1700 years of Jewish life: New exhibition opened in Bad Kreuznach!

1700 years of Jewish life: New exhibition opened in Bad Kreuznach!

On March 13, 2025, an important permanent exhibition was opened in the synagogue in Bad Kreuznach, which is devoted to Jewish life in Germany over a period of 1700 years. The Jewish community of Bad Kreuznach has been an integral part of the city since 1947 and has prepared the history of Jewish people in Bad Kreuznach since the 13th century. The ceremony for the opening was described by the organizers as a “visit to friends” for the festivals, which underlined the friendly atmosphere and emphasized the importance of the event for the local community. The exhibition is a step towards appreciation of Jewish tradition and history against the background of anti -Semitism, which is still a central social problem and has historical roots.

Anti -Semitism in Germany has a long and complex history that goes back to ancient times, with Christian enmity against Jews, which has been shaped against Jews for centuries. After the Holocaust, in which the annihilation of the Jews was declared the state purpose, new forms of anti -Semitism were created. These anti -Semitic attitudes that occur after the war, which are often referred to as secondary anti -Semitism, are often associated with repression and debt reversal. Historically speaking, this anti -Jewish discourse found its expression even after the inauguration of the new synagogue in Cologne by Federal Chancellor Adenauer in 1959 when this was again the goal of right violence and was smeared with swastika and the slogan "Jews out".

The development of anti -Semitism and its social causes

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the relationship between proletarian emancipation and anti -Semitism was complex and often contrary. Both the working class and Jews experienced disadvantage in bourgeois society. The material need of the Jews lived in Ghettos was comparable to the life situation of the working class. During this time, a Jewish bourgeoisie formed in Western and Central Europe that achieved prosperity and called for legal equality, but without questioning society as a whole.

The German labor movement developed in parallel to the historical caesura in Germany. The socialist workers' party was founded in 1875, which became the SPD in 1890. The rise of organized anti -Semitism collapsed with the economic crises between the 1870s and 1890s. In economically prospering phases until the First World War, anti -Semitism often resigned behind nationalist currents. At the beginning of the First World War, anti-Semitic prejudices and attacks, also to prominent Jewish SPD officials, increased.

criticism and resistance to anti -Semitism

Social democracy with future -oriented thinkers: Inside like August Bebel and Friedrich Engels, the dangers of anti -Semitism recognized. Bebel criticized him as a reactionary and as a distraction from the existing social grievances. While the SPD often saw the anti -Semitism problem as a temporary phenomenon that would disappear with the further development of capitalism, it increasingly experienced internal tensions, especially during the Weimar Republic. There the KPD entered opposition to the Weimar Republic and also had an increase in Jewish members who critically questioned the circumstances.

anti -Semitism in Germany is also an urgent topic today. An increase in anti -Semitic incidents has been determined in the past few decades that often emerge from individual feasts that have radicalized on social media. Empirical studies show that anti -Semitic attitudes in the German population are widespread. This underlines the need for initiatives against anti -Semitism that have been founded since the 1950s and the ongoing efforts to raise awareness of this topic in society.