Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses the debates before the establishment of German Studies in the Israeli Academia in the 1960s/70s. It focuses on the reevaluation of the meaning of these topics and asks for the impact of the significant support from Germany for the implementation of this new field of study.

Paper long abstract:

The paper deals with the history of the establishment of "Germanistik" and German History in Israeli Academia in the 1960s/70s. Based on the long-lasting debate within the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, if German Literature and Language, these loaded national shaped topics, should become part of the regular course offer, the difficult process of a reevaluation of the former proximity or identification of many Central European Jews with German language and culture, which was disrupted by the Shoah, will be revealed.

The implementation of this new field of study took place with a significant financial and academic support from Germany. Considering this opportunity which was at the same time also a "burden", the paper will discuss the impact of this cooperation on the design and content of the new disciplines.