Exhibition Project “Antisemitism after the Shoah”
Analogue + Digital + Interactive
Our annual theme in the commemorative year of 2023 is historical and current Antisemitism. We intend to incorporate the theme into our (educational) events and to highlight it in the villa. The area outside the seminar rooms on the first floor is usually used to present smaller and special exhibitions. In November 2022, as a cooperation partner in the “Weeks of Action against Antisemitism” organised by the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (AAS) and the Anne Frank Zentrum, we covered one wall of our hallway with the posters from this year’s campaign. They deal with Israel-related Antisemitism. In January 2023, we will add the “Chronicle of antisemitic Incidents”, which was compiled by the AAS for the year 2022. This list was created based on media reports and currently includes 108 entries covering the period up to November 2022 (as of late December 2022).
To show how antisemitic attacks and assaults have been ongoing occurrences since 1945, we are conducting an experiment on the other side of the hallway: throughout 2023, we will be remembering various antisemitic attacks and assaults that occurred between the post-war period and today. Such incidents include arson attacks on synagogues, violence against people, desecration of Nazi memorials, terrorist actions, and murder. January 23, for example, is the 13th anniversary of the arson attack on the “House of Democracy” in Zossen, which, at the time, was showing an exhibition about Jewish life in the town. At the beginning of each month, we plan to post brief reminders of anniversaries like this one at the memorial and also post them on our social media channels. In the middle of each month, we will conduct short interviews or expert talks about the topic; these will also be posted on social media. A selection of digital responses to these posts will also be displayed in the hallway. We hope that this will foster conversations with our followers and demonstrate how Antisemitism has continued uninterrupted up to the present. Visitors to the villa will also have the chance to react and engage. As we said, the project has an open outcome, and we are eager to see what happens!
Text: Dr Ruth Preusse