German dictionary criticised over flagging ‘Jew’ as discriminatory

Germany’s leading Duden dictionary has come under fire for flagging the word “Jew” – Jude in German – as potentially discriminatory.

The online edition of the dictionary warns that “because of its association with National Socialist parlance, the term ‘Jew’ is occasionally perceived as discriminatory”. It then lists alternatives: Jewish people, fellow Jewish citizens and fellow citizens of Jewish faith.

The Duden’s warning has prompted pushback from the Central Council of Jews in Germany, with its president Josef Schuster pointing to his organisation’s name as proof of the word’s acceptability.

“For me, the word ‘Jew’ is neither a swear word nor discriminatory,” said Mr Schuster. “The Duden editorial staff meant well, but everything should be done to avoid solidifying the term as discriminatory.”

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He said the term “Jew” signalised people in a society were on a par with “Catholic” or “Protestant”.

‘Generous tolerance’

“This is better,” he added, “than terms based on a supposedly generous tolerance towards people from whom one ultimately wants to distance oneself.”

Others have been far less equanimous towards the dictionary’s warning, suggesting it compounds an already-burdened relationship in Germany, the land of the Nazis and the systemic persecution and murder of six million Jews.

Dr Elio Adler, head of a Jewish-German civil society group, told the Bild tabloid he had encountered people throughout his life in Germany who struggle to ask if he is a Jew.

“They think it is a swear word for which they have to be ashamed,” he said. “On the contrary, I’m a Jew and it’s a good thing.”

For Jalda Rebling, a Brandenburg-based cantor, the approach of the Duden dictionary company is telling, exposing a lingering problem in German society. “Some Germans are afraid of speaking the word ‘Jew’ because it reminds them of German history,” she said. “For them, it would be better there were no more Jews at all, then there’d be no problem.”

‘Term of abuse’

Switzerland’s Jewish Museum is currently running an exhibition over the contested history of the term “Jude” in the German language. Its director, Dr Naomi Lubrich, said the Duden’s warning was a response to the growing use of “Jew” as a term of abuse in schoolyards, and a concern that anti-Semites now controlled the interpretation of the word in German.

“Some Jews too have reservations about their own description, and not since the 20th century,” she told the Tagesspiegel daily. “But the Duden should not capitulate before schoolyard racists and concentrate instead on what Jews actually are: a group, a religion, a culture, an ethnicity and an experiential community.”

The head of the Duden editorial team, Kathrin Kunkel-Razum, said she took the criticism of their warning seriously – in particular that a discrimination disclaimer could itself be perceived as discriminatory. “I can understand that, but that’s not our intention in any way,” she said, promising to review soon the disclaimer, which was first devised in 2011.