All the films, books and podcasts to educate yourself on antisemitism and Judaism

With a rise in antisemitism, it has never been more important to understand antisemitism and arm yourself as best as possible to be an ally to Jewish people.
Now is not the time to shrink away from the conversation. Now is not the time to shift the narratives around ourselves or to focus on our own feelings of discomfort. Now is not the time to post a performative social media post with no intention to follow through. Now is the time for all Jewish allies to listen, change and learn.
Progressing our own authentic allyship means conducting our own research and reading, but as a starting point, these are some helpful educational resources on antisemitism and the Jewish experience.

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Dr Dave Rich, one of the UK’s leading experts on antisemitism, explores how antisemitism continues to thrive in the interactions, assumptions and views of decent people around the world – and how we can change this for the better.

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Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel
Named the Sunday Times Paperbacks of the Year 2022, Baddiel argues that those who think of themselves as on the right side of history have often ignored the history of antisemitism. He outlines why and how, in a time of intensely heightened awareness of minorities, Jews don’t count as a real minority.

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The Holocaust by Laurence Rees
This Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller offers an account of the Holocaust using recent alongside moving and harrowing interviews.

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After Such Knowledge by Eva Hoffman
60 years after the Holocaust, this book explores how – as we get further away from the tragic events – how can the next generation convey its knowledge to others, and what are their responsibilities to its memories?

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What We Knew by Eric A. Johnson and Karl-Heinz Reuband
An unprecedented firsthand analysis of daily life as experienced in the Third Reich.

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Night by Elie Wiesel and Marion Wiesel
Elie Wiesel was born into a Jewish ghetto in Hungary and sent to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald as a child. Often hailed as one of the most important works of the twentieth century, this is his account of the horrors he endured.

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'Conspiracy Theory: A Lizards Tale' by Marlon Solomon
Exerts from Marlon Solomon's one-man multi-media event make for both vital and comic viewing. He delves into the underworld of conspiracy theories, including those that believe the Holocaust never happened.

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'Law Against Genocide: Cosmopolitan Trials' by David Hirsh
This innovative work offers a sociologist's contribution on critical cosmopolitanism, human rights and crimes against humanity – including the 1999 London trial of Andrei Sawoniuk for crimes during the Holocaust.

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'That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Anti-Semitic' by Steve Cohen
Steve Cohen's book analyses the historic antisemitism of the left from a Marxist perspective, with Cohen himself, who passed away in 2009, saying: "It is intolerable that the socialist movement has never been prepared to look at its antisemitism in a self-critical way."

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'Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England' by Anthony Julius
A boundary-breaking 2010 book that offers the first ever comprehensive history of anti-Semitism in England.

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'Denial: Holocaust History on Trial' by Deborah E. Lipstadt
In her acclaimed 1993 book Denying the Holocaust, Deborah Lipstadt called World War II author David Irving 'one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial.' Irving sued her for defamation and a dramatic trial unfolded. Denial is Lipstadt's blow-by-blow account of the legal battle which was adapted for film in 2016.

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'Antisemitism: Here and Now' by Deborah E. Lipstadt
Another vital read from Lipstadt, Antisemitism is an all-encompassing look at everything from the plight of the Palestinians to the British Labour Party.

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Often hailed as one of the best films of all time and winner of seven Academy Awards, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List tells the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist and member of the Nazi party who, after witnessing the persecution of Jews in Poland, spent his fortune to save over a thousand Jewish lives.

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An award-winning drama series following the life of the Shtisels, a haredi family in Jerusalem.

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'And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank' by Steve Oney
In 1913, 13-year-old Mary Phagan was found brutally murdered in at the Atlanta pencil factory where she worked. Her manager, a Jewish man named Leo Frank, was arrested, tried, and convicted in a trial that gripped the country.

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'Thoughts From A Unicorn: 100% Black. 100% Jewish. 0% Safe' by MaNishtana
The witty, honest, compelling 'not-autobiography' from African-American and Orthodox Jewish blogger MaNishtana.

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'Jewish History Matters' hosted by Jason Lustig
A deep-dive into Jewish history and culture through discussions and debates on new research and current topics.

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#AnneFrank – Parallel Stories (2019)
Helen Mirren tells Anne Frank's story through her diary entries alongside those of five other Holocaust survivors.

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'Can We Talk?' hosted by the Jewish Women's Archive
A monthly podcast from the Jewish Women’s Archive with stories and discussions about Jewish women and the issues that shape their lives.

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'Everything is Illuminated' by Jonathan Safran Foer
The first novel from Safran Foer that was made into a 2005 film, the story follows a young man on a mission to find the woman who saved his grandfather in a small Ukrainian town that was wiped out by the Nazi invasion.

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'Wholly Jewish' hosted by April Baskin
April Baskin, The Union for Reform Judaism's former vice president, speaks with Jews of colour about their identities, experiences and insights.

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The Accountant Of Auschwitz (2018)
Decades after WWII, former SS officer Oskar Gröning stands trial in his native Germany after being charged for his complicity in the murder of 300,000 Jews at Auschwitz.

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'Stories We Tell' hosted by The Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism shares a new story about the Jewish experience every Thursday in digestible episodes dating back to 2017, so there's plenty to tune into.

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A documentary about Cleveland-based John Demjanjuk, the man brought to trial in Israel, accused of being the infamous Nazi extermination camp guard 'Ivan the Terrible'.

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'Antisemitism and the American Far Left' by Stephen H. Norwood
The first-ever systematic study of the USA's far left's role in both propagating and combating antisemitism.

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'Israel Story' hosted by Mishy Harman
This award-winning podcast 'brings you extraordinary tales about ordinary Israelis'.

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Lacey Schwartz's story of growing up in an upper-middle-class Jewish household – believing she was white, until her father passes away. This enthralling documentary follows her journey of self-discovery and the search for identity.

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'Jewish Human Rights – Part 1' hosted by the Jewish Museum London
This audio recording of the sold out event on 10th December 2018 is an absolute must-listen. Taking place at the Jewish Museum London, the evening celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the lives of the Jewish Human Rights heroes behind it.

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'The Tattooist of Auschwitz' by Heather Morris
One of the best-selling books of this century and with good reason: The Tattooist of Auschwitz is the heart-wrenching and life-affirming tale of Lale Sokolov – arriving in Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942 and tasted with tattooing his fellow prisoners – who falls in love with a young girl named Gita. He is determined to ensure not only his survival, but Gita's, too.

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Starring Shira Haas, Unorthodox is adapted from Deborah Feldman’s memoir and centres on Esther 'Esty' Shapiro, a young Hasidic Jewish woman who flees her life in Brooklyn for Europe. Here, in cosmopolitan Berlin, she is taken in by a group of musicians – until she realises she may not be able to escape her past.

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An adaptation of the autobiography 'The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945,' following acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) who loses contact with his family during WWII and must hide in the ruins of Warsaw to survive.