This article first appeared in Atlantik-Brücke.

In 2020, the Federal Criminal Police Office registered 2,351 antisemitic crimes, the highest figure since antisemitic crimes were first included in statistics of "Politically Motivated Crime" (PMK) in 2001. As alarming as these numbers are, they only depict a part of the actual problem. Experts believe that the real figures are even higher, one reason being that many crimes and incidents are not reported by those affected, in part because of fear or a lack of trust in law enforcement agencies.  

On the other side of the Atlantic, the FBI recorded an increase in incidents, with 1,174 crimes based on religious affiliation in 2021. Over half (54.9%) of the victims of these crimes were Jewish. If nothing else, this increase leads to severe limitations in everyday life, which is also true for Germany. For example, in a survey commissioned by American Jewish Committee, 22% of American Jews said they avoid wearing symbols in public that reveal their Jewish identity.

Although comparability of the numbers of crimes is limited due to different recording systems in the two countries, it is nevertheless clear from these results that antisemitism is an immense problem on both sides of the Atlantic, and that it has been on the rise for years.

So, what are the causes of this increase?  

While comparisons are difficult in this assessment, it can nevertheless be stated that times of crisis have always provided fertile breeding ground for populists. They offer simple answers to complex political, economic and medical problems and challenges, always suspecting sinister conspiracies by a small secret elite as the cause of these developments. This became particularly clear in the past two years in the course of Corona protest demonstrations ostensibly aimed at measures to contain the pandemic. It has become part of the standard repertoire of these events to name such figures as Rockefeller or Rothschild as supposed profiteers of the crisis. This reveals the subtle character of antisemitism, since it is evident that it implicates Jews or people marked as Jewish. The participants in these protests understand the allusions without explicit reference.  

However, it would be a mistake to dismiss the participants of the protests as harmless cranks, or to write them off as a politically and economically isolated minority. As the Leipzig Authoritarianism Study from 2020 shows, belief in conspiracy narratives reaches far into the center of society. For example, 34.8% of the German population agreed to a greater or lesser extent with the statement that the influence of Jews is still too great today. Likewise, it is worth mentioning here that the former president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen, states in the magazine Cato, which is attributed to the spectrum of the New Right, that global "property and global profits are increasingly concentrated in a few thousand families [...] who set out to soon own everything." Structurally antisemitic statements like these are not just coincidentally reminiscent of the fake "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," arguably the most important antisemitic pamphlet historically.

Antisemitic conspiracy narratives are also increasingly popular in the USA. Particular mention should be made of the "QAnon" conspiracy myth, which also spread rapidly in Germany. The idea behind “QAnon" is that there is a satanic child-trafficking ring or network, which uses the blood of children to extract the metabolic product adrenochrome, which prevents the aging process. Here, too, classic antisemitic resentments can be found again and again, such as the ritual murder legend. While these ideas may sound absurd at first, it is vital to recognize that these narratives are highly dangerous and can lead to serious acts of violence and even murder. In August 2021, for example, a father in California killed his two children because the "QAnon" conspiracy myth had led him to believe that his children's blood was contaminated and had turned them into monsters. And the assassins of Halle and Hanau also adhered to antisemitic conspiracy ideologies. The above-mentioned incidents exemplify that these phenomena must be taken seriously.

The example of "QAnon" in particular shows that the fight against antisemitism cannot stop at national borders, because believers in conspiracy theories are optimally connected globally, using all the channels available via internet. As with so many other challenges today, this fight must also be pursued internationally, for example through better networking of security authorities on both sides of the Atlantic. After all, what is at stake here is nothing less than the defense of our liberal democracies.

Dr. Remko Leemhuis is Director of American Jewish Committee Berlin.