07.10.2026

7 October anniversary: The situation at universities

Interview with Prof. Dr Friederike Lorenz-Sinai on Deutschlandfunk on 7 October 2026

What is the situation for Jewish students at universities and higher education institutions in Germany? At the start of the winter term ehe Amadeu-Antonio Stiftung presents figures on anti-Semitism at German universities and launches the 23rd Action Weeks against Anti-Semitism, ‘For a Campus Free of Hatred towards Jews’. 85 percent of the 205 Jewish students surveyed by the foundation in Germany have already concealed their identity. Reports highlight anti-Semitic attacks, hatred and exclusion on the one hand, and passivity and ignorance in dealing with anti-Semitism within universities on the other. In an interview, Friederike Lorenz-Sinai, Professor of Social Science Research into Anti-Semitism at IRex and co-author of the recently published Study on anti-Semitism following 7 October 2023. She emphasises that, unlike racism and sexism, universities do not view anti-Semitism as violence or discrimination, but rather as a political debate – an abstract issue that supposedly affects no one.
Interviews paint a different picture: Jewish students who felt completely abandoned at universities, for whom the campus felt like a war zone, and who did not continue with their studies in Germany because of the threat of anti-Semitism.

Radio feature (German language)