A new large-scale study by Germany’s Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) challenges the widespread claim that antisemitism in Germany is primarily an imported problem. The research shows that antisemitic attitudes appear across all groups in German society, and that political orientation, particularly party preference, is a far stronger predictor of antisemitic views than immigrant background, reports The Jerusalem Post.
The study examined classical antisemitism, conspiracy myths, and secondary antisemitism. Most respondents across all ethnic groups rejected the idea that Jews are inherently “other,” with at least 70 per cent dismissing such statements. Conspiracy-based antisemitism was also rejected by a majority of respondents, though Muslims and South East Asians showed the lowest levels of rejection at around 63 per cent.
Among people with a Muslim background, antisemitic attitudes declined the longer individuals had lived in Germany. Second-generation immigrants and those with German citizenship were significantly more likely to reject antisemitic statements—especially conspiracy theories—than recent arrivals or non-citizens.
However, the study found that Muslims were less likely to reject secondary antisemitism, which includes Holocaust distortion or attempts to invert the roles of victims and perpetrators. For example, 70 per cent of respondents without an immigrant background rejected the claim that “Jews profit off the suffering of the Holocaust today,” compared with only 37 per cent of Muslim respondents.
Political affiliation emerged as a decisive factor. Supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) expressed markedly high levels of classical, secondary, and Israel-related antisemitism, alongside strong anti-Muslim sentiment. By contrast, supporters of the Greens and the Left showed particularly low levels of agreement with antisemitic statements. The study also noted that, of all demographic groups, Muslims displayed the highest levels of agreement with Israel-related antisemitic positions, even while rejecting classical antisemitism to a greater degree.
Overall, the researchers concluded that antisemitism in Germany cannot be reduced to immigration. Instead, they describe it as a “relational, dynamic, and ideologically mediated interpretive pattern emerging from the interplay of diverse social experiences.”
Co-author Dr Sina Arnold criticised the narrative that antisemitism has been “brought back” by Muslim immigrants, noting that those who hold this view tend to harbour both anti-Muslim and antisemitic attitudes. She argued that the claim often serves to avoid confronting Germany’s own historical responsibility. As she put it, “The agreement with the statement ‘Antisemitism was almost gone and has now come back to Germany with the Muslim immigrants’ often enough serves to ward off the confrontation with the German past… Rather, this shows how anti-Muslim racism and antisemitism are repeatedly intertwined.”
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