Either Stupid or Ice-Cold!
Die Presse, January 16, 2023
German original: https://www.diepresse.com/6239047/entweder-dumm-oder-eiskalt
Replica to A. Goldenberg. But, of course, Jewish museums in perpetrator countries like Austria are educational institutions.
We like to use the term "migration background" for those people to whom we attribute that they are culturally (also) socialized differently. And yes, people whose parents come from completely different cultural backgrounds often have different approaches. I think that's as legitimate as it is enriching, depending on how you deal with that "different access."
So if you work primarily for immigrant people or their children, you should be careful about how you phrase different things so that you're not constantly alternating between displaying your ignorance and and cultural gaffes.
As a speaker, you should always think about how things you say will be received. You should ask yourself beforehand, "Who is my audience? What do I want to achieve with what I say?"
In this country, people usually have "Nazi backgrounds." That probably sounds as unpleasant to the ears of the local people as "migration background" sounds to the ears of the people from there.
But it is just as true.
If one now refers to the fact that in Austria there are also resistance fighters, Jews and other people persecuted by the Nazis, I would like to remind briefly of the meaning of the word "socialization." In Austria in particular, as is well known, sensitivity towards racist, xenophobic or anti-Semitic statements or even deeds is still relatively unestablished.
A museum located in Israel - or, for that matter, in another country with a less anti-Semitic past and present than Germany or Austria - can act differently, can put things up for discussion differently, because the basis is different.
But an exhibition about stereotypes in a country, where in every survey easily about 40% agree with at least one anti-Semitic stereotype, should necessarily point out what the actual Jewish reality is. And not only in small print.
It does not contribute to understanding if one serially elevates individual cases or artistic interventions to an example, as in the current exhibition "100 Misunderstandings about and among Jews" at the Jewish Museum Vienna. In all surveys in Austria, a good 85% of Jews feel that their security is rather threatened - a Jewish museum that does not pay attention to this is a non-Jewish museum.
The exhibition pretends that anti-Semitism is not rising exponentially again here, as if this kind of humor could work because it would be identified as humor. That's either stupid or stone cold.
The author:
Sandra Kreisler (* 1961) is an actress, singer and works as a speaker in Vienna and Berlin. Her book "Being Jewish - Views on Life in the Diaspora" was published by Hentrich & Hentrich.