching of History: Lessons from Germany
The White Rose and Intolerance Past and Present (October 2021) – Film Screening of Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
The White Rose and Intolerance Past and Present (October 2021) – Rabbi Moishe Steigmann, Congregation Cnesses Israel Synagogue, Green Bay: “Antisemitism today.” Moderator: Prof. David Coury
November Events
1700 Years Jewish Life in Germany (November 2021) – Film Screening of Go for Zucker!
1700 Years Jewish Life in Germany (November 2021) – “Jewish life in Germany and the U.S. Today”
