Why does antisemitism continue to appear in modern society despite Holocaust remembrance, public education, and decades of confronting Nazi history? This course gives you a clear, global overview of contemporary antisemitism, focusing on stereotypes of disintegration, self-victimisation, rejection of guilt, and demands for a clean break with the Nazi past. You’ll explore how antisemitic conspiracy theories link Jewish people to fears of social decay, migration, political instability, cultural change, and national decline.

The course explains how victimhood narratives work, why they spread, and how they can be used to avoid responsibility. You’ll study the social role of self-victimisation, the cultural norms that support it, and the way conspiracy myths about Jewish power and influence turn historical accountability into resentment. You’ll also examine how perpetrators and successor societies respond when confronted with guilt, including denial, relativisation, externalisation of responsibility, and other strategies that distort Holocaust memory.

In the final part of the course, you’ll look closely at Holocaust-related rejection of guilt and the demand to “draw a line under” the Nazi past, known as Schlussstrich. These calls for closure are not just historical arguments, they are a key part of post-Holocaust antisemitism. By the end, you’ll understand how antisemitic narratives survive, adapt, and influence contemporary discourse, giving you the knowledge to recognise prejudice, challenge distortion, and engage more thoughtfully with Holocaust remembrance today.