Anetta Kahane
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Anetta Kahane (born 1954 in
East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
) is a German
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
journalist, author and activist against
antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
,
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
and right-wing extremism. From 1974 to 1982 she was an
unofficial collaborator An unofficial collaborator or IM (; both from German ''inoffizieller Mitarbeiter''), or euphemistically informal collaborator (''informeller Mitarbeiter''), was an informant in the German Democratic Republic, German Democratic Republic (East German ...
for the East German
Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...
secret police. In 1998 she founded the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which she has led since 2003. She has been a target of right wing hate campaigns since 2002 and of possible terror plans since 2015, which are investigated by the German General prosecutor.


Family background and youth

Kahane's parents Max Kahane and Doris Kahane (born Machol) were secular Jews who fled from Nazi Germany in 1933. Max Kahane fought in the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
against General
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
and later in the
French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
against the Nazis. In a prison camp of the
Vichy Regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
he met Doris Machol, who was also active in the Resistance. They married in 1945, moved to East Berlin, and became loyal citizens of the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
and members of the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
. Kahane is the youngest of three children. Following Max Kahane's jobs as a journalist for the East German news agency and state media, the family lived in
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
(
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
) from 1957 to 1960, in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
in 1963. Like other
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
survivors her parents did not speak about their experience of persecution, but their
psychological trauma Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical. ...
s influenced Kahane. In school Kahane was open about her Judaism, against her parents' will.


Student and Stasi informer

Beginning in 1974 Kahane studied
Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, history ...
in
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
.''Zur Person: Kahane, Anetta.''
BR alpha, April 1, 2014
That year the
Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...
questioned her about the
defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...
of her best friend. She agreed to work for the Stasi as an
unofficial collaborator An unofficial collaborator or IM (; both from German ''inoffizieller Mitarbeiter''), or euphemistically informal collaborator (''informeller Mitarbeiter''), was an informant in the German Democratic Republic, German Democratic Republic (East German ...
. She met a Stasi officer six times a year on average, and reported her observations about West German tourists and other foreigners. At first the Stasi noted that she incriminated friends and fellow students, but soon they noted her to be unreliable and hard to manage. She once reported on the artists
Thomas Brasch Thomas Brasch (19 February 1945 – 3 November 2001) was a German author, poet and film director. Life Born in Westow, Yorkshire, England, Thomas Brasch was the son of German Jewish Communist émigré parents. In 1947, the family returned to Eas ...
and Klaus Brasch, whom the Stasi had categorized as "enemies of the GDR", and confirmed that judgement without specifics.Uwe Müller
"Birthler-Behörde ließ Stasi-Spitzel einladen".
''Welt online'', September 25, 2007
From 1979 she continued her studies at
Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
and taught the
Portuguese language Portuguese ( or, in full, ) is a western Romance language of the Indo-European language family, originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is an official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and ...
. In 1979 and 1981 she worked as a translator for GDR engineering projects in
São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...
and
Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, where she observed East German officials behaving in a
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
and condescending manner towards black Africans. In 1982 she refused to continue as a Stasi informant, and as a result she lost the freedom to travel outside the GDR, her position at the university, and most of her translation work. From 1983 to at least 1988 the Stasi had her under surveillance. In 1986 she applied to leave the GDR. In 1990, when the GDR had dissolved, she admitted to her friends that she had been a Stasi informant, but decided not to publicize it. In 2002, Kahane's past as a former Stasi informant became known. In 2004, in her autobiography, she wrote in detail about this part of her past and admitted to being very ashamed of it. In 2012 the political scientist
Helmut Müller-Enbergs Helmut Müller-Enbergs (born Haltern/ NRW 1960) is a German political scientist who has written extensively on the Stasi and related aspects of the German Democratic Republic's history. Life Müller-Enbergs studied Political sciences between 198 ...
examined the Stasi documents about her case on her behalf. He found no indications that her reports caused any damage to observed persons, but he did not exclude disadvantages her reports might have caused in general. He also found that she received no awards or other advantages.Helmut Müller-Enbergs
''Zusammenfassende gutachterliche Stellungnahme zu Frau Anetta Kahane und die DDR-Staatssicherheit.''
Amadeu Antonio Stiftung, November 26, 2014
This conclusion has faced criticism, however, as it leaves out her incrimination of dozens of people from her immediate environment, most notably that of Klaus Brasch and Thomas Brasch.


Activism

From 1988 Kahane was active in the civil rights movement of the GDR opposition, and supported foreigners and minorities. She participated in the
East German Round Table Round table primarily refers to the Central Round Table (''Zentraler Runder Tisch''), a series of meetings during the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany in late-1989 and early-1990. The Round table first convened in East Berlin on 7 December ...
. In 1990 she was appointed to be the first and last official for foreigners of the East Berlin Senate. After witnessing street violence and attacks on
Sinti The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...
,
Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
, Africans and
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
, she engaged constantly against daily racism. She pressured the city leadership to transform former military barracks into housing for eastern European migrants and refugees. Since 1989 Kahane has initiated many associations for issues of foreigners, and became a respected expert on this topic. Responding to increased racist violence in the former East Germany, in 1998 Kahane initiated the Amadeu Antonio Foundation as an organised effort to combat
xenophobia Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
, antisemitism and right-wing extremism. In 2012 she was awarded the Moses Mendelssohn prize for her work, donated by the
Senate of Berlin The Senate of Berlin (german: Berliner Senat) is the executive body governing the city of Berlin, which at the same time is a States of Germany, state of Germany. According to the the Senate consists of the Governing Mayor of Berlin and up to t ...
. In July 2015, she supported the suggestion of the Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg
Winfried Kretschmann Winfried Kretschmann (born 17 May 1948) is a German politician serving as Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg since 2011. A member of the Alliance '90/Greens, he was President of the Bundesrat and ''ex officio'' deputy to the President of G ...
to send more refugees to the
New states of Germany The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 states upon German reunification on 3 October 1990. The new st ...
because, according to her, the number of
people of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...
is too low there. In December 2015, she followed an invitation of the German
Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection The Federal Ministry of Justice (german: Bundesministerium der Justiz, ), abbreviated BMJ, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the German federal system, individual States are most responsible for the administr ...
to take part in a task force against
hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
on social media. Kahane is a regular columnist for
Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...
and
Frankfurter Rundschau The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (FR) is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. It is published every day but Sunday as a city, two regional and one nationwide issues and offers an online edition (see link below) as well as an e-pa ...
.


Threats

During investigations on the network of the suspected right-wing terrorist and
Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
soldier Franco Albrecht it became known that he may have planned to kill Kahane. According to
Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland The (RND) () is the Hanover-based joint corporate newsroom of German . The biggest limited partner of Madsack is the , which is fully owned by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Madsack has the majority in regional newspapers with ...
(RND), investigators found a list of possible targets in an appointment folder of the soldier, Kahane among them. They also found notes of a planned travel route: Franco Albrecht wanted to drive with his motorcycle from his hometown
Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...
to Berlin. An accomplice should have brought him a shotgun. Albrecht also had photographs of cars belonging to members of the Berlin bureau of the Amadeu Antonio Stiftung and was witnessed practicing with a sniper rifle. Prosecutors interpreted these hints as a plan to kill Anetta Kahane.


Publications

* ''Ich durfte, die anderen mussten.'' In: Vincent von Wroblewsky (ed): ''Zwischen Thora und Trabant: Juden in der DDR.'' Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1993, , p. 124–144 (German) * ''Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst: meine deutschen Geschichten.'' Rowohlt, Berlin 2004, (German)


Awards

* 1991: Theodor-Heuss-Medallie * 2002: Moses-Mendelssohn-Preis of Berlin


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahane, Anetta 1954 births 20th-century German Jews Living people German anti-racism activists German journalists Jewish anti-racism activists Jewish German writers Jewish journalists Jewish socialists People from East Berlin People of the Stasi East German women