It may sound like an extremely dubious concept but a new scheme called Rent-a-Jew has been launched in Germany to counter antisemitism. 

The title is deliberately provocative, according to Mascha Schmerling, a spokeswoman for the new initiative.

“We want to give people the chance to talk to the Jewish community,” Ms Schmerling told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle this week. 

The aim is to send ordinary Jewish people into German schools, colleges and universities to discuss their experiences and dispel myths and stereotypes. It comes at a time of rising antisemitic incidents across Europe. 

Ms Schmerling added: “We want them to see that we’re normal people. We don’t want to be defined purely by history and we don’t want to always be seen through this Holocaust lens.”

The programme was launched by the European Janusz Korczak Academy, a Munich-based organisation named after the famous orphanage director who was sent from Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka.

The Rent-a-Jew website says: “For hundreds of years, antisemites have claimed that Jews are less valuable than other people. We are tired of hearing such assignments. And we believe that humour mixed with a bit of chutzpah is the best way to refute old stereotypes and prejudices.”