Good Jews

The Holocaust is now widely recognized as a central event in twentieth-century Europe. But how did the genocide of the Jews affect European attitudes toward Jews, Judaism, and Jewishness after 1945? While many histories of antisemitism exist, Good Jews offers a broad investigation of philosemitism – defined here as a politics of a priori friendship and valorization. Gerard Daniel Cohen presents a critical exploration of the languages of philosemitism in mainstream European politics and culture from 1945 to October 7, 2023, with particular emphasis on Germany and France. Within this framework, Cohen explores how the “Jewish question,” or the problem of Jewish difference and incorporation in Western countries during the postwar decades, has been distinctively foregrounded in the language of philosemitism. Ultimately, Good Jews demonstrates that philosemitic Europe is not an idealized love story, but a reflection of European attitudes toward Jews from the Holocaust to the present.

Gerard Daniel Cohen is the Samuel W. & Goldye Marian Spain Associate Professor of Modern European History and Jewish Studies at Rice University. He specializes in the history of forced displacement after 1945, humanitarianism, and philosemitism in European thought and politics since the Holocaust.