Anti-Semitism: Committed to Jewish Culture

Miss Dr. Pester, is your publisher Hentrich & Hentrich a niche publisher?

I wouldn’t call it that, but rather use the English expression “special interest”. We don’t want to be a niche if we want to portray Jewishness in society as a whole and over long periods of time. However, our program profile makes us unique in Germany. There are other publishers making great books in this spectrum, but with over fifty new releases per year we have a unique selling point.

Which areas belong to the program?

We have a wide range of content, from Jewish non-fiction books to biographies, stories, children’s books, exhibition catalogs and culinary delights.

When you took over the publishing house, Jewish life was pretty normal againblies in Germany. How have you perceived the time since then?

An incredible amount has changed. I was a bit naive in 2010. I thought that the new Jewish life in Germany, which was strongly influenced by the refugees from the post-Soviet space, had now found a stable self-image after the turning point of the Shoah. But then anti-Semitism became virulent again in 2018/19. He has brought up so many things that previously seemed impossible or not visible.

Do you mean the attack in Halle as a publicly visible sign?

Yes, definitely! The attack in Halle was on October 9, 2019, the Yom Kippur holiday, and now everything has gotten even worse since the Hamas pogrom in Israel on October 7.

How does this affect you – both the publisher and you as a private person?

The first turning point disrupted the supposed calm in this central German area of ​​Halle-Leipzig. When we moved the publishing house from Berlin to Leipzig, we noticed that there were no security guards in front of the communities; everything seemed very relaxed and open. That was nice, but just a fallacy. The attack in Halle caused a collapse in our perception.

The question of fear has been asked again by Jews in Germany since October 7th. Does it aim at a real feeling, or is it to be understood more symbolically?

I can’t give a general answer to that. This feeling of fear seems to me to be very generational. Among boys up to around 30, anti-Semitism tends to provoke resistance in the sense of self-empowerment. They are members of society, whether left-wing, conservative or whatever. They say: »I belong here. Period!« It is more likely those over seventy who are worried about their children or grandchildren. Above all, those who have worked for dialogue, enlightenment, understanding and reconciliation throughout their lives ask themselves quite rationally: what did it achieve? In 2019, the question was heard for the first time: can you stay here as a Jew or would you rather pack – real or metaphorical – the suitcase that your parents and grandparents always had ready.

You are not Jewish yourself, but you are right in the middle of cultural Jewish life. Have you ever thought of taking a step back?

This is an important question that we have asked ourselves at the publishing house in the last few weeks, because we act like a mouthpiece with the biographies and everyday stories from the present. But no one in the team said: “This is too sensitive for me now.” For us, there is no alternative to our work. Even if it is not our innate identity, we move in these cultural spaces physically or mentally; Jewish authors are our friends or acquaintances. It is our life. You can’t just put that down.

To what extent have you already been affected by the question of “cultural appropriation”?

I have already been asked, but there is no problem for me because I have clearly discussed my role and made it public. I’ve always said we’re a media company and I’m the manager. We explicitly call ourselves “publishing house for Jewish culture and contemporary history” and not “Jewish publishing house”. That’s a difference.

As a political scientist, what motivated you to enter the publishing world?

The first time I worked for a publisher was as a student. That was Forum Verlag in Leipzig, which dealt specifically with politics and contemporary history. I wanted to get out of publishing, but somehow it stuck with me. And now I deal with stories and themes. That fits, and for me it’s the wonderful thing. I wouldn’t be a literary publisher. I want to make history visible in biographies and explain contemporary historical connections.

And how did you come to the publishing house? Hentrich & Hentrich?

I didn’t bother, I was asked if I wanted to take over this publishing house that was founded in the eighties. I was quite skeptical, but there was no one else. I wasn’t the “best solution,” but the only one. It was clear to me that if I took over this, I would also expand it, and I had really great support from Hermann Simon, former director of the Centrum Judaicum, Andreas Nachama, the former head of the “Topography of Terror,” and Rabbi Elisa Klapheck and many others. So Jews encouraged me to do this work. It was clear that they would be the ones to contribute their voices and perspectives.

And the readership?

With the decision in 2017/18 to also publish books on current political and social issues, on Israel, on anti-Semitism, which are quite explosive and are being debated, we have clearly gained young readers, whereas older readers tend to turn to the historical-biographical editions .

After an interim situation in the Book House, you and the publisher are now based in the Capa House in Leipzig. What is different than in Berlin?

People treat us very relaxed here, very open and interested. The short distances are also productive. We are perceived not just as a publishing house, but as a cultural institution from which the city expects something for society.

You yourself have a book, “Jewish Leipzig,” at the age of 60 Biographies made. Who did you first think of as the protagonist?

It was Gerda Taro, the partner of the photographer Robert Capa. We weren’t in the Capa house at the time. Even though she and her family only lived in Leipzig for four years, it was her most formative time politically. She came from Stuttgart as a 19-year-old, still a teenager, and joined communist circles in Leipzig in the resistance against the Nazi regime.

What has had a positive impact on you over the years?

It was the encounters with different people and the wonderful parties to which I was often invited.

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