Book publication: "Die Deutsch-Israelischen Studiengruppen und die frühen studentischen Kontakte mit Israel 1948-1972"

From the end of the 1950s onwards German-Israeli Study Groups were founded at various West German universities. The groups were committed to coming to terms with Germany´s National Socialist past, fighting Antisemitism and promoting closer contacts with Israel.

In 1957 the first German-Israeli Study Group was founded at the Free University of Berlin by the Israeli Student Jochanan Bloch. Following the Berlin example, parallel groups were also formed at other West German universities in the following years. By the mid-1960s, a total of 19 such groups with around 600 to 800 members existed at the same time. Against the backdrop of the experiences of National Socialism and the Holocaust, the members were committed to coming to terms with Germany's National Socialist past, fighting Antisemitism and promoting closer contacts with Israel.
Jonas Hahn tells the history of this student association in the wider context of post-war German history and the history of early German-Israeli relations. Based on an extensive collection of sources, the author provides a socio-historical analysis of the beginnings of German-Israeli relations. In these early times the commitment and protest of student actors as well as society actors paved the way for political developments and the establishment of official diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel in 1965.

Jonas Hahn

Jonas Hahn works as an Educational Coordinator for ConAct - Coordination Center German-Israeli Youth Exchange. He studied Jewish Studies and Middle Eastern Studies in Heidelberg, Amman and Beʾer Scheva and received his doctorate in Modern and Contemporary History from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in 2024.

Further information on the book publication (German language) can be found on the Wallstein Verlag website.