Fassbinder's Germany

Ch. 7 (pp. 175-195), "Frankfurt, Germans and Jews: 'The City, Garbage and Death'", discusses Fassbinder's controversial play, written in 1975. Its first performance in Frankfurt in 1985 caused a scandal - it was perceived by many as an antisemitic work. Contends that the play was misread - it is not antisemitic, although it depicts antisemitism. The hero, called "The Rich Jew", is a cliché, a composite figure which German antisemitism has for centuries projected onto the Jews. It is the "Other" who embodies the fears of postwar West Germans, and serves as the object of their hatred toward their former victims. The existence of such a figure allowed the Germans to view Germany as a nation of victims and to ignore any other type of victim. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)