The lecture is about how Judaism and the Jewish people was viewed among evangelical Christians in Sweden as reflected in the journal Missionstidning för Israel (Mission Magazine for Israel) at end of 19th century. It focuses on the relation between traditional Anti-Judaism and modern Anti-Semitism. The journal was founded in Stockholm in 1874 within the Swedish Lutheran Church and was published by an association for Christian missionary activity among the Jews. The way in which Jewish people were depicted stemmed from hostile Christian traditions: The Jews were said to be rejected by God because of their blindness, disobedience and rebelliousness, and furthermore they are repeatedly blamed for the crucifixion. But themes from contemporary secular anti-Semitism can also be found in the texts, for example, Jewish control over the banking system, economy and media in order to dominate the world. The Jewish people were portrayed as hostile towards God and a threat to Christianity and Christian society. However, eventually all Jews will turn to Christ, and that will be the beginning of a new order and the perfection of mankind. This mind-set is similar to what can be called redemptive Anti-Semitism: The Jewish people are the key to human perfection.
De senaste decenniernas forskning om antisemitism i Sverige har i hög grad varit inriktad på utvecklingen under 1900-talet, inte minst problem kopplade till andra världskriget och förhållandet till Nazityskland. Åtskilliga värdefulla resultat har presenterats men flera kapitel återstår att skriva av den svenska antisemitismens historia. Inte minst förtjänar utvecklingen under 1800-talets senare en djupare genomlysning.
På 1870-tet bidrog den ekonomiska krisen i Väst- och Centraleuropa till att liberalismen förlorade prestige och ersattes av en totalitär och exkluderande nationalism som legitimerande statsideologi. I fråga om judarna ställde en växande antisemitisk rörelse krav på uppbrott från den tidigare emancipations- och integrationslinjen. Frågan var inte längre hur judar skulle bli en del av nationen utan om det överhuvudtaget var möjligt.
Under detta skede omformades traditionellt kristna antijudiska teman till rasistiskt färgad antisemitism om judisk världsmakt. Katolska medier såväl som protestantiska demagoger var många gånger drivande i den antisemitiska rörelsen, samtidigt som delar av kyrkan såg med oro på utvecklingen och snarare höll fast vid en linje där omvändelse och dop sågs som lösningen av den ”judiska frågan”.
Mot bakgrund av den tecknade historiska kontexten kommer mitt paper diskutera brytningen mellan kristen antijudaism och modern antisemitism i ett svenskt perspektiv. Jag tar avstamp i en analys av två längre artiklar publicerade på 1880-talet i en lågkyrklig missionstridskrift, Missionstidskrift för Israel. I texterna blandas traditionella teman med samtidens konspiratoriska föreställningar om judisk kontroll över banksystemet, börsen och pressen. Ett framtidsscenario målas, dels om ett judiskt skräckvälde som håller på att upprättas, dels om hela Israels omvändelse och en ny världsordning där en fullkomnad mänsklighet framträder.
I svensk kristen press fanns decennierna runt 1900 ett intresse för judarna och judarnas ställning i samhället, både som politisk och teologisk fråga. Diskussionen kunde handla om allt ifrån mission, sionism och apokalyptik till politisk antisemitism, kulturkamp och kristendom kontra judendom. I mitt paper kommer jag presentera några huvuddrag i den tidens kristna debatt, svenskkyrklig såväl som frikyrklig, och diskutera framväxten av den moderna antisemitismen i förhållandet till den traditionella antijudaismen.
The purpose of this contribution is to study how Jews and Judaism is viewed among evangelical Christians in Sweden as reflected in the journal Missionstidning för Israel (Mission Magazine for Israel) 1874–1885. The journal was founded in Stockholm in 1874 within the Swedish Lutheran Church and was published by Svenska Israelsmissionen, an association for Christian missionary activity among the Jews. The way in which Jewish people were depicted stemmed from hostile Christian traditions. The Jews were said to be rejected by God because of their blindness, disobedience and rebelliousness, and furthermore they are repeatedly blamed for the crucifixion. But themes from contemporary secular anti-Semitism can also be found in the texts, for example, Jewish control over the banking system, economy and media in order to dominate the world. The Jewish people were por-trayed as hostile towards God and a threat to Christianity and Christian society. However, eventually all Jews will turn to Christ, and that will be the beginning of a new order and the perfection of mankind. This mind-set is similar to what is often called redemptive Anti-Semitism: The Jewish people are the key to human perfection.
This article discusses Jewish integration and assimilation in the light of a study of Jewish converts in Stockholm from 1775, when Jews were allowed to settle in Sweden, to 1870, when they were politically emancipated. In this period, religion was linked to legal, national and social status. Baptism was not only a religious act, but had legal and social consequences. Quantitative analysis shows conversion patterns in birth cohorts and baptismal ages, and fluctuation over time. For the latter part of the period, patterns of inter-confessional marriages and the religious affiliation of children are investigated using the records of the Stockholm Jewish congregation and local parish records of the Lutheran Church. The study also highlights how individual and social circumstances encouraged baptism. The fates of individual converts are examined through diaries, biographies and magazines. In the late 18th- and early 19th century, relatively few Jews converted. Those who did were regarded with suspicion by the Jewish congregation. The Jewish population was segregated from the Christian community to a high degree. From 1810, Jewish families experienced socio-economic advancement and financially successful families developed contacts with the local bourgeoisie. Yet there remained a strong hostility toward Jews, especially among the lower bourgeoisie. The number of baptisms now increased dramatically. Around 20 per cent of the Jews born in 1790-1819 were baptized, but many converts remained in Jewish networks. The largest number of conversions took place during the 1830s, after which numbers dropped. The decrease is explained by the fact that the bourgeoisie became increasingly sympathetic to Jews. Both the bourgeoisie and the Jews supported the demands for political and economic liberalization and no longer perceived baptism as relevant to national affiliation. At the same time, Jews gained more and more rights, which removed nonreligious reasons to convert. In 1838, Jews were granted Swedish citizenship and such restrictions on civic rights that remained were gradually removed. When inter-confessional marriage was made lawful in 1863, the number of conversions dropped to only a few per year. At the same time, the proportion of mixed marriages increased dramatically. The assimilation process continued because the children of these marriages were usually raised in the Christian faith.
The purpose of this investigation is to analyze aspects of Jewish integration into Swedish society during the decades following the emancipation which was carried out in 1870, by means of investigating how a Jewish migrant group was given space and was able to participate in the local society. The study shows a Jewish middle class evolving and becoming integrated into society. This group which was forced to behave carefully and balance their Jewish and their Swedish identity, came to play an important role as a link between the receiving society and the rest of the Jewish population.
This article discusses Jewish integration and assimilation in the light of a study of Jewish converts in Stockholm from 1775, when Jews were allowed to settle in Sweden, to 1870, when they were politically emancipated. In this period, religion was linked to legal, national and social status. Baptism was not only a religious act, but had legal and social consequences. Quantitative analysis shows conversion patterns in birth cohorts and baptismal ages, and fluctuation over time. For the latter part of the period, patterns of inter-confessional marriages and the religious affiliation of children are investigated using the records of the Stockholm Jewish congregation and local parish records of the Lutheran Church. The study also highlights how individual and social circumstances encouraged baptism. The fates of individual converts are examined through diaries, biographies and magazines. In the late 18th- and early 19th century, relatively few Jews converted. Those who did were regarded with suspicion by the Jewish congregation. The Jewish population was segregated from the Christian community to a high degree. From 1810, Jewish families experienced socio-economic advancement and financially successful families developed contacts with the local bourgeoisie. Yet there remained a strong hostility toward Jews, especially among the lower bourgeoisie. The number of baptisms now increased dramatically. Around zo per cent of the Jews born in 1790-1819 were baptized, but many converts remained in Jewish networks. The largest number of conversions took place during the 1830s, after which numbers dropped. The decrease is explained by the fact that the bourgeoisie became increasingly sympathetic to Jews. Both the bourgeoisie and the Jews supported the demands for political and economic liberalization and no longer perceived baptism as relevant to national affiliation. At the same time, Jews gained more and more rights, which removed nonreligious reasons to convert. In 1838, Jews were granted Swedish citizenship and such restrictions on civic rights that remained were gradually removed. When inter-confessional marriage was made lawful in 1863, the number of conversions dropped to only a few per year. At the same time, the proportion of mixed marriages increased dramatically. The assimilation process continued because the children of these marriages were usually raised in the Christian faith.
Under de sista decennierna av 1800-talet invandrade kanske ett par tusen östeuropeiska judar till Sverige, många med Norrland som slutdestination. Sundsvall blev huvudorten för judarna i Norrland där som mest över 250 judar levde och verkade under en period. Sundsvalls judar sökte upprätthålla ett gemensamt socialt och religiöst liv samtidigt som de integrerades i lokalsamhället, ekonomiskt och socialt. Svenska kyrkans lokala representanter hade få invändningar när det gällde etablerandet av en officiellt erkänd judisk församlingen men källorna speglar en ambivalens i förhållande till den judiska närvaron, i kyrkan såväl som inom andra delar av samhället.
Ett sätt för åtminstone vissa delar av kyrkan att hantera invandringen av judar var genom mission. Lågkyrkliga Svenska Israelsmissionen bedrev, med stöd av stiftsledningen, verksamhet i Norrland som gick ut på att, dels öka intresset för judemissionen i församlingar och kyrkliga föreningar, dels bedriva evangeliskt och socialt arbete bland judarna, främst i Sundsvall. Flera judemissionärer var verksamma i regionen under sent 1800-tal.
Jag kommer att diskutera denna del av den norrländska kyrkohistorien, mötet mellan en judisk grupp som genom sin församling sökte bevara en judisk identitet i en omgivning av möjligheter och begränsningar och en kyrka som förlorat mycket av sin statsbärande roll men som alltjämt präglades av antijudaism.
Lågkyrkliga Svenska Israelsmissionen, grundades som en inomkyrklig rörelse på 1870-talet med syftet att bedriva evangeliskt och socialt arbete bland judar i Sverige och utomlands. Inte minst genom det proselythem som grundades i Stockholm kom judar i kontakt med föreningen, något som emellanåt ledde fram till att judar konverterade till kristendomen. Flertalet av de omvända var judiska ynglingar med rötterna i Östeuropa och det hände att Israelsmissionen anställde de nyomvända som resepredikanter och judemissionärer. I religiösa självbiografier har de skildrat sin judiska uppväxt i Östeuropa, invandringen till Sverige, religiösa kriser, omvändelse, dop och missionärsverksamhet. I denna text diskuteras sex sådana religiösa omvändelseberättelser, publicerade perioden 1888–1927, dels den religiösa och sociala kontext i vilken berättelserna formades, dels de skäl som legat bakom omvändelserna. Undersökningen visar på en starkt antijudisk diskurs inom Israelsmissionen som konvertiterna övertog och reproducerade i sina texter, men också en romantiserad syn på drag inom judendomen. De självbiografiska texterna skildrar livskriser som en följd av uppbrott och invandring och behovet av tillhörighet i en ny omgivning, något som kan ses som förklaringar till konversionerna.