There were no Jews in Northern Europe in the Middle Ages, and ever since Jews were allowed to enter and settle from the seventeenth century onward, the Jewish populations have been comparatively small. Political antisemitism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, while certainly a nuisance for Nordic Jews, never gained traction at the ballot box. It was only in the case of occupation by or alliance with Nazi Germany that they were subject to state-sponsored anti-Jewish persecution. Therefore, it is easy to assume that antisemitism has been a marginal phenomenon in the history of these countries, a passing problem imported from abroad or imposed through military occupation during World War II. The editors and contributors to Antisemitism in the North: History and State of Research show just how mistaken such an assumption is. With their diverse and in some cases pioneering contributions, they moreover point to the need for further research into the history and state of Nordic antisemitism.
Derived from a workshop held in 2018 at the University of Greifswald, this volume deals with the history and historiography of antisemitism in Northern European countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland, and other topics related to Jewish history in the north. The volume consists of three parts, the first one, “Antisemitism without Jews”, dealing with the history of antisemitism during times and in places where there were no or few Jews, such as Medieval Scandinavia. The second part, “The State of Research on Antisemitism”, explores research on antisemitism in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland from a historiographic perspective. The third part, “Perceptions, Encounters, and the Presence of Antisemitism” deals with Faroese perceptions of Israel, the history of Jewish presence in Greenland, and contemporary antisemitism in Sweden and Denmark. In her introduction, Cordelia Heß, one of the editors, provides a chilling reminder of the reality of Nordic antisemitism and a dismal picture of the state of research and public debate on the topic. Heß points to gaps in our knowledge which in some cases are not as wide as she claims. There is research on the period of Jewish emancipation in the Nordic countries which she fails to mention. As a whole, the volume she has put together does not seem to validate her pessimistic tone.
The contributions on Medieval antisemitism in the north, written by editor Jonathan Adams and Richard Cole, are two examples of the strength of this volume. By looking at East and Old Norse texts from Norway/Sweden and Iceland, respectively, they provide evidence of the global reach of medieval anti-Jewish stereotypes. Both texts offer a perspective à la longue durée on contemporary antisemitism while also pointing to the need for further research.
Vilhjálmur Örn Vilhjálmsson is the only scholar to contribute with two texts, the first on his native Iceland and the second on Greenland. In a fascinating chapter on the history of Icelandic antisemitism since the Middle Ages, he explores topics such as Icelandic Nazism and connections to Nazi Germany, political and academic antisemitism, as well as contemporary controversies relating to antisemitism. Vilhjálmsson shows how Icelandic individuals from across the political spectrum, within academia and the arts, have embraced and expressed antisemitic notions in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He also clarifies how difficult it has been for parts of the Icelandic society to deal with antisemitism and national heritage. One example consists of a 2012 debate concerning anti-Jewish motives in early modern hymns still recited today.
The five contributions focusing squarely on the state of research on antisemitism in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, paint a similar picture of a field of study that was late in coming. The heroic narrative of resistance against German occupation in Denmark and Norway and the rescue of Danish Jews created conditions for treating antisemitism as a foreign (German) import of little relevance for the country’s history or even as a synonym for Nazism. Christhard Hoffmann mentions this to explain why research on Norwegian antisemitism started to take off only in the 1980s and 1990s, eventually contributing to a reevaluation of Norwegian history. Similarly, Paavo Ahonen, Simo Muir, and Oula Silvennoinen show how political priorities during the Cold War acted like a lid on the historiography and memory of Finnish antisemitism. Finland needed to project a positive image of itself as a worthy member of the Western world, not as an erstwhile ally to Nazi Germany.
Other authors adduce similar examples of the perception of antisemitism as being of marginal importance to the history of the Nordic countries. By investigating national historiographies in Sweden (Karin Kvist Geverts) and Denmark (Sofie Lene Bak) as well as Norwegian antisemitism post-1945 (Kjetil Braut Simonsen), the contributors paint a rather bleak picture of the state of research on Nordic antisemitism. These scholars argue that the topic has not been studied sufficiently, not systematically, and in few studies as the primary focus. Like Cordelia Heß, they call for better general support, institutional frameworks, funding, and increased interest within the scholarly community, which would surely do much to boost studies of antisemitism in the Nordic countries.
In this context, one could ponder by what measure scholars denote a given field of research as ‘neglected’, a particular topic ‘under-researched’. Such terms imply some form of implicit comparison, but to what? On this matter, the editors and authors could have provided further information concerning the development of international research on antisemitism, Holocaust historiography, and, more broadly, Jewish history to provide more context. Moreover, it would have been interesting to know more about the possible reasons for this lack of research beyond the question of national taboos. Is it perhaps a matter of rejected research applications, scholars having, for whatever reason, other research interests, former Ph.D. students moving on to different topics, or a combination of these factors?
This volume could have benefited from a more in-depth discussion of the definition of antisemitism. The chapter by Lars Dencik on different forms of antisemitism in contemporary Denmark and Sweden is much welcome in this regard, but few of the other contributions mention different meanings of the term. Judging by the content of the volume as a whole, we seem to be dealing broadly with anti-Jewish perceptions, as well as discrimination, persecution, and political antisemitism. However, Vilhjálmsson’s second text on Greenland deals anecdotally with Jewish history in faraway places. Similarly, Firouz Gaini’s fascinating chapter on Faroese perceptions of Israel and Clemens Räthel’s nuanced reading of depictions of Jewish characters in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish theatre and literature from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries do not really address the topic of antisemitism.
These three contributions show how Scandinavian depictions of Jews and Israel, by no means consistently negative, have mirrored perceptions of national identity, Jewish emancipation, assimilation, and the relation between Judaism and Christianity. In these cases, antisemitism, however broadly defined, seems to be a much too narrow conceptual framework. These minor objections notwithstanding, this volume provides a valuable overview of the state of research and compelling reading on the history of antisemitism in the north. It consists of well-researched and well-written chapters, which should be of interest to anyone interested in antisemitism, Jewish history, and the history of the Nordic countries.