See latest article (in German) - Zeitzeichen - Evangelische Kommentare zu Religion und Gesellschaft - Protestant comments on religion and society - by Thomas Klatt http://www.zeitzeichen.net/geschichte-politik-gesellschaft/die-kirche-und-die-judensau/ via Google translate - A sow as shame on the church Stone hatred Jew-hatred: How to deal with the so-called Judensau? Thomas Klatt In about thirty churches in Germany one finds a so-called Judensau, reports the journalist Thomas Klatt. These depictions were part of an anti-Judaism, from which the churches have officially adopted only in recent decades. Mocking, hurtful: the Judensau at the city church in Wittenberg. Photo: epd / Norbert Neetz Mocking, hurtful: the Judensau at the city church in Wittenberg. Photo: epd / Norbert Neetz Where is the sow? Visitors to the Maria Magdalenen church in Eberswalde must pass through the 14th-century nave, turn left in front of the altar and put their heads back at the first pillar. Then they need the best possible eyes to be able to recognize anything on the pillar. In the rather simple rural held sandstone chapter is to see a figure with a medieval hat of Jews with some difficulty. Next to him is a sow who kisses him. It's a lousy mockery. Because in Judaism, the pig is considered a particularly unclean animal. As inconspicuous as the presentation is, it is clear in the Protestant community that this so-called Jewish sowing is also part of the disastrous anti-Jewish church history. "We know that in the medieval Eberswalde the Jews were accused of hostile desecration. As a result, Jews were murdered here as well ", explains Pastor Heinz Peter Giering. The small relief is an expression of late medieval anti-Judaism, which lasted for centuries and was the basis for modern anti-Semitism and finally the Shoah. Today, the Protestant church Eberswalde strives for active history, for example, by groups of students led to the anti-Semitic column and the topic of anti-Semitism is discussed. In addition, there is an information sheet. Other places in and around the church also show people wearing Jewish hats. In a Jewish community newspaper, these were described years ago as also anti-Jewish representations. But that is not true, the Protestant pastor holds against. "The bronze baptismal font was created around 1300. It is carried by three small figures with hat of the Jews. The robes resemble lion paws. This is an indication of the revelation of John 5: 5 where Jesus is called the Lion of Judah. So Jesus is part of Judaism. At the entrance portal you can see the passion of Christ. The depicted Jew is Joseph of Arimathia, who made his grave available to Jesus. So a friendly act, "explains Heinz Peter Giering. So here it is about biblical representations and not about anti-Jewish outrages. In Judensau but there is no doubt about the polemical orientation. Around thirty Judensau representations are known throughout Germany in or in Protestant and Catholic churches. And often they are part of a larger anti-Jewish image program. An example: the outer wall of the Sebalduskirche in Nuremberg. Behind the animal stands a Jew and catches its excrement with a bowl. As in Eberswalde, the medieval sculpture was oriented towards the former Jewish quarter in order to taunt the Jews in the neighborhood. Enlightenment only on demand In the choir stalls of the Cologne Cathedral, in addition to the Judensau, the ritual murder legend is also depicted: Jews kill innocent Christian children for their service. In Lemgo, a Jew lovingly carries a pig in his arms. The Judensau of Erfurt is located on the choir stalls of the Marien-Dom, a carved bas-relief made of oak. Shown is a Jew riding a pig, opposite him a noble Christian knight on his horse. There is only clarification on demand. Erfurt's Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Reinhard Hauke ​​admits that guided tours will only deal with the Judensaudarstellung when it is discovered - and visitors want to know more. So one learns that on the outer portal more anti-Jewish representations can be found. Next to the twelve apostles are the New Testament virgins, who were only ten. For the sake of symmetry, the medieval stonemasons added two more figures. The victorious Ecclesia was given to the five wise virgins, the blind Synagoga to the five foolish virgins. "This is embarrassing, but it is the historical fact of the year 1330", explains the Auxiliary Bishop of Erfurt. In addition, the visitor would also be told positive examples of recent Christian-Jewish history. When the synagogues burned in November 1938, the Catholic Vicar General hid the Torah scrolls and the Digitus, that is, the Torah pointer, the Erfurt synagogue in his house under a pile of coal. After the Second World War, the liturgical objects were returned to the Jewish community. Also in Magdeburg Cathedral there are opposing Ecclesia Synagoga representations. And a Judensau. On the south side of the Ernst Chapel it is incorporated into a capital several meters high. A man with a Jewish hat sucks on the teats of the sow. Close to the rump of the animal is another person. The painting was created in the time of Archbishop Ernst II of Saxony (1464-1513). According to legend, there was a lapidary quarrel between two monks and Jews on horseback for the right of way. This led in 1493 to the expulsion of all Magdeburg Jews. In his burial place, the Ernst-Kapelle, the archbishop of the time, in addition to a seven-branched candlestick, also had the Judensau depiction still visible today. Unlike in Erfurt or Eberswalde, however, the relief of Magdeburg is not simply freely accessible. "I think it's very good that the cathedral community of Magdeburg only goes in for guided tours of the Ernst-Kapelle. Then it will be explained that this Christian anti-Semitism belongs to our history of faith, "explains Ilse Junkermann, bishop of the Protestant Church in Central Germany. She is also a preacher at Magdeburg Cathedral. Of all the anti-Jewish representations in and on German churches, the Judensau at the Wittenberg town church is probably the most drastic example of such a polemical sculpture. On display are Jews, who not only suck on the teats of the animal considered religiously unclean. The sculpture in the birthplace of the German Reformation also shows that they look into the anus of the animal. There to discover the masters: Schem-Ha-Mphoras, a rabbinic paraphrase for the unspeakable name of God. For months, there has been a public debate on this polemic presentation. The British theologian Richard Harvey has collected nearly ten thousand signatures to remove the mockery. There were also media demonstrations in front of the church. Remove Judensau? There has been a work-up debate for some time now. She was glad that the Junge Gemeinde Wittenberg had already dealt with the topic decades ago, says Bishop Junkermann. Thirty years ago, the monument of the sculptor Wieland Schmiedel was let into the ground beneath the Judensau. The author has written the text to Jürgen Rennert: "God's real name, the maligned Schem Ha-Mphoras, whom the Jews held almost unspeakably holy before the Christians, died in six million Jews under a sign of the cross." The somewhat cryptic text does not like everyone. A Jewish-Christian initiative led by the educational scientist Micha Brumlik demands that the monument should be more conspicuous, with a clear rejection of any anti-Semitism. Similarly expressed the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster. The current Wittenberg plate to commemorate the Holocaust victims help little to the historical understanding of the anti-Semitic relief. Schuster has suggested to put on a board that explains and arranges the representation - or to let remove the Judensau equal all the same. Das aber hält der Kulturbeauftragte der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, Johann Hinrich Claussen, für keine gute Idee. Kahlschlag sei zwar immer die einfachste Lösung, meint Claussen. „Aber ist man das Problem dann wirklich los? Wenn man es abnimmt, müsste man es in ein Museum tun. Aber in der Stadt sind alle unterwegs, und die Konfrontation aller, die sich dafür interessieren könnten, ist eigentlich ein besserer pädagogischer Effekt, als es in ein Museum zu tun.“ Education goes before elimination, explains the cultural representative. Today, no one would think of taking a Jew sow as propaganda seriously. Churches as meeting place for anti-Semites have become unthinkable, so Claussen. Only there could be no general solutions. Whether an information leaflet as in Eberswalde, a permanent exhibition or even a memorial monument as in Wittenberg are correct, must be decided on a case-by-case basis. The situation is similar to that of the auxiliary bishop Reinhard Hauke ​​from Erfurt: "To cut off the Judensau, that is a thinking that no longer takes the historical facts seriously. Likewise, we do not simply flatten the Buchenwald concentration camp and say that this story does not exist. "The Protestant bishop Ilse Junkermann also defends herself against any decrease or even annihilation of Judensau representations in Wittenberg, Magdeburg and the other churches:" Straight because they still have political-theological explosive power, we have to let them down to make clear the roots of the political explosive power, these outlaws that are behind it. That puts me down. And we have to keep an eye on what are the roots of our failure and anti-Semitism, "says Junkermann. After the criticism, the Wittenberg city council has now decided to add an explanatory board, explains the regional bishop. Nevertheless, that was not enough. It needed a permanent education and education. For example, at commemorative events in Magdeburg Cathedral, unlike in the Middle Ages, not the synagoga, but the figure of the Christian Ecclesia would be wrapped in a black blindfold: a symbol of how blind the church was for centuries in its hatred of Jews. "That is why in the Protestant Church in Central Germany the commitment to Jewish-Christian dialogue is laid down in our constitution," says Junkermann. She campaigned for an annual Torah learning day for theologians and interested lay people, says the regional bishop. There is also the anti-Judaism in the writings of Martin Luther negotiated. As an offer she distributes the sermon aid from the circle "Studium in Israel". For every Bible pericope, the Jewish background is also explained there. Much is due to ignorance. In Nordhausen in Thuringia, the local Rotary club wanted to build a Luther memorial with the best of intentions - but only sixty meters from the place where the ruined synagogue stood. The Rotary Club was not aware of Luther's anti-Semitism, says Junkermann. Now an explanatory tablet is added to the Luther monument. There has been a proper education process in this non-Christian Rotary club. "And Magdeburg is the last German state capital without a synagogue. As a regional church, we are working to ensure that a new synagogue is finally built here, "promises the Protestant bishop. The EKD cultural commissioner Johann Hinrich Claussen wishes for the topic Judensau that the church is in good and continuous conversation with the local Jewish community. Such representations are not a purely inner Christian problem, but a matter of the whole society. "I think it would be interesting if the committees of the city or of the community actually deal with it. And I think it would be important to have Jewish votes: city, monument protection, administration, politics, church and Jewish interlocutors, that's it, "says Claussen. In Eberswalde one is far from that far. As a first stopgap there is only a laminated Din-A4 sheet to explain the Judensau representation. Whether there will also be a memorial or something like that, is a long way off. So far, discussions with Jewish representatives have not taken place. The mayor of Eberswalde does not want to express himself in an interview like another representative of the city. The Judensau seems there - still - to be considered as one thing: as a purely internal Christian matter.