Hardly anyone would openly admit to harboring anti-Semitic prejudices. However, surveys repeatedly bring resentments to light in broad sections of society. In NRW, this diffuse mixture of bias and secret resentment is to be illuminated.
Düsseldorf/Hannover (dpa/lnw) - A so-called dark field study is intended to shed light on the spread of anti-Semitic prejudices and emotional reservations in North Rhine-Westphalian society. To this end, top representatives from politics and science will sign a cooperation agreement on Tuesday (10:00 a.m.) in the Düsseldorf State Chancellery. Partners are NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), the state's Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, and scientists from the Universities of Düsseldorf and Passau.
"In order to be able to develop effective strategies against anti-Semitism, an empirical study of the spread of anti-Semitic prejudices and resentments in society as a whole is unavoidable," the State Chancellery explained the project. A dark field study also sheds light on facts beyond the crime statistics. When the constitutional protection report was presented in spring, Reul described the increase in anti-Semitic crimes from 2020 to 2021 by 54 percent to 437 cases as worrying.
