Resilience against anti-Semitism

Resilience against anti-Semitism 2024

It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to strongly oppose racism and anti-Semitism – whether at the regulars' table or in the timeline.

On 12 November 2024, Münster Police Headquarters, University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration in North Rhine-Westphalia, Dep. Münster and the University of Münster invite you to a joint event on "Resilience against anti-Semitism".

The event, to which students who are studying to become teachers in particular are invited, begins at 9 a.m. in H1 (Schlossplatz 46, 48143 Münster).

Mandatory registration

Programme

08:45 – 09:00 | Admission

09:00 – 09:45 | Opening of the event and welcoming

Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels, Rector of the University of Münster
Herbert Reul, Minister of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Dani Dayan, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Israel

09:45 – 10:30 | “Let us never forget”. Lessons from the petitions of Jewish persecutees to Pius XII.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hubert Wolf, Department of Medieval and Modern Church History, Catholic Theological Faculty, University of Münster

10:30 – 11:15 | The Holocaust through Children's Eyes

Sabrina Hamidi, Julia Götz and class 10d of Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasiums in Münster

11:55 – 12:45 | Coffee Break

11:45 – 12:45 | Welcoming address

Guy Gilady, Deputy Ambassador of the State of Israel in Germany

12:00 – 12:45 | Anti-Semitism – old hatred in new forms

Ministerialdirigent Jürgen Kayser, Head of the Department for the Protection of the Constitution at the Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia

12:45 – 13:30 | Roundtable discussion

Andrzej Kacorzyk, Vice Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum
Julian Tsapir, Education Coordinator for German-Speaking Countries at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem
Stefan Querl, Director of the Villa ten Hompel History Site in Münster
Ludger Hiepel, Officer of the University of Münster against Anti-Semitism

13:30 – 13:45 | Presentation of the workshop program

13:45 – 14:45 | Lunch break and change of location (Schloss)

14:45 – 16:15 | Workshops

The following workshops are offered (in alphabetical order of the workshop leaders):

• German Jewish Life
  Dana and Sharon
  
  In this workshop, young people talk about how their lives are shaped by their affiliation with the Jewish faith in Germany.
  They report on how society deals with their faith, as well as the challenges and hostility they face daily.
• The Shoa in the Eyes of Children, using the example of the children's book “For Tommy on his 3rd Birthday” by Bedrich Fritta
  Sabrina Hamidi and Julia Götz, Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasium in Münster
  
  The workshop begins with a theoretical introduction to working with materials from Yad Vashem, including in primary schools. It provides space to try out the material and shows how interdisciplinary project work (such as exhibitions, trips to memorials or working with eyewitnesses) can be carried out. In addition, an overview is given of how a project day on the topic of “preventing Anti-Semitism” can be planned and carried out.
• Anti-Semitism among Muslims
  Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide, PD Dr. Sarah Demmrich and Abdulkerim Şenel, Research Center “Islam and Politics”, Center for Islamic Theology
  
  Anti-Semitism is much more widespread among Muslims than among non-Muslims. The workshop offers a scientifically based outline of the problem with current trends and challenges. The aim is to sensitize participants to this topic in their future practical work.
• Underground hatred of Jews – Anti-Semitism in left-wing movements
  Nicholas Potter, journalist and author, and Monty Ott, political and religious studies scholar and author, Berlin
  
  Nobody wants to be an Anti-Semite. Especially not in subcultures and movements with a progressive, emancipatory self-image. But hatred of Jews also goes underground – whether rappers against Rothschilds, DJs for Palestine or Punks Against Apartheid. BDS, the boycott campaign against the Jewish state, wants to hijack almost every cause, from class struggle to climate justice. Well-known myths resurface in an alternative form, at Pride demonstrations, at the documenta or at the commemoration of the Hanau Terror. And many Jews wonder where their place is in such scenes.
• Bialystok, June 27, 1941: The Massacre and its Impact after 1945
  Peter Römer, Villa ten Hompel History Site in Münster
  
  The basis of the workshop is a specific historical event in the context of the Shoah, namely the massacre of the Jewish population of Bialystok by German police officers and members of the armed forces a few days after the start of Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. The focus is on the actions and decisions of various actors who were present in Bialystok that day, without, however, creating an equalization of the different groups. The aim is for learners to independently explore various courses of action and to relate these to the actions that actually took place and the decisions that were actually made, in order to recognize the complexity of the spectrum of possible courses of action. The goal is to contextualize the actions and decisions of the people involved.
• Introduction to the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict
  Andreas Stahl, Central Office for the Advice and Monitoring of Anti-Semitic Incidents at Universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Münster | RIAS NRW
  
  This workshop offers an introduction to the history of Zionism and the founding of the State of Israel. Particular attention will be paid to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948. The discussion will also address the question of what has stood in the way of the oft-cited “two-state solution” since the beginning of the conflict and which central ideological and personal continuities play a role in this.
• Anti-Semitism. Doesn't exist here. Or does it?
  Julian Tsapir, Education Coordinator for German-Speaking Countries at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem
  
  Anti-Semitism manifests itself throughout society in the form of violence that Jews experience every day. However, in order to deal with Anti-Semitism professionally in everyday life, it is necessary to react not only when Anti-Semitic attacks have already occurred. Based on case studies, this workshop also addresses subtle forms of Anti-Semitism and touches on other forms of discrimination in order to sensitize participants to the experiences of those affected and to expand their individual ability to intervene.
• Learning from life stories – practical insights into the project “Asking the Pope for Help”
  Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hubert Wolf and Jana Haack, Department of Medieval and Modern Church History at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Münster, and Alissa Geisler, Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Theology at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Münster
  
  The digital edition of the pleas for help from Jewish people to Pius XII, as part of the project “Asking the Pope for Help”, opens up a completely new didactic perspective: with the help of the teaching material, students can discover, develop and compare a wide range of biographies of persecuted people in times of totalitarianism, world war and the Shoah, based on the pleas for help. The biographical vignettes that can be gleaned from the material vividly and tangibly bring to life the life paths and fates of Jews, reflecting a broad spectrum of Judaism in Europe before, during, and after the Shoah. During the workshop, the teaching material will be presented and the potential of the letters of petition for developing resilience against Anti-Semitism from a religious education perspective will be highlighted. The focus will also be on the Vatican's handling of the letters of petition and on reflecting on one's own professional practice and scope for action.

• Does criticism of Israel threaten our democracy, or is that just a knock-back argument?
  Dr. Gil Yaron, Director of the NRW Office in Israel

War has been raging in the Middle East for a year, and Israel is criticized more often and more harshly than almost any other country. When and how is criticism of Israel's government legitimate? What does the term “antisemitism” actually mean? And how is all of this connected to the foundations of our democracy? A workshop on a highly charged and current topic.

Registered participants will receive further information on the selection by email in the next few days.

16:20 – 16:30 | Farewell

Alexandra Dorndorf, Chief of the Münster Police Department
Christoph Keller, HSPV NRW, Head of Münster Department

Moderation of the day:
Susanne Dittert, University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration North Rhine-Westphalia
Ludger Hiepel, Officer of the University of Münster against Anti-Semitism
Alexander Koch, Münster Police

The event is supported by a donation from the Sparkasse Münsterland Ost
and by the Commissioner for Anti-Semitism of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.