Antisemitism as a Specific Phenomenon - Journal for the Study of ...

2009] ANTISEMITIC BELIEFS: FORMATION AND TRANSMISSION 45
mate or colleague; b) a crank, one who is strangely dressed, a person behaving
in a peculiar way; or c) a crypto—a prominent person who is publicly
active and does not openly declare his/her antisemitism (Kinastowski
1996). In other studies, the term “Jew” is used interchangeably with “alien,”
“polluter,” “power hungry,” and “economic parasite” (Michlic 2006). In
another study, terms such as “Christkiller,” “wandering Jew,” “scab swindler,”
“richer,” “smarter,” “descended from swine,” and “strange” are used
interchangeably with “Jew” (Cala 1995).
Slovokian Jews are depicted as “strange,” guilty, or outsiders
(Krekovicova 1997). For Austrians, the Jews were “other” or “foreign.”
Herzog (1994) concluded that Jews were thought of as anders als wir (“different
than we”), indicating a permanent otherness. In Japan, the Jews are
thought of as “sinister and suspect” (Kowner 1997). In Romania, Jews are
either “good” or “bad” Jews. The bad Jews were the respository of all negative
stereotypes, but were not directly known (Rosenthal 2001). Many peasants
believed that Jewish ritual murder was committed by big-city Jews, but
not by the familiar Jews of their locality (Bartoszewski 1984). Surprisingly,
“money” was not cited in many European studies, though a variation of this
theme as Jewish “planetary takeover” or “having too much power/business
power” was rated consistently high globally (ADL 2009), including in California
(Oliner and Krause 2001).
Jikeli (2009) examined German and French use of the term “Jew” and
concluded that there was a close relationship between antisemitic language,
and verbal and physical violence within the French and the German context,
to the point that the words Jude, Juif, and Feuj cannot be separated from
antisemitic attitudes.
The most recent ADL study is also revealing. The survey of 3,500
adults–500 in each of the seven European countries Austria, France, Hungary,
Poland, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom—found that 31%
of the respondents across Europe blame Jews in the financial industry for
the current global economic crisis. Overall, 40% of Europeans in the countries
polled believe that Jews have “too much power in the business world,”
with more than half of those in Hungary, Spain, and Poland agreeing with
that statement. European respondents still adhere to the notion that “Jews
have too much power in international financial markets.” In general, 41% of
those surveyed cling to the traditional stereotype (ADL 2009).
Persistent perceptions of Jews included their being more “ambitious”
(76%), more “eminent” (35%), and often “pushing their children to get better
grades” (17%) (Glock and Stark 1966). One ADL survey found additional
concern regarding “media control” (47%); “international banking”
(26%); “different ethics e.g. cheat” (17%); “flashier clothes” (18%); and
“capitalists, intellectuals, communists” (Glock and Stark 1966/1979). Jew-