Karin KvistGeverts 10 in

ANeglected Field of Research?

Abstract: Research on antisemitism in Sweden can be divided into two catego- ries: one which has antisemitism as aphenomenon as its object of study, and one whereantisemitism constitutes part of the findingsbut wherethe object of studyissomething else (bureaucracies, organizations, etc.). No university cur- rentlyhas acentrefor Antisemitism Studies and at centres for Studies research on antisemitismisnon-existent.One critical issue is how antisemitism is defined, since some definitions tend onlytorecognize propagandistic and vi- olent examples; another is the popular notion that antisemitism is “un-Swedish” and therefore not part of Swedish culture. Based on these factors combined, this article argues thatantisemitism is aneglectedfield of research in Sweden.

Keywords: Antisemitism; historiography; Holocaust; Jewish refugees; ; racism;Sweden.

Introduction

The first studyofantisemitisminSweden is found in abook on the history of the Swedish published in 1924,byhistorian Hugo Valentin.¹ Typical of histori- ographyinthe 1920s, it focuses on how the Swedish state handled diplomacy and foreign relations,and not on antisemitism as aphenomenon. It even lacks adefinition of antisemitism. Eleven years later, in 1935,Valentin wrotea book whereheanalysed and critically examined the .² It was translated into English in 1936 with the title Antisemitism: Historically and Critically Examined.³ Thebook givesanoverviewofantisemitism throughout history,but it onlymentionsSweden in one short passage.Valentin explains why this is so by arguing that he has “not been able to devote much space to the po- sition of the Jews in non-antisemitic countries – Scandinaviafor example.”⁴ In

 Hugo Valentin, Judarnas historia iSverige (:Bonnier,1924).  Hugo Valentin, Antisemitismen ihistoriskoch kritiskbelysning (Stockholm: Geber,1935).  Hugo Valentin, Antisemitism:Historically and Critically Examined,trans. A. G. Chater(New York: The Viking Press,1936).  Valentin, Antisemitism: Historically and Critically Examined,5.

OpenAccess. ©2020Karin Kvist Geverts, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the CreativeCommons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110634822-012 192 KarinKvist Geverts this book,Valentin givesasurprisingly modern definition of antisemitism as “ha- tred or persecution of the Jews.” He points out thatthe term “antisemitism” is misleading since there are no “semites” to be “anti,” yetargues that “the expres- sion Antisemitism however is preferable to anysuch wordasJudenhass,since it denotes that Jews are not attacked in theirquality of areligious community but as arace.”⁵ Unfortunately, he does not applyhis own definition in his study.In- stead, he falls into the trap of refuting the claim that the Jews are to blame for causing antisemitism, and spends the rest of the text trying to provethis accu- sation wrong. In 1940 theologyprofessor Efraim Briem published abook on the causes and history of antisemitism.⁶ The book was most likelyaserious attempt on Briem’s part to explain antisemitism,but his argument is flawedbythe accusation that the Jews are to blame for antisemitism, and thus the book itself feeds antisemit- ism instead of explaining and combattingit. This was understood at the time by contemporaryreaders,ascan be seen for instance in aquite sharp review by the rabbi of the Jewish Community of Stockholm, Marcus Ehrenpreis, wherehecom- pletelyrejects Briem’sargument and exposes it as false.⁷ It would takeoversixty years before historians chose to address the issue again.⁸ The first proper studyofantisemitism in Sweden was produced in 1986 by historian Mattias Tydén.⁹ After this, more studies followed in the 1980s and 1990s. In arecent overview of historical research on racism and , his- torian Martin Ericssonconcludes that “the field [i.e. research on antisemitism] is todaywell established within Swedish historiography.”¹⁰ But is this characteriza- tion correct?Well, it depends on how youdefine Antisemitism Studies. If you choose to seeAntisemitism Studies as afield in its own right,asisdone interna- tionally,meaning that the primaryobject of studyisantisemitism as such, then

 Valentin, Antisemitism: Historically and Critically Examined,9.  Efraim Briem, Antisemitismen genom tiderna:Orsaker och historia (Stockholm: Natur och kul- tur,1940).  Marcus Ehrenpreis, “Judisk partikularism: Reflexioner kringBriems bok om antisemitismen,” JudiskTidskrift 13,no. 7(1940): 189–97.Iwould liketothank Pontus Rudbergfor bringingthis review to my attention.  Here, Ihaveonlyincluded books published by scholars as part of the Swedish historiography of Antisemitism Studies,but it should be mentioned that articles by journalists and others were published in JudiskKrönika and JudiskTidskrift from the 1940s to the 1980s addressing how anti- semitism should be understood.  Mattias Tydén, Svenskantisemitism 1880–1930 (Uppsala: Centrum för multietnisk forskning, 1986).  Martin Ericsson, Historiskforskning om rasism och främlingsfientlighet iSverige – en analyser- ande kunskapsöversikt (Stockholm: Forum för levande historia, 2016), 254. 10 Antisemitism in Sweden 193 most researchinSweden will not fall under this definition. In this article, Iwill provide an overview of research on antisemitism in Sweden, as well as an over- view of attitude surveysand the institutional milieu in which these studies have been undertaken, in order to evaluate the state of Antisemitism Studies in Swe- den today.¹¹

Studies of Swedish antisemitism as a phenomenon

Previous research on antisemitism in Sweden can be roughlydivided into two categories.¹² The first has its primary focus on antisemitism as aphenomenon. The second instead focuses on other phenomena, such as organizations, institu- tions, or government bureaucracies, whereantisemitism appears as part of the findingsbut not as the primary object of study. Following this categorization,the historiography of Antisemitism Studiesin Sweden must be said to startonlyin1986, with Tydén’sbook Svenskantisemitism 1880–1930. Tydénstudies antisemiticorganizations,antisemitismwithinbusiness associations andthe farmers’ movement as well as antisemitism expressedbythe authorsOla Hansson(1860 – 1925)and Bengt Lidforss (1868–1913), andprovidesa thorough descriptionofthe ways in whichantisemitismwas expressedaround 1900.Hearguesthatthisshows that an antisemitictraditionwas established in Sweden:itisthusnot aphenomenonthatcamefromabroad.¹³ In 1988, historian of ideas Magnus Nyman published adissertation on the freedom of the press and opinions on minorities from 1772– 86.¹⁴ Up until 1774,when Swedish King GustavIII invited Aaron Isaac to settle, Jews were onlyallowed to enter Sweden if they converted to .¹⁵ Nyman

 This article will coverstudies on antisemitism in Sweden. This means that Iwill not include studies on antisemitism in other countries,evenifthey werewritten by Swedish scholars,since they do not deal with Sweden. Iwill also disregardstudies of Finland during the Swedish era written by Finnish scholars sincethey will be included in the chapteronFinland.  Karin Kvist Geverts, Ett främmande element inationen:Svenskflyktingpolitik och de judiska flyktingarna 1938–1944,Studia Historica Upsaliensia (Uppsala: Uppsala universitet,Historiska institutionen, 2008), 24;Lars M. Andersson, En jude är en jude är en jude…:Representationer av “juden” isvenskskämtpressomkring 1900–1930 (Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2000), 28.  Tydén, Svenskantisemitism 1880–1930.  Magnus Nyman, Press mot friheten:Opinionsbildning idesvenska tidningarna och åsiktsbryt- ningar om minoriteter 1772 –1786 (Uppsala: Uppsala University Press,1988).  Nyman, Press mot friheten,217. 194 KarinKvist Geverts shows that antisemitic opinions wereexpressed in the press in debates on free- dom of religion, but also frequentlyinnews reports whereforeign Jews wereac- cused of being hostile to the Swedish state and drivenbyasecret,international Jewishworld conspiracy.Healso shows that antisemitism existed in Sweden even prior to the settlement of the first Jews.¹⁶ Theverysameyear, arthistorian Lena Johannessonpublished an articleon antisemiticagitation in what wasknown in Sweden as the rabulistpress,the polit- ically radical “rabble-rousing” press, from 1845 – 60.Thispress constitutesagood source forstudying antisemitism fortwo reasons: becausewecan expect to find explicit examples publishedhere, andbecause of thebroad impact of this press we cansurmise theseperceptionswereknown andwidespreadthroughoutSwed- ishsociety.Johannesson looksatantisemitic agitationinillustrationsinFädernes- landet and Folketsröst;bothnewspaperslaunchedcampaigns againstJewish business owners,where they depicted them with antisemiticstereotypes as “cap- italist,”“greedy Jews,” and “usurers.”¹⁷ Ericsson underlines that notall of therad- ical left pressparticipatedinthese campaigns, theStockholm-based newspaper Demokraten didnot participatefor example.¹⁸ Johannessonpoints outthatprevi- ousstudies of theantisemitic riotsof1838and 1848 have either completely over- looked or misunderstoodtheir antisemiticaspects. In 1998 Rochelle Wright published TheVisibleWall: Jews and Other Ethnic OutsidersinSwedishFilm.¹⁹ Drawingonacross-disciplinary approach, Wright provides ahistorical overviewofhow Jews and other ethnic minorities in Swe- den have been depicted in films produced in Sweden from the 1930s until today. One of her findingsisthat antisemitismwas onlybrieflydiscussed in film criticism duringthis period. She argues that this could be explained “per- haps because an acknowledgement of anti-Semitism, even in the past,conflicts with their ownsense of acollective national identity characterized by broad- mindedness and tolerance.”²⁰ Historian Lars M. Andersson suggests that this tendencytooverlook or inability to see antisemitism, as described both by Jo-

 Nyman, Press mot friheten,159.  Lena Johannesson, “‘Schene Rariteten.’ Antisemitisk bildagitation isvensk rabulistpress 1845–1860,” in Judiskt liv iNorden,ed. Gunnar Broberg, Harald Runblom, and Mattias Tydén (Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis,1988), 169–208.  Ericsson, Historiskforskning om rasism och främlingsfientlighet,43.  Rochelle Wright, TheVisible Wall: Jews and Other OutsidersinSwedishFilm (Uppsala: Studia multiethnica Upsaliensia, 1998).  Wright, TheVisible Wall,10. 10 Antisemitism in Sweden 195 hannesson and Wright,could be an explanation as to whythere are so few sys- tematic studies of Swedishantisemitism.²¹ At the turn of the century,threedoctoral theses werepublished which all fo- cused on antisemitismasaphenomenon and which all built on sociologist Helen Fein’sdefinitionofantisemitism.²² The first was by historian of ideas Lena Berggren, who investigated the propagandistic antisemitism of the extreme right in astudyofthe writer and publisherElof Eriksson and the National Social- ist association Samfundet Manhem.²³ Berggren defines propagandistic antisemit- ism as “an antisemitismwhich is far reaching, explicitlyexpressed, and articu- lated in apropagandistic way.” She focuses on the relationship between antisemitism and Nazism, since antisemitismis“an essential and necessary el- ement within National Socialism,but it also exists in itself, outside of Nazism, even in apropagandistic form.”²⁴ The second thesis was by historian of ideas Henrik Bachner, who analysed antisemitism in Sweden as expressed in publicdebate after 1945.²⁵ Bachner shows that antisemitism came to be seen as illegitimate after the Second World Warand that this was connected to the experiences of , but his most important finding wasthat antisemitism never disappeared. He ar- gues that antisemitism was latent in the interwar period, and “returned” in the 1960s. He characterizes it as an antisemitism withoutantisemites.²⁶ Thethird thesis wasbyaforementionedhistorian Lars M. Andersson, who investigatedantisemitism in popularculture by studyinghow “the Jew” was represented in the Swedishcomic pressfrom1900 –30.²⁷ He showsthat “anti- semitic perceptions to alarge extentwereseen as self-evidentand given by na- ture,” arguingthatweshouldthereforeconsiderideason“race” and “Jews” as aspectsofSwedish modernity.²⁸ He also arguesthatitispossibletodetecta

 Andersson, En jude är en jude är en jude…,28.  The definitionisdiscussed below under the heading “Definitions of antisemitism.”  LenaBerggren, Nationellupplysning: Drag iden svenskaantisemitismensidéhistoria (Stock- holm: Carlssons,1999). Arevised versionwas publishedin2014withanewtitle: Blodetsre- nhet:Enhistoriskstudieavsvenskantisemitism (Malmö: ArxFörlag, 2014). As earlyas1997, Berggren hadpublishedsomeofher findings in her thesis: “FrånBondeaktivismtillrasmystik: Om Elof Erikssonsantisemitiska skriftställarskap 1923–1941” (licentiate thesis,Universityof Umeå, 1997).  Berggren, Nationell upplysning,10.  Henrik Bachner, Återkomsten: Antisemitism iSverige efter 1945 (Stockholm: Natur &Kultur, 1999). The book was revised and republished with anew afterwordin2000.  Bachner, Återkomsten,456–57.  Andersson, En jude är en jude är en jude….  Andersson, En jude är en jude är en jude…,14. 196 Karin KvistGeverts hegemonic antisemitic discourse in Swedenduringthe firstdecadesofthe twentieth century.²⁹ In 2001,historian HåkanBlomqvist publishedabook on antisemitism in the earlywritings of Arthur Engberg(1888– 1944), aleading figure andideologue of Swedishsocialdemocracy.³⁰ Blomqvistwas surprisedthathehad nevercome across mentionofEngberg’santisemitic ideasinother studies of hiswork, and suggests that perhapshis predecessors ignoredhis expressions of antisemitism be- causetheydid notfit well with Engberg’sideologyasasocial democrat.³¹ In 2008, in two chapters in an anthology, Mikael Byström and Iinvestigated antisemitism in debates in the Swedish parliamentand in the bureaucracy of the immigration department,finding that both discourses wereaffected by “anti- semitic background noise.”³² In 2009,HenrikBachner publishedastudyonthe so-called “” as it wasunderstoodand expressedinConservative, Social Democratic,and Chris- tian debatesinSwedenduringthe 1930s.³³ Bachner showsthatantisemitic argu- mentsweremoreseldomexpressed in Social Democraticdebates andmoreoften in Conservative ones.All threedefined antisemitism in averynarrowway,only includingwhatBerggrenwould describe as propagandistic antisemitism.This meantthatmoderateexpressions of antisemitism,whatIhave characterized as an- tisemiticbackgroundnoise,werenot recognized as antisemitism.³⁴ In 2013,Håkan Blomqvist publishedanew studyonantisemitism in Swe- den, this time with afocus on how perceptions of Bolshevism, Jews, and Judaism wereexpressed and connected in public discussions duringand after the First World War.³⁵ He follows historian Henrik Rosengren and argues that we should

 Andersson, En jude är en jude är en jude…,27.  Håkan Blomqvist, Socialdemokratoch antisemit? Den doldahistorien om Artur Engberg (Stockholm: Carlssons,2001).  Blomqvist, Socialdemokrat och antisemit?,114.  Mikael Byström, “En talande tystnad?Ett antisemitiskt bakgrundsbrus iriksdagsdebatterna 1942–1947” and Karin Kvist Geverts, “‘Fader Byråkratius’ rädsla för antisemitism: Attityder mot judiska flyktingar inom Socialstyrelsens utlänningsbyrå,” in En problematiskrelation?Flykting- politik och judiska flyktingar iSverige 1920–1950, ed. Lars M. Andersson and Karin Kvist Geverts, Opuscula Historica Upsaliensia 36 (Uppsala: Uppsala universitet,Historiskainstitutionen, 2008), 119–38 and 73 – 94 respectively.  Henrik Bachner, “Judefrågan.” Debatt om antisemitism i1930-talets Sverige (Stockholm:At- lantis,2009).  Bachner, “Judefrågan,” 302.  Håkan Blomqvist, Myten om judebolsjevismen: Antisemitism och kontrarevolution (Stock- holm: Carlssons, 2013). 10 Antisemitism in Sweden 197 differentiatebetween allosemitic and antisemitic perceptions, wherethe former would describeJews as different but not necessarilyinanegative or hostile way. Recently, the new project TheArchivesofAntisemitism in Scandinavia: Knowledgeproduction and stereotyping in along-term historical perspective,led by Cordelia Heß and Jonathan Adams, has published two new articles on the an- tisemiticriotsof1838and on the blood-libel affair in Aftonbladet.³⁶

Studies whereantisemitism is one focusamong many

The second type of studies, whereantisemitismisnot the primary object of study but rather one focus among many, is much more common than the first.Both due to the number of studies and to the fact that these do not qualify as Antisem- itism Studies per se, Iwill onlymention them brieflyhere. The purpose of men- tioning them at all is that doing so provides an overview of what has been stud- ied and wherewelack knowledge of antisemitism in Sweden. Manystudies fall under the category of immigration control or refugee pol- icy.From these we know thatantisemitic perceptions expressed either as Judaeo- phobiaregardingEastern European Jews or antisemitic background noisehad as apractical outcome against Jews when it came to applications for citizenship from 1880 –1920 and residence permits from 1938–44.³⁷ We also know thatlegislation and regulations concerning foreignersinSweden werein- fluenced by ideas of “race” and fear of arise in antisemitism, expressed explic- itlyinthe legislation of 1927 and implicitlyinthelegislation of 1937.³⁸ Several studies have shown that antisemitic ideas influenced Foreign Office officials,

 Cordelia Heß, “Eine Fußnote der Emanzipation?Antijüdische AusschreitungeninStockholm 1838 und ihreBedeutungfür eine Wissensgeschichtedes Antisemitismus,” Jahrbuch fürAntise- mitismusforschung 27 (2018): 65 – 87;Jonathan Adams and Cordelia Heß, “ARational Model for : The Aftonbladet Affair,” in TheMedieval Roots of Antisemitism: Continuities and Dis- continuities from the Middle Ages to the PresentDay, ed. Jonathan Adams and Cordelia Heß(New York: Routledge,2018), 265–84.  Carl Henrik Carlsson, Medborgarskapoch diskriminering:Östjudar och andrainvandrarei Sverige 1860–1920 (Uppsala: Uppsala universitet,2004); Kvist Geverts, Ett främmandeelement inationen.  Tomas Hammar, Sverige åt svenskarna:Invandringspolitik, utlänningskontroll och asylrätt 1900–1932 (Stockholm: Caslon Press,1964); Kvist Geverts, Ett främmande element inationen. 198 KarinKvist Geverts members of Parliament as well as universitystudentsduring the Second World Warand the Holocaust.³⁹ Several studies focusing on the reception of Jewish refugees during or after the Second World Warbythe Jewishcommunity in Stockholm have discussed the importance of antisemitism.⁴⁰ Othershavestudied antisemitism in connec- tion with the reception of Eastern European Jews from 1860 –1914,⁴¹ the recep- tion of the Hechaluz,⁴² Jewish converts in the nineteenth century⁴³ and during the Second World War⁴⁴ as well as the reception and integration of the Jewish children who came with the Kindertransport⁴⁵ or the groups of Jews who fled

 Paul A. Levine, From Indifference to Activism: SwedishDiplomacy and the Holocaust 1938– 1944 (Uppsala: Uppsala universitet,1998); Hans Lindberg, Svenskflyktingpolitik under internatio- nellt tryck 1936–1941 (Stockholm: Allmänna förlag, 1973); Sverker Oredsson, Lunds universitet under andravärldskriget: Motsättningar,debatter och hjälpinsatser (Lund: Lunds universitetshis- toriskasällskap,1996); Mikael Byström, En broder,gäst och parasit: Uppfattningar och föreställ- ningar om utlänningar,flyktingar och flyktingpolitik isvenskoffentligdebatt 1942–1947 (Stock- holm: universitet,2006); Steven Koblik, TheStones CryOut: Sweden’sResponse to the 1933–1945 (New York: Holocaust Library,1988).  Svante Hansson, Flykt och överlevnad: Flyktingverksamhet iMosaiska församlingen iStock- holm1933–1950 (Stockholm: Hillelförlaget, 2004); PontusRudberg, TheSwedishJews and the Victims of Nazi Terror,1933–1945 (Uppsala: Uppsala universitet, 2015), also published as The SwedishJews and the Holocaust (London: Routledge,2018).  Anna Besserman, “‘…eftersom nu en gång en nådigförsyn täcks hosta dem upp på Sveriges gästvänliga stränder.’ MosaiskaförsamlingeniStockholm inför den östjudiskainvandringen 1860 –1914,” NordiskJudaistik 5, no. 2(1984): 13–38.  Malin Thor Tureby, Hechaluz – en rörelse itid och rum: Tysk-judiska ungdomars exil iSverige 1933–1943 (Växjö:Växjö University Press, 2005).  PerHammarström, “‘Judar öfversvämma landet.’ Den judiska gårdfarihandelniKungl. Maj:ts befallningshavandes femårsberättelser 1865–1905,” in Den nyastaten: Ideologi och samhällsför- ändring kring sekelskiftet 1900,ed. Erik Nydahl and Jonas Harvard(Lund: Nordic Academic Press, 2016), 25–50;Per Hammarström, “Israels omvändelse som jordens fulländning:Antiju- diskhet och antisemitism iMissionstidning för 1874 – 1885,” in Makt, myter och historie- bruk: Historiska problem ibelysning,ed. Stefan Dalin (Sundsvall: Mittuniversitetet, 2014), 123–42;Per Hammarström, “Isällskap med judar:Association, assimilation och konversion i Stockholm 1809–1838,” in Nationen så in iNorden: En festskrift till Torkel Jansson,ed. Henrik Edgrenand others (Skellefteå: Artos &Norma bokförlag, 2013), 157–68;Per Hammarström, “Om- vändelseberättelser,judemission och svensk lågkyrklighet runt sekelskiftet 1900,” in Från lego- folktill stadsfolk:Festskrift till Börje Harnesk,ed. Erik Nydahl and Magnus Perlestam (Härnö- sand: Institutionen för Humaniora, 2012), 137–53.  Pär Frohnert, “‘De behöva en fast hand över sig.’ Missionsförbundet,Israelmissionen och de judiska flyktingarna 1939–1945,” in En problematiskrelation?Flyktingpolitik och judiska flykting- ar iSverige,227–48.  Ingrid Lomfors, Förlorad barndom – återvunnet liv:Dejudiska flyktingbarnen från Nazitysk- land (: Göteborgs universitet, 1996). 10 Antisemitism in Sweden 199 in and Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s and early1970s.⁴⁶ Some have focused on antisemitism and the integration of the Jewishgroup in Lund⁴⁷ or in Sundsvall, Hudiksvall, Östersund, and Härnösand from 1870 – 1940.⁴⁸ The connections between Nazism and antisemitism have been studied by several researchers,⁴⁹ as has antisemitismwithin conservative groups,⁵⁰ among musicians,⁵¹ and in business organizations.⁵² Foralong time, there was alack of studies on the Church and its connection to antisemitism, but this has begun to change.⁵³ In Ericsson’spreviouslymentioned overviewofthe research on racism, he argues that there is alack of knowledge about antisemitism in the period pre- 1850 as well as alack of studies on continuity,i.e.ofstudies with along histor-

 Łukasz Górniok, SwedishRefugee Policymaking in Transition?Czechoslovaks and PolishJews in Sweden, 1968–1972 (Umeå: Umeå universitet, 2016).  Anna Svensson, Nöden – en shtetl iLund (Lund: Gamla Lund, 1995).  PerHammarström, Nationens styvbarn: Judisksamhällsintegration inågraNorrlandsstäder 1870–1940 (Stockholm:Carlssons,2007).  Heléne Lööw, Nazismen iSverige2000–2014 (Stockholm: Ordfront, 2015); Heléne Lööw, Na- zismen iSverige 1980–1997. Den rasistiska undergroundrörelsen:Musiken, myterna, riterna (Stock- holm: Ordfront,1998); Heléne Lööw, Nazismen iSverige 1924 – 1979:Pionjärerna, partierna, propagandan (Stockholm:Ordfront,2004); Heléne Lööw, “Kampen mot ZOG: Antisemitismen bland moderna rasideologer,” HistoriskTidskrift 116 (1996): 65 – 91;Eric Wärenstam, Fascismen och nazismen iSverige 1920–1940: Studier iden svenska nationalsocialismens,fascismens och antisemitismens organisationer,ideologieroch propaganda under mellankrigsåren (Stockholm: Almqvist &Wiksell, 1970).  Gunnar Åselius, The “Russian Menace” to Sweden: TheBelief System of aSmall PowerSecur- ity Élite in the Age of Imperialism (Stockholm: Stockholms universitet,1994); Rolf Torstendahl, Mellan nykonservatism och liberalism: Idébrytningar inom högern och bondepartierna 1918– 1934 (Stockholm: Svenskabokförlaget, 1969).  Henrik Rosengren, “Judarnas Wagner.” Moses Pergament och den kulturella identifikationens dilemma omkring1920 – 1950 (Lund: Sekel, 2007); Petra Garberding, Musik och politik iskuggan av nazismen:KurtAtterberg och de svensk-tyska musik-relationerna (Lund: Sekel, 2007); Henrik Karlsson, Det fruktade märket: Wilhelm Peterson-Berger,antisemitismen och antinazismen (Malmö:Sekel, 2005).  Cecilia Fredriksson, Ett paradis för alla:EPA mellan folkhem och förförelse (Stockholm: Nor- diska museet,1998); Sven Nordlund, Affärersom vanligt: Ariseringen iSverige 1933–1945 (Lund: Sekel, 2009); Sven Nordlund, “‘En svensk tiger’?Svenskareaktioner på tyskaariseringskrav under 1930-talet och andra världskriget,” in Sverige och Nazityskland: Skuldfrågor och moralde- batt,ed. Lars M. Andersson and Mattias Tydén (Stockholm: Dialogos, 2007); Göran Blomberg, Mota Moses igrind: Ariseringsiver och antisemitism iSverige 1933–1943 (Stockholm: Hillelförla- get, 2003).  Anders Jarlert, Judisk “ras” som äktenskapshinder iSverige:Effekten av Nürnberglagarna i Svenska kyrkans statligafunktionsom lysningsförrättare1935–1945 (Malmö:Sekel, 2006); Besser- mann, “…eftersom nu en gångennådig försyn”;Bachner, “Judefrågan”. 200 Karin KvistGeverts ical perspective.⁵⁴ Ericsson alsosuggests thathistorians have alot to gain from interactingwith researchers in the social sciences,who primarilystudy racism but not so often antisemitism.⁵⁵

Definitionsofantisemitism

One problem with some of the studies in the second category is how they define antisemitism. Andersson argues thattoo often onlyextreme utterances, what can be categorized as propagandistic antisemitism, are regarded as antisemitism. This leadsto“moderate” expressions of antisemitism becominginvisible.⁵⁶ This problem is also connected to atendency to view antisemitismas“un-Swed- ish,” imported from abroad,asHeléne Lööw has put it.⁵⁷ Relatedtothis is what Andersson characterizes as “the biographical dilemma,” meaning the “tendency to deny, downplay, and trivialize antisemitic expressionsuttered by famous per- sons.”⁵⁸ Most researchers who studyantisemitism in Sweden follow sociologist Helen Fein’sdefinition:

Ipropose to define antisemitism as apersistinglatent structureofhostilebeliefs toward Jews as acollectivity manifested in individuals as attitudes,and in culture as myth, ideol- ogy, folklore, and imagery,and in actions – social or legaldiscrimination, political mobi- lization against Jews,and collective or stateviolence – which results in and/or is designed to distance, displace, or destroy Jews as Jews.⁵⁹

Several also adopt the scale elaborated by John C. G. Röhl which separates anti- semitisminto different levels, rangingfrom everydayantisemitism on the lowest

 To some extent this might change with the research project beingundertaken by the editors of this anthology.  Ericsson, Historiskforskning om rasism och främlingsfientlighet,254,266.  Andersson, En jude är en jude är en jude…,49. Foranexample of this,see Sven B. Ek, Nöden iLund: En etnologisk stadsdelsstudie (Lund: Liber,1982).  Heléne Lööw, “Det finns antisemitism men ingaantisemiter,” in Tankar i “judefrågan.” Ned- slag iden svenska antisemitismens historia,ed. Lars M. Andersson and Karin Kvist Geverts,Opus- cula historica Upsaliensia (Uppsala: Uppsala universitet, Historiskainstitutionen, 2019 [forth- coming]).  Andersson, En jude är en jude är en jude…,51.  Helen Fein, “Dimensions of Antisemitism: Attitudes,Collective Accusations,and Actions,” in ThePersisting Question: SociologicalPerspectives and Social Contexts of Modern Antisemitism,ed. Helen Fein (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1987), 67. 10 Antisemitism in Sweden 201 level to genocidal antisemitism on the highest.⁶⁰ Some have elaboratedonthe description of the everydaylevel of antisemitism; for instance, Imyself have used the metaphor of antisemitism being abackground noise, in order to catch thosemoderate antisemitic utterances by state officials which indeed should be categorizedasexpressions of antisemitism,but which wereseen as unbiased and “normal” in contemporary society.⁶¹ The aforementioned Henrik Rosengren has introduced Zygmunt Bauman’sterm “allosemitism” in order to distinguish between negative stereotypingofJews (antisemitism)and descrip- tions of Jews as different but not necessarilyinanegative way(allosemitism).⁶²

Institutionalaffiliation and attitude surveys

So, whereare the studies on antisemitism in Sweden being produced?Inanar- ticle from 2017,Lars M. Andersson and Iargued that almostall research on anti- semitismhas been conducted by scholars at the departments of history or the history of ideas in Lund, Stockholm, Uppsala, and Umeå.⁶³ Most of this was al- readycompleted duringthe years 1999 –2007.After2007, there have onlybeen a few more studies, for instance by Blomqvist and Bachner. In our article, we also searched for studies on antisemitism at institutions for international migration and ethnic relations (IMER), since studies on racism are often pursued there, but we found almost nothing.⁶⁴ Since our article was written in 2017,Iupdated some of the research. Asearch for university coursesonantisemitism reveals that there are afew whereantisemitism is apart of what is studied, but symp- tomaticallynone of these are taught within centres for Racism Studies or IMER institutions.⁶⁵ Our conclusion, that “despite afew exceptions,there seems to be a

 Foradiscussion of Röhl, see Andersson, En jude är en jude är en jude…,15, or Carlsson, Med- borgarskapoch diskriminering,36–37.  Kvist Geverts, Ett främmande element inationen,37–38.  Rosengren, “Judarnas Wagner,” 61– 62.Håkan Blomqvist has used the term “allosemitism” in his studyonthe myth of Judeobolshevism: Myten om judebolsjevismen,21–25.  Lars M. Andersson and Karin Kvist Geverts, “Antisemitismen – antirasismens blinda fläck?” in Från Afrikakompaniet till Tokyo:Envänboktill György Nováky,ed. Marie Lennersand and Leos Müller (Stockholm: Exkurs,2017), 146 – 175. One exception is the studies by Berit Wigerfeltand Anders WigerfeltatMalmö University.  Andersson and Kvist Geverts, “Antisemitismen – antirasismens blinda fläck?,” 154.  The searchwas conducted in March2019;itshowed that there are onlyafew courses where antisemitism is taught,but in all of them antisemitism is not the sole object of study. Instead, antisemitism is studied as part of somethingelse, the Holocaust or human rights for instance. These courses werefound at four universities,see Religionsvetenskapoch teologi: Förintelsen i 202 Karin KvistGeverts clear division both when it comestospace and discipline,aswellastime, be- tween antisemitismand racism research,” remains valid.⁶⁶ The lack of studies on antisemitismisalso asad constant when it comes to attitude surveys in Sweden. Very little has been done apart from some surveys conducted by the Living History Forum and Brå(The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention).⁶⁷ Oneexception is astudy of antisemitic attitudes among Arabs and Muslims by Mikael Tossavainen,⁶⁸ and there are alsoafew compara- tive studies of whereSweden is included.⁶⁹ Thus, it seems equallysymptomatic that the nationalSOM (Society Opinion Media) insti- tute at the University of Gothenburg, which measuresalmost every attitude held by the Swedish people, never asks anyquestions on antisemitism.⁷⁰

korsets skugga ‒ Antisemitismens framväxt och konsekvenser (7.5 credits), givenatthe Centrefor Religious and Theological Studies at , ‹ https://www.ctr.lu.se/kurs/TEOB16/ VT2018/ ›; Nutida rasism och mänskliga rättigheter (7.5 credits) givenwithin the master’spro- gramme of human rights at the Department of TheologyatUppsala University, ‹ http://www. uu.se/utbildning/utbildningar/selma/utbplan/? ›; Nazismen, Nazityskland och Förintelsen (7.5 points), givenatthe Department of History at Stockholm University, ‹ https://www.su.se/ sok-kurser-och-program/hi1311-1.412155 ›; Sverige och förintelsen (15 credits, part-time studies), givenatthe Department of Historical Studies at the University of Gothenburg, ‹ https://www. su.se/sok-kurser-och-program/hi1311-1.412155 ›.  Andersson and Kvist Geverts, “Antisemitismen – antirasismens blinda fläck?,” 154–55.  Henrik Bachner and Jonas Ring, Antisemitiska attityder och föreställningar iSverige (Stock- holm: Forum för levande historia, 2006); Brottsförebyggande rådet (BRÅ), Hatbrott 2015: Statis- tik över polisanmälningar med identifierade hatbrottsmotiv och självrapporterad utsatthet för hat- brott (Stockholm: Brå, 2015); BRÅ, Antisemitiska hatbrott, Rapport 2019,no. 4 (Stockholm:Brå, 2019).  Mikael Tossavainen, Det förnekade hatet: Antisemitismbland araber och muslimer iSverige (Stockholm: SKMA, 2003).  See Lars Dencik and Karl Marosi, Different Antisemitisms: Perceptions and Experiences of An- tisemitism among Jews in Sweden and across Europe (London: InstituteofJewish PolicyRe- search, 2017); Johannes Due Enstad, Antisemitic Violence in Europe, 2005–2015: Exposure and Perpetrators in France, UK, ,Sweden, Norway,Denmarkand Russia (Oslo:University of Oslo, 2017); European Commission, Perceptions of Antisemitism [report], Special Eurobarom- eter484 (Brussels:European Commission, 2019), ‹ http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/pub licopinion/index.cfm/ResultDoc/download/DocumentKy/85035 ›.See also yearlystudies of anti- semitism such as World ValueStudies,Pew Research Center,and Agencyfor FundamentalRights (FRA).  Thanks to atip fromHeléne Lööw,Ichecked the questions of the SOM institutenational questionnaire but therewere none dealingwith antisemitic attitudes.See also the introduction to this volumebyCordelia Heß. 10 AntisemitisminSweden 203

Antisemitism Studies – aNeglected Field of Research

This article has shown that although several works which mentionantisemitism have been published since Hugo Valentin’sbook in 1924,there are stillonlyafew that deal solelywith antisemitismastheir primary object of study. This means that Lars M. Andersson’sconclusion from 2000 still stands: research on Swedish antisemitism comprises just ahandful of studies. Whythis is the case is difficult to answer with certainty.Inour 2017 article, Andersson and Iargued that anti- semitismconstituted ablind spot in Racism Studies in Sweden, and perhaps this could be explained by the tendencypointed out here – thatantisemitism is aracism which tends to be either unseen or characterized as “un-Swedish.” Either way, Iconclude that Antisemitism Studies, narrowlydefined, remains a neglected field of research in Sweden. Hopefully, this conclusion might become dated as soon as within afew years’ time. The reason for this is the newlyawakened interest,onapolitical level, to combat racism. In 2016 the Swedish Government gave aspecial mandate to the Swedish Research Council to establish aprogramme on Racism Studies.⁷¹ So far onlyone project dealing with antisemitism has receivedfunding;managed by the editors of this anthology, Jonathan Adams and Cordelia Heß, its goal is to establish an Antisemitism Studies network in the Nordic countries.This is all well and good, but in order to succeed alarge political investment should ideally be made,for instance similar to the one in Norway.⁷² Also, on 21 January2019,Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven uttered these words in the Statement of GovernmentPolicy: “Wherever anti-Semitism exists, and however it is expressed, it must be identified and fought.”⁷³ Prime Minister Löfven alsomade apromise thatthe Swedish government would host aconfer- ence on Holocaust remembrance in 2020,and would establish aHolocaust mu- seum. Time will tell if the political commitment to fight antisemitism willalso

 Utbildningsdepartementet, “Uppdrag att utlysa medel för ett forskningsprogram,” reger- ingen.se, 2February 2016, ‹ https://www.regeringen.se/regeringsuppdrag/2016/02/uppdrag-att- utlysa-medel-for-ett-forskningsprogram/ ›.  Forapresentation of the Norwegian projects “ShiftingBoundaries” and “Jøden som kulturell konstruksjon” (The Jewasasocial construct), see the webpageofHL-Senteret ‹ https://www. hlsenteret.no/forskning/jodisk-historie-og-antisemittisme/ ›.  Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven in the Statement of Government Policy(Regeringsför- klaringen) of 21 January 2019,14, ‹ https://www.government.se/speeches/20192/01/statement-of- government-policy-21-january-2019/ ›. 204 Karin KvistGeverts materialize in the funding of new research,⁷⁴ but we certainlyliveininteresting times. Scientistsusuallydonot make wishes, but if Icould, Iwould wish that in ten years’ time Antisemitism Studies would be agrowingresearch field in Swe- den and that my conclusioninthis article will be outdated.

 The Swedish Government has recentlycommitted fundingtoestablish aHolocaust museum in Sweden and is currentlyinvestigatingthe futuremuseum’sfocus,organization, and partner- ships.