Jewish Sopranos in Germany: A study of Jewish-Muslim Cooperation in the Post-Migrant Television Series "The Zweiflers"

In an extremely critical public sphere surrounding Jewish-Muslim relations in Germany, the multi-award-winning miniseries The Zweiflers has uniquely navigated this intense scrutiny, depicting a nuanced subplot of Jewish-Muslim coexistence. Inspired by HBO's The Sopranos, the series centres on the Zweifler family, exploring their complex intergenerational dynamics, transnational diasporic ties, and alleged connections to Frankfurt's underworld. While initially lauded for its portrayal of a modern German-Jewish identity, this article takes a closer look at the significant theme of Jewish-Muslim cooperation in post-war Germany. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Frankfurt's Bahnhofsviertel (train station district), where the series was filmed, The Zweiflers is critically analysed and compared with insights from that long-term fieldwork. This analysis is further contextualized by engaging with the crucial works of diasporic artists and post-migrant filmmakers, alongside scholarship on urban multiculture and anti-essentialist concepts in sociology and cultural studies. The Jewish-Muslim relationships depicted in the series are not merely fictional; they reflect real, historically evolved partnerships characterized by a collective will to overcome contradictions. This nuanced depiction counters static assumptions about community relations often found in the polarized debates surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, offering a vital contribution to understanding contemporary German society.