Jewish Switzerland

Jews make up the oldest cul­tu­ral mino­ri­ty on the ter­ri­to­ry of today’s Switz­er­land, having a histo­ry that extends back to Anti­qui­ty. Jews were wel­co­med and per­se­cu­ted in Switz­er­land, alter­na­te­ly recrui­ted and haras­sed, eman­ci­pa­ted and con­trol­led. Fif­ty objects, most of them from the coll­ec­tion of the Jewish Muse­um, tell of the rela­ti­ons bet­ween Jews and non-Jews from Roman times to the present.

What do tiny die, a tea ser­vice, stu­dents’ beer mugs, a Torah scroll or kip­pot with foot­ball insi­gnia tell us about the dai­ly lives and cul­tu­re of Swiss Jews? Each object’s sto­ry offers a sur­pri­sing and uni­que glim­pse into Swiss history.

About the authors:

Cas­par Bat­te­gay (*1978) is a lite­ra­ry and cul­tu­ral sci­en­tist. His 2017 doc­to­ra­te was about Ger­man-Jewish Uto­pian Lite­ra­tu­re. Among others, he has published Juden­tum und Pop­kul­tur. Ein Essay (2012)
Nao­mi Lubrich (*1976) is direc­tor of the Jewish Muse­um of Switz­er­land. She is an art his­to­ri­an, lite­ra­ry scho­lar and author.

«Es ist ein eigent­li­ches puz­zle­ar­ti­ges Geschich­ten­buch über die jüdi­sche Schweiz, die seit der Anti­ke exis­tiert und den Jüdin­nen und Juden manch­mal wohl, manch­mal nicht so wohl­ge­sinnt gewe­sen ist. Ein äus­serst lesens­wer­tes Buch.»
(Domi­nik Heitz, Bas­ler Zei­tung, 19.04.2018)