Dear readers and dear friends of Medaon,
Many contributions in this issue deal with the challenges of belonging to a minority group. Jews in the diaspora have always struggled with their desire to be acknowledged by mainstream society. Depending on historical and social conditions, this desire appears in manifold ways in every biography.
Starting from his own family history, Lars Dencik focuses on the situation of German-speaking Jewish emigrants in Sweden in the 1930s and 1940s. He develops the concept of ‘double integration’ which addresses both the many examples of individual success in a progressive environment as well as the impact of traumatic experiences.
As a country of exile, Sweden also plays a role in the personal history of Róża Fiszman-Sznajdman who is portrayed in the series on biographies of Jewish women. Being a staunch communist, she wrote her autobiography in Goteborg where she emigrated to in 1969 due to the anti-Semitic agitation of Poland’s communist government.
In this issue, antisemitism is also addressed as a challenge to present societies. Lately, especially the encounters of Jewish pupils with Jew-hatred in schools have become a pressing problem. The competence centre of the Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Juden in Deutschlandtries to take care of the issue by advising the affected, parents, teachers and schools alike. The contribution on antisemitism and schools by Marina Chernivsky discusses the practical experience behind these efforts. Accordingly, the education section offers a portrait of the online portal ‘Anders denken’ which collects practical experiences and materials from anti-antisemitsm education.
The status of Jews as minorities is the focus of further contributions in this issue. Which challenges arose when Jews married non-Jewish partners? It is love stories that still provide an impression of life in the past – for instance, it was the screen adaptation of the of Solomon and Gaenorthat brought the Jewish history of Wales to us. Marina Sassenberg draws on this hidden chapter of European history and the corresponding traveling exhibition.
Also our sources section addresses the topic of love and marriage. In her contribution, Eva Chrambach deals with the marriage contract of Elsbeth Pabst and the Jewish merchant Fritz Chrambach. In addition, the section comprises Saxonian-Jewish history – such as the discoverie of fragments of medieval Hebrew bindings in Dresden by Andreas Lehnardt and the presentation of the literature database Bruch|Stücke by Martin Munke, as a follow-up to the last issue. The issue is completed by a number of reviews, as usual.
Sadly, we need to say farewell once again: Solveig Höppner is leaving the editorial office. We want to thank her for all her work, especially in the miscellaneous section, and wish her all the best for the future.
The current issue again has been made possible with the great help of our reviewers. Corrections and translations were done by Cathleen Bürgelt, Phillip Roth, Margi Schellemberg, Patricia C. Sutcliffe, Steffen Schröter of text plus form and Katharina Wüstefeld – we thank them very much!
The editors of Medaon, May 2019.