Cultural differences

Very strange thing happened a couple days ago, ladies and gents.

For context: Every day in my general language class, a student presents an exposé on a topic of their choice that is relevant to French or international society. That thing with the rats is an example. This past Monday was my turn. I found an interesting article in Le Monde about growing anti-Semitic sentiment, so I decided to present on that.

So I explain my topic to the class: despite the lessons of the twentieth century, many parts of Europe and North America are experiencing growing levels of fascism and nationalism. This had led to anti-Semitic violence, particularly in France, where Jewish bakeries and worship spaces have been vandalized and terrorized.

Simone Veil, who became the first woman in a ministerial position in France after surviving Auschwitz, is perhaps one of the most important Jewish figures of France. Her gravestone was desecrated with a swastika recently. So yeah, it’s a relevant topic.

The professor says I picked a good subject. Nice. She asks the class if anyone has any clarifying questions before we do the discussion. The Japanese boy raises his hand.

“What is a swastika?”

My jaw actually literally fell open. To be fair, the French word for swastika is croix gammée, so maybe that was his confusion. Like what’s this new word? So the professor, unfortunately, draws it on the board and writes out the word.

He still doesn’t get it.

Prof asks me to explain what a swastika is and why it is seen as a symbol of anti-Semitism. Well, I say, the Nazis used it.

Yes, the Japanese kid says, the Nazis. But why is it anti-Semitic?

“Because the Nazis committed the Holocaust. You know, the Holocaust?”

One of the Chinese girls raises her hand. “What is anti-Semitism?”

“Anti-Jewish hatred,” I say, “like the Holocaust.”

From the Korean woman: “Holocaust? Did the Nazis hate Jews?”

It went on like this for some time. None of the Asiatic students in the room were familiar with anything to do with concentration camps or Jewish ethnic cleansing. They knew about the idea of genocide, but not as it relates to World War 2. Looking back, I guess that makes sense. The history that they learned is probably entirely related to the Pacific Theatre. But still, I was deeply shocked, and it did not help that I was on the hook to explain it all to them.

The Middle Eastern students, however.

“Oh yes,” says the Syrian woman, “the Holocaust was like the Armenian genocide, and the Kurdish genocide, and the civil upheaval in Syria. It is still a problem where I’m from. A lot of our Jewish population immigrated during the war. Now we have another one and everyone is moving again.”

The Turkish girls talk in depth about the multiple ethnic cleansing causes led against Jews, ethnic Serbs, Muslims, and just about every ethnic group in turn in pockets around their country. They have more detail about anti-Semitism than I do with all my notes. They talk about the Jewish communities they live near and their Jewish friends who face constant persecution. Merve points out that the Ottoman Empire caused many Jewish people to seek refuge in Istanbul, her country’s capital.

“Oh, wait a minute, I think I know what you are talking about,” says one of the Chinese girls. “We have a Little Israel in Shanghai. A lot of Jews moved there a century ago.”

“… probably from Poland?” says an American.

“I don’t know.” she replies.

At this point the professor stops us and just says that there are clearly cultural differences in the understanding of anti-Semitism, and that I should go ahead and ask my discussion questions. The first one: do you think there is anti-Semitism in your country?

All of the Asiatic students answer with a resounding no, because, they say, they aren’t sure that there are even Jews in their country (Except the girl from Shanghai). All the Middle Eastern students say yes, as well as anti-Muslim and anti-Christian sentiment, because every hundred square miles has a different ethnic group in power and that creates a lot of complications. The Americans all say probably.

The next question: do we do a good job commemorating and recognizing the Holocaust? Everyone says yes, but privately I think that we do not, because a kid from a country that at one point was allied with Germany is unfamiliar with what went on — and that seems just a little messed up.

The last question is: do you foresee a solution in the future?

The Americans jump on this one. No, says a girl from Arizona, because our president is anti-Semitic and hates everyone, and he’s too stupid to do anything. Another American jumps in to say that we can’t exactly get rid of racism and such while we have a fascist dictator in office. The professor stops him to remind him that the president was technically elected and therefore is not a dictator, by definition. Technically, he emphasizes.

The Asiatic kids all seem at odds and ends at this point. The Russian pipes up for the first time. “I think my country is too invested in equality to be anti-Semitic.”

And that is where the discussion ends. The professor cuts us off and calls for a ten-minute break. She calls me over and says that I should probably have considered the students in the room who are not aware of Nazi hate crimes. I say yes, of course, what was I thinking? and return to my seat, astonished and exhausted.

So yeah, that’s what a handful of multi-national college students think about anti-Semitism. It was the most interesting thing I have experienced in that classroom, and I will not be forgetting it soon.

I should note that I was not allowed to participate in the discussion (only moderate and ask questions) because it was my presentation, and also all of this was in French. I just figured y’all would want the English version.

Cordialement,

Allison

P.S.: I hope my tone doesn’t make it seem like this all upset me. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.