Title: A Brief and Visual History of Antisemitism
By: Israel B. Bitton
Gefen Publishing
Before having read a sentence of Israel Bitton’s comprehensive offering, A Brief and Visual History of Antisemitism, I was won over by its 617 pages of glossy imagery – images of pain, suffering, anger, audacity, and shockingly pure evil. I was happy that such time and care had been devoted to gathering so much undeniable evidence of Jew-hatred in the world, and saddened that the world had provided so much content for Bitton to work with.
But first: books have certainly come a long way since the time I sat in grade school trying to impress everyone else in class with how fast I could read. The “augmented reality” feature built into this book allows you to use your smart phone to create moving imagery, audio, and storytelling you can access by scanning your smart phone over the images on the page. If you’re my age, you have no idea what I just said, but no doubt young readers are going to love this fancy feature. It is modern technology meeting good old-fashioned reading. (This is a feature that’s likely to save printed books from going extinct – but that’s a topic for another article.)
Bottom line: A Brief and Visual History of Antisemitism is thoughtfully written and designed to appeal to young readers, the smart phone-obsessed, and anyone else with a short attention span, all while being researched and thorough enough to keep the methodical reader clinging to every page. That said, parents should keep in mind that there is a recommended age of 16 and older, as some of the visuals and themes may be a bit much for impressionable ages to handle.
Bitton is the executive director of Americans Against Antisemitism, the advocacy and action group founded in 2019 by former New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind. For those who can remember – or prefer to forget – 2019 was a record year, at the time, for antisemitic violent hate crimes in the New York area. It felt like not a day went by where we did not hear of another story of an assault on the streets of Brooklyn, be it Boro Park, Crown Heights, or Williamsburg. The year ended with the horrific attack in Jersey City, N.J., where two assailants charged into a kosher grocery store and killed the owner, a customer, and a worker, before attempting to continue the carnage next door at the local Jewish day school, which was in session at the time. That tragedy ended with S.W.A.T. teams storming the store in a hail of bullets; the attackers did not survive.
While the Jewish world looked on in disbelief, not sure how to respond, Bitton organized a team of willing Jewish men with one mission: to go down to Jersey City, cameras in tow, walk the streets of the community, and find out what their problem was with Jews. It was a bold move, and arguably could have gone wrong in many ways. However, Bitton and those who joined him believed there were moments where only action would suffice. So off to Jersey City they went to visit the scene of the tragedy. That night they had many conversations with the locals in Jersey City, and while there were expressions of frustration, there were also expressions of support, and by the end of the night, a consensus toward peace. This could only have been accomplished through a willingness to confront the issue to its face.
The comprehensive style of Bitton’s book is an accurate representation of Bitton himself, so if you’re a person who needs not just to understand the problem, but also how to solve it, you’ll find satisfaction here. The book is divided into nine chapters, logically starting with Defining Antisemitism and concluding with Combatting Antisemitism.
Chapter one wastes no time getting to the point, as we learn how the word Judenhass (German for Jew-hatred) became replaced with the more complex antisemitismus (which means what it looks and sounds like), coined by a German publicist by the name of Wilhelm Marr. Marr founded an organization called the League of Antisemites and believed – rightfully so – that even if a Jew converted to Christianity, once a Jew always a Jew. He also believed – wrongfully so – that all Jews had the ability to harm German identity and destroy all that was good and Germanic. Turns out, Dear Mr. Marr, only the Nazis could accomplish that goal.
What Bitton does smartly is address the topic from a purely academic point of view. His goal is not to admonish or humiliate anyone, but to educate. For this reason, A Brief and Visual History of Antisemitism is a perfect read not just for a Jewish audience, but as a gift to your non-Jewish friends, or as an education piece given to your local antisemite or conspirator who is willing to engage in civil conversation. But most importantly, this book should be on the shelf of every high school, college campus, and public library and sold in the gift shops of every museum of history – not just because of its subject, but because of its attractive style and clarity that compel the reader to want to flip the page and learn more.
The endorsements it received are rather impressive. “This book has the potential to be a powerful instrument of memory for a generation for whom it is urgent,” Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, wrote in the book. “It offers every reader the opportunity to transform its lessons into a way of life and into a commitment to fighting intolerance and blind hated in whatever form they may take.”
A Brief and Visual History of Antisemitism is a must-read – for anytime in history, but now more than ever. “We’re seeing a 24/7 assault on the truth as witnessed by our every sense,” author Bitton told The Jewish Press. “Over time, without full confidence in Jewish history as well as the facts of the lead-up to the present Hamas war, it’s more than possible that some Jews (regardless of background and affiliation) will start to internalize the avalanche of anti-Israel propaganda and disinformation they’re consuming. That’s just one layer within a myriad of consequences of this atrocity, but it’s also the very purpose of my book: to reinforce Jewish confidence in our history and pride in our heritage, which is not one of endless persecution but of endless survival against all odds and the remarkable capability of rebuilding.”
