Workshop “Polish-German-Jewish relations in contemporary media: narratives and stereotypes”
On 8 November 2022, another workshop in the series “Jewish life in Pomerania in the memory of Germans and Poles” took place at the Historical Institute US.
The event was opened by Prof. Agnieszka Szudarek, director of IH US, and Dr Paweł Migdalski, project manager. During the meeting, Ms Karolina Płaczynta from the Centre for Research on Anti-Semitism [ZfA] at the Technical University of Berlin presented the issue of ‘Polish-German-Jewish relations in contemporary media: narratives and stereotypes’. The presentation was an excellent starting point for a long and interesting discussion on the stereotypes and conceptual clichés that are still used by various social groups. They find an outlet in various manifestations of, among other things, anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories that surface on many occasions on the Internet, which are being investigated by an international research team in which Ms Płaczynta participates. During the workshop, participants also had the opportunity to analyse posts on various media portals that appeared on the occasion of political and cultural events. It was interesting to analyse them in the context of local – Szczecin events and activities, which shows how relatively much language is around us, which in favourable conditions can lead to an escalation of ethnic, national or religious conflicts, and how little we realise the importance of the power of the language we use. In a way, an important continuation of our discussion was the unveiling on 10 November of a mural depicting the Szczecin synagogue destroyed during Kristallnacht. Those events also began with the slow ramping up of hate speech and the spreading of conspiracy theories.
We invite you to the photo report.