Professor David Peimer
Jean Paul Sartre’s book “The Anti-Semite and the Jew”
Summary
The philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre wrote the book “The Anti-Semite and the Jew”, which examines his understanding of the relationship between anti-Semites and Jews. The context is post-World War II, with the book being published in 1946, after the liberation of Paris and most of France. Sartre’s famous phrase, “If the Jew did not exist, the antisemite would invent him,” encapsulates the essence of the book.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a Professor of Literature, Film and Theatre in the UK. He has worked for the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, New York University (Global Division) and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing in New York, UK, Berlin, EU Parliament (Brussels), Athens, Budapest, Zululand and more. He has most recently directed Dame Janet Suzman in his own play, Joanna’s Story, at London Jewish Book Week. He has published widely with books including: Armed Response: Plays from South Africa, the digital book, Theatre in the Camps. He is on the board of the Pinter Centre (London), and has been involved with the Mandela Foundation, Vaclav Havel Foundation and directed a range of plays at Mr Havel’s Prague theatre.
Maybe because he was very friendly with Jews, intellectuals, artists, many who had fled to Paris from Germany and Eastern Europe. They never thought France would be conquered by the Germans. And I think also from a philosophical understanding, perhaps because his uncle was Albert Schweitzer.
He says that the anti-Semite hasn’t really thought through. What if all the Jews are exterminated? Who’s the scapegoat? He actually writes about that in late ‘44, and nobody else is even thinking of this.
The Romans saw them as an obstinate, stubborn, difficult bunch, but they saw other tribes, other groups as well. They would’ve seen tribes, barbaric, more stubborn, but certainly Hannibal and the Carthaginians were far more, I mean they nearly destroyed Rome.