Familiar Foreigners
Images of Germany and Israel in Russia
Abstract
Germany and Israel have received millions of Russian-speaking immigrants who retain their ties to their original homeland. However, this has no impact on the collective perception of Germany and Israel in Russia. The Russian view of Germany is formed from two experiences: the traumas arising from the Second World War and the perception of the Federal Republic as a model of a well-run country that guarantees prosperity and freedom. The image of Israel is tied in with the notion of a utopia made real: a Jewish state that embodies the idea of an “organic unity of the nation”. Israel is seen as a modern, dynamic country which cultivates efforts to achieve freedom and social justice, rationalism and a belief in progress. The antisemitic, anti-Zionist stereotypes of the Soviet period have almost disappeared.
(Special Issue, S. 151–175)