The role of rumors in the emergence and diffusion of pogroms

In studies on single pogroms, but especially in analyses of waves of pogroms, the central role of rumor communication in the run-up to, but also in the spread of pogroms has been emphasized time and again. In the following, the functions and types of rumor communication will be examined in more detail in order to understand their role in the emergence and spread of nonorganized collective violence. Rumors in the run-up to pogroms influence the actions of all actors involved in pogroms, but the pogromists, the bystanders, the target group and the authorities react to them quite differently. Rumors can have both a motivating function for the perpetrators that triggers and promotes violence and an early warning function for the target group and the authorities to prevents violence.