Stefan Hensel becomes Hamburg's first anti-Semitism commissioner

Status: 06/30/2021 6:20 p.m.

Hamburg gets its first anti-Semitism officer on Thursday. Stefan Hensel, chairman of the German-Israeli Society Hamburg.

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Mr. Hensel, this institution of the anti-Semitism commissioner already exists in most of the other federal states. But not in Bremen: Instead, they rely on a forum with different actors. The Jewish community in Bremen calls the anti-Semitism commissioner as an institution “a failure of democratic society that has come to life”. How does that sound to your ears?

Stefan Hensel: First of all, it has to be said that every federal state has its own way of dealing with it and has thought of its own equipment for this office. If a different path is taken in Bremen, then I find it interesting because we are only at the very beginning with these tasks, which will then be implemented at the state level. I think after a few years we can evaluate and see what we have achieved, and then maybe we have to change direction. I think it’s interesting that we have a federal state that goes its own way.

Why do you consider your position as anti-Semitism officer to be important and essential?

Hensel: We have been more sensitive to anti-Semitism in recent years – I would prefer to speak of hatred of Jews because it makes it a little clearer. It’s about the prejudice against Jews and the rumor about Jews. We have an increase in anti-Semitic crime. A few days ago, the Anti-Semitism Report revealed that there were 1,909 anti-Semitic crimes in the past year. Every day there were four to eight crimes of various types – from insulting to damage to property and physical assault. This shows that there is a need for action here. I am not only the anti-Semitism commissioner, but also the commissioner for Jewish life – and there is a lot to show how Jews in Hamburg helped to shape and shape the city.

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A young woman with kippah © picture alliance / dpa Photo: Britta Pedersen

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The number of anti-Jewish incidents in Germany is not only high, it has also increased significantly in the past year. What do you think that’s the reason?

Hensel: I think there are different factors. For one thing, many Jewish people did not report crimes because they thought, in the broadest sense, that it would not help. Due to a higher sensitivity in dealing with anti-Semitic crimes, but also with racism and other forms of discrimination, we now have a situation where people are more likely to report it. At the same time, there was a change in the recording of criminal offenses. For a long time it has been the case that every anti-Semitic crime has always been assigned to right-wing extremism, and now there is a differentiation. All these discussions and snapshots mean that people are ready to say: Something happened to me here that is not right, and I report this act.

Anti-Semitic stereotypes are also increasingly circulating on the Internet – not only in remote conspiracy forums, but also on platforms in the middle of society. You are in close contact with the Jewish communities, especially with young people. What do you hear from them?

Hensel: Many young people have noticed in the last few weeks that they have not arrived in society as they actually thought. When I’m in a group, it doesn’t mean that I come out in all my diversity. This often has no relevance at all in a group of friends or in a class. But when it comes to clashes or discussions, these stereotypes about Jews, for example, are openly expressed. And that makes Jews even less willing to show themselves as Jews to others, because that can mean that one is no longer part of this group.

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Two hands hold a kippah. © picture alliance / Sina Schuld / dpa Photo: Sina Schuld

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After anti-Jewish riots in Germany, there is often talk of “imported anti-Semitism”. Don’t people make it too easy for themselves with this reference to the hatred of Jews by “the others”?

Hensel: I believe that people also make it easy for themselves, especially the political fringes. They try to attribute the anti-Semitism exclusively to refugees. You’re absolutely right, that’s bullshit. We know from surveys that around a quarter of the population has an almost unanimous anti-Semitic view of the world and agrees with theses that fortunately are not reflected in their voting decision. Nonetheless, we have to acknowledge that, particularly in the demonstrations and the resulting riots that are now taking place around the Middle East conflict, many people with a Muslim migration background were involved. We have arrested people who came to us as refugees. I believe that generalizations do not help us – but I also believe that closing off realities creates a situation where we cannot achieve anything with a program, with education or with encounters.

There was also an anti-Semitic parade of the “Muslim Interaktiv” in Hamburg recently. You then made a statement and called for the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) to be closed: It was a threat to the Jews living in Hamburg. In what way?

Hensel: The sentence goes on: for Jews and Muslims living in Hamburg. I am not at all interested in talking about the IZH. Because talking about this center, which is controlled by Iran and has always appeared there since the existence of the Hamburg Constitutional Protection Report, obscures what Muslims and their associations are doing in Hamburg: in integration work, but also in educational work and in the fight against Anti-Semitism.

As the Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany, what do you see as your outstanding tasks?

Hensel: After speaking to a great number of institutions and individuals in recent months, I can say that we have many people and initiatives in the city who are committed to combating anti-Semitism, but also against other people-related hostility or racism. I want to give it a little more visibility. Initiatives that have had exchanges with Israel in schools for years; People who do Stolperstein projects with schoolchildren or youth groups and try to generate empathy with individual biographies of real people who have suffered or have been killed – these are things that are very close to my heart and that we have to highlight as lighthouse projects . We have a whole range of these lighthouse projects in the city, which the sports associations, the political organizations, but also the Muslim associations help to shape. And we have a well-functioning inter-religious dialogue in the city. This is something that we as a city can be proud of. We have to do everything in our power to promote and highlight these projects so that many imitators can be found.

The interview was conducted Alexandra Friedrich.

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