Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Saturday, May 27, 2023
BERLIN – Children are exposed to anti-Semitism within the German school system, according to the education minister and the government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein.
“Just as in our society, anti-Semitism is unfortunately also increasingly found in our schools,” Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger told the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe. “We must not accept that.”
“We notice that anti-Semitism is also spreading in schools,” Klein also told the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe. “It does not only emanate from pupils, but also from teachers. There are sometimes terrible remarks – everywhere in the classroom.”
Urgent action is needed, he said, calling for better teacher training among other measures.
He said reporting of anti-Semitic incidents in schools should be made mandatory nationwide. Dealing with anti-Semitism and racism must become a compulsory component of teacher training.
Furthermore, Klein said, a close look is needed at the way Judaism is taught in textbooks.
Some textbooks describe Jewish life “as it was 2,000 years ago: Boys read the Torah and girls grind corn,” said Klein.
“There are also devastating illustrations in religious books, for example,” he said, describing the way Jewish people are drawn listening to Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount.
Often this process is unconscious but must not become ingrained in children, he said. “In schoolbooks it must be made clear that Jews are a part of Germany.”
