Paper short abstract:

In Germany, the most potent symbol concerning all things Jewish is the Star of David. In form of jewellery it is commonly worn by Jews. This paper interrogates the relationship between the Star of David being used to convey being Jewish and the Star of David as constructing its wearer as a Jew.

Paper long abstract:

Relations between Jews and non-Jews in Germany remain unsettled. Interactions between the two groups are fraught, ill-communication and misunderstandings are common. At the core of these misunderstandings lies the Holocaust, which is narrated specifically within the respective ingroup, exchanges of narratives hardly take place. The silences that this creates morph into verbalised attitudes concerning current affairs, in particular current Jewish life in Germany and that State of Israel. For Jews and non-Jews the Star of David symbolises Israel, which adorns its flag; the Holocaust is symbolised with a yellow Star of David; a Star of David can be found on and in every synagogue. The Star of David is unambiguously interpreted as signifying Jewishness by Jews and non-Jews. It links past and present; the sacred, profane and secular; it is a seemingly eternal symbol of a cosmology. In its personalised form, Star of David jewellery is commonly worn by Jews in Germany, it is a highly visible sign of their Jewishness and garners reactions by Jews and non-Jews alike.

By focussing on Star of David jewellery this paper seeks to interrogate the mutually constitutive creation of meaning of the Star of David. The paper interrogates the relationship between the Star of David being used to convey being Jewish by its wearer and the Star of David as constructing its wearer as a Jew.