In a 1945 note on how the origins of anti-Semitism might be explored, George Orwell wrote:
“What invalidates almost everything that is written about anti-Semitism is the assumption in the writer’s mind that he himself is immune from it. ‘Since I know that anti-Semitism is irrational,’ he concludes, ‘it follows that I don’t share it.’ So he fails to begin his inquiry from the place where he might get his hands on reliable clues, in his own head.(…) I would like to see the modern intellectual carefully and honestly inquiring into his soul, without (…) It will be appreciated, therefore, that the starting point for any study of antisemitism should not be ‘why does this apparently irrational belief appeal to other people?’ but rather ‘why does antisemitism appeal to me ?’ (…) Antisemitism should be explored (…) and it would probably be best not to start by debunking antisemitism, but all the justifications one can find for it, in one’s own soul or in one’s In this way one might perhaps gain clues which would lead to its psychological roots. But I do not believe that anti-Semitism will be cured definitively without curing the greater disease of nationalism.”