Thursday, February 21, 2013

Why Europeans Will Never Forgive The Jews For Auschwitz

 In yesterday's piece on the out of control rise in anti-semitic attacks in France, I referenced this essay I wrote back in 2006 on why Jews should seriously think about leaving most of Western Europe. After quoting it briefly and saying that there's very little of it I would change today, almost 7 years later, I finished by saying that a lot of Europeans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz.

That phrase caught the attention of a couple of long time readers who asked what I meant (and in one case, took issue with it).

Here's exactly what I meant, and my explanation may perhaps be of some interest.

Simply stated, Hitler didn't operate in a vacuum. And it wasn't just Germans, as you find when you actually take a little time to study the Holocaust, a unique event in history for a number of reasons although to observe how it's constantly tossed around freely at every conceivable occasion you'd never know it.

Unlike America, Europe was historically and officially anti-semitic. While we certainly had and have Jew hatred here, it was never government sanctioned, it was never de jure, legal. As a matter of fact, George Washington and most of the rest of the Founders were almost philo-semitic. Washington even made the point of sending a remarkable letter to the congregants of the Truro Synagogue in Rhode Island ( first and largest in America) telling them that 'the children of Abraham' would be welcome to live in America in peace as full citizens. He was telling them they need not fear the political change would result in their having to pull up stakes again.

It was different in Europe.

To give you an idea of how remarkable Washington's letter of assurance  was, in 'enlightened' Britain, Jews had only been allowed to live there as recently as 1656, when Oliver Cromwell readmitted them after they had been expelled from England in the 13th Century. Even then, Jews were not allowed to serve in Parliament or in government positions until much later, 1829. They weren't legally allowed to live in Sweden until 1715, Norway until 1850, and not allowed for many years per se in Spain, Portugal, or any of their colonies in Africa or the New World after the expulsion of 1492. In places like the German states, Poland and Russia, their status was marginal and subject to the whims of whomever was in power. So George Washington's letter was a very big deal. It defined the entire relationship between Jews and the American Republic.

A lot of Jew hatred in Europe came courtesy of the Catholic Church and Martin Luther, whose history was somewhat like Mohammed's, believe it or not. In the beginning, Luther said a a great deal about tolerance and used the Church's anti-semitism as a talking point against them, figuring that the Jews would come flocking in to become Lutherans and Protestants. But like Mohammed, when most of the Jews said no thank you, he became one of the most violent anti-semites in history.

When Hitler came to power, Jew hatred was an established mainstream thread in a lot of Europe. There was no secret as to what was going in Germany during the 1930's but frankly, the people who gave a damn were in the minority...and that was by no means limited to Germans and Germany. Few countries would give German Jews visas to emigrate, unless they had influential friends or were someone like Einstein who might be useful.

That included America, by the way. Avowed Jew Haters like Father Coughlin were major public figures, the Ivy League had strict quotas on admitting Jews, and many neighborhoods, clubs and even hotels boasted covenants that barred Jews. The State Department, then as now, had a decent quotient of anti-semites and delayed and avoided issuing visas to Jews fleeing Germany even when they were available...although there were some Americans who risked quite a lot in order to do what they could, just as there were in other countries.

Britain did its bit to expand the death toll of the Holocaust by defying international law and the terms of the Palestine Mandate by closing off Palestine to all Jewish immigration in 1938, when Jews were desperately trying to flee. Needless to say, very few of them were welcome in Britain. Later, in 1944, the British stonewalled a deal Himmler offered to the allies to exchange a million Jews bound for the concentration camps for a few trucks, some soap, and some coffee.

As Hitler gained control of Europe, a number of countries reacted in surprising ways. Some countries (Finland, Denmark, Italy, Bulgaria, the Serbs) tried to save as many Jews as they could. In countries with a high incidence of long standing Jew hatred, there were some incredibly heroic and decent people, but a lot of the locals not only turned their backs while their neighbors were dragged off to the camps, in many cases ( Norway, Austria, France, Poland,the Baltic States, the Ukraine, Romania, Croatia for example) the natives were downright enthusiastic and actually helped round the Jews up and turn them over to the Nazis, even though they had a damned good idea of what was in store for them. In Poland, for example, Cardinal Glemp was actually telling the Poles that it was the Jews fault the Nazis were in Poland and that it was a good thing that the Nazis were getting rid of them.He was never disciplined in the slightest by the Vatican.

I remember an experience related by one woman's who survived the Holocaust as a little child (can you imagine experiencing that as a child?), noted Jewish speaker and author  Rebbetzin Jungries, who was rounded up by the Hungarian Arrow Cross militia with her family to be turned over to the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz. As she and her family were being marched out of their apartment to the truck, she took her favorite doll with her, only to have it snatched away from her by one of her neighbors. When she started crying, this lovely woman told her "Shut up you dirty little Jew. You won't need this where you're going."

My point here is that many Europeans behaved with incredible cowardice and indecency. No matter what they pretended later, they pretty much knew what Hitler had in store for a bunch of innocent men, women and children whose only crime was that they were Jews, and they only thing they cared about was looking out for number one and dividing up any spoils that were left over.

The last Jews who were murdered in Europe as a result of the Holocaust were killed in Kielce, Poland, and by Poles, not Germans. They actually had the nerve to survive the camps and come back to try to reclaim their old homes.

You see, to a lot of Europeans, the Jews were, you know, a problem. A lot of them liked and approved of how the Nazis handled that problem, or at least had no particular concern about it. Afterwards, since the Nazis handled a lot of the dirty work and were able to be conveniently fingered as the sole culprits, many of these same Europeans could pretend they never heard or saw anything.

Europeans have always had a totally unjustified view of themselves as civilized, decent and humane, as opposed to, say, we loutish, brutal Americans. The Holocaust and their own cooperation with it gives the lie to that conceit. For a few years, while the memory was still fresh, there was at least a certain undercurrent of shame. The Holocaust and their enthusiastic cooperation at worst and their tacit acceptance at best made them look in the mirror and have to smell the excrement of their souls instead of being able to keep pretending it was perfume. They hated that, and harbored a deep resentment towards the Jews for for surviving as living witnesses to their worst moments and as a living  admonishment before G-d and man.

Virtually the only country in Europe that has ever attempted to deal with these feelings on a national level was Germany.

Over the years, a lot of that European resentment was conveniently transferred to a more socially acceptable target, the Jewish State, the Zionists. And it continues to remain a not so covert theme in Europe's media and academia, especially as the Holocaust survivors conveniently die off and it's easier to forget what happened, or even to deny that it happened at all.

That (along with the need to appease their growing Muslim populations) is where the 'anti-Zionism', the frequent comparison of Israel with the Nazis, the notions of a ' Palestinian Holocaust', the blood libel cartoons come from. It's why a lot of the Brits and others aren't all that upset at dropping teaching about the Holocaust, especially since they can blame it on Muslim sensibilities. It's their way of subconsciously (or not so subconsciously) saying to the world and to history, "See, look. We aren't so evil. Look at what the Jews are doing! Look at how evil those ZioNazis are! Besides if they were just out of the picture, the Muslims would be satisfied, we'd have peace and quiet and we could forget all about the whole thing anyway."

That's why a lot of Europeans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz.And why it carries over in hatred and resentment towards Israel today, for being so inconsiderate as to continue to insist on surviving.


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

You just opened up my eyes to something I had never before realized: all the equating of Zionism to Nazism and Gaza to Auschwitz is due to European guilt.
They feel less guilty when they accuse the victims of committing the
same crimes as their oppressors.

Chicagobluesgirl said...

Great piece. Thank you. Though it may be explained a thousand times over, I will never understand why so many hate the Jews. I can only put it in Biblical prophecy perspective.

Anonymous said...

Not entirely unrelated to the topic, but I think it bears being mentioned here: Lincolnd Square Synagogue in Manhattan invited Peter Beinart to speak there. Terrible!

Sara Noble said...

Outstanding post. Made me cry. This is worse than cowardice.

Anonymous said...

Excellent !

Alisa said...

It's Rebbetzin Jungreis, not Jungfries and she was sent to Bergen Belsen, not Auschwitz.

Rob said...

Thanks for the correction on the spelling of the Rebbetzin's last name.

Actually, she and the other Jews from Szeged were headed for Auschwitz, like most of Hungarian Jewry. Few if any went to Bergen-Belsen in Germany,which was farther away by rail and lacked Auschwitz's facilities by 1944.

But a relative who was working in Rudolf Kastner's Va'adat Ezrah Vehatzalah office was able to get the entire family off the train in Budapest and they,along with 1,685 other Jews were allowed to flee to Switzerland on the so-called Kastner train in exchange for a direct bribe to Adolf Eichmann.

Anonymous said...

This article is certainly an eye-opener..but after reading the history of the Jewish people and all the cataclysmic milestones in their history...I am not surprised that Europe reacted this way. Most Europeans cannot abide the truth that Israel (the ONLY Jewish State and its people, no matter what) IS THE APPLE OF G-D's EYE...He has repeatedly said it in His Word. Shame on the UK, France and all these European countries who claim fame and progress and teach falsehood!!! The Holocaust was the demon at work against God's People...plain and simple...and by turing the other cheek--all of you nations who did...you were saying "Yes, I agree with what the Nazi's are doing to God's people"..SHAME ON YOU AND MAY GOD CURSE YOU...

Anonymous said...

What is it about the Jews that people hate so much?

Rob said...

Hello Anonymous 3:49PM

I believe I can answer your question,but it will take more room than a simple comment allows.

So watch this site and I'll see what I can come up with.

Regards,
Rob

Anonymous said...

In the European states who struggled to affirm their national identity, citizenship and nationality were perceived as distinct and the attempt to meld them was seen as a violation of human rights. Jews were the symbol of strangers, because they didn’t assimilate , they were always perceived as another nation, so not the hate itself was relevant in Europeans nations, but the desire to preserve the national identity, to prevent the mixture and impurities of other nations.

Rob said...

I see, Anonymous. So it was the Jew's fault, and they just got what was coming to 'em?

If you look at the history, you will see that the Jews actually made substantial efforts to assimilate, especially after Napoleon knocked down the ghetto walls.

That is where the reform and conservative strains strains of Judaism came from. They originated in Germany as an effort by the Jews there to be 'just like other Germans'.

As a matter of fact, the entire Zionist movement was started by one Theodore Herzl, a totally assimilated ( to the degree it was possible) Austrian Jewish journalist. He was covering the Dreyfuss trial in France,observed the mobs yelling 'Death to the Jews'. He realized that th eentire jewish effort at assimilation had been a failure and was always going tobe, and went off and wrote Der Judenstat, advocating the establishment of a Jewish nation.

I also find the idea of 'national identity and the mixture and impurities of other nations' interesting as I'm sure the Angles, Saxons, Celts,Scots, Welsh, Normans, Gauls, Lombards,Swabians,Bavarians, Burgundians, Catalans and other European 'nations' would. Europe's nations apparently had little difficulty with the issue of their being merged into what became Europe's present day countries.

No, it was the Jews who the Europeans locked into ghettos, expelled and plundered when a scapegoat was needed and refused to allow to assimilate.It was the Europeans who drew the line around the Jews and made the decision to hate them.

The reason, of course was the historical anti-Semitism created and inflamed by the Church and later Martin Luther, and by men like Wilhem Marr who created politically based anti-semitism in the 19th century.

The hypocrisy of blaming the Jews is even more apparent when you look at Europe's wholesale importation of Muslims from the third world. Not much fuss about 'racial impurity' among Euro governments when it comes to them, is there? Because there was never a European Holocaust against Muslims.In fact, historically Muslims killed and enslaved far more Europeans thanthe other way around.

It's only Israel and the Jews whom still get the hate,because the Holocaust showed Europe's culture and bigotry for what it was and is.

That's why the Europeans will never forgive the Jews for Auschwitz.

Anonymous said...

I think you're entirely wrong. The Jews bring hatred and discrimination upon themselves because of their exclusivity. They are the "chosen people" and all others barbarians. Further: they need to have their own Jewish state--Israel. Why would Catholics, Christians, Muslims, etc need their own religion-based homeland. They are barbarians, infidels. This is the Jewish type of mentality that invariably creates resentment and hatred.

This is a fact and you need to face it. This attitude creates your problems.

DM

Rob said...

I see, DM.

Perhaps you can explain to us why countries like The Islamic Republic of Iran, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where no other religion but Islam is permitted,Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and a number of other predominantly Muslim states where the laws are based on sharia and Islam is the official state religion aren't 'religious based homelands.'

And that attitude you speak of? You obviously know very little about Israel. It's the headquarters of the B'hai faith, and the only country in the Middle East where the Christian population is actually growing.

What your comment says, more or less explicitly is that those damned Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves. Such a remark is not uncommon in Europe, for the very reasons I state in this article.

Viktor Frankl, a survivor of Auschwitz famously said that there are only two races of men, the decent and the indecent. Your comment plainly tells us which category you belong in.

Anonymous said...

Agree with Victor Frankl. I propose a Holocaust on indecent humans.

ciderman said...

Iran has a healthy population of Jews living there, as does the rest of Europe.
It seems odd that you would paint the US as the only major state that was friendly to the Jewish people when they were very slow to join the fight against Nazism and only did so after their own interests overseas were at risk in the war with Japan.
The behaviour towards religion in Europe is suffering in general as Europe grows increasingly secular and uninterested in the notion that a holy book gives you a right to territory, regardless of which holy book you subscribe to, and they all seem to be paramount to someone, be it Torah, Koran or King James Bible.
So, as a European, I don't feel the urge to feel guilty, or offer forgiveness to any religious grouping, and I think it's pure attention seeking fodder and incendiary to suggest that Europeans do. It also shows a drastic simplification of what Europe is, given the breadth of nations and world views contained within, you might address that.

Rob said...

Ciderman, you get the Devolution Award for today's most uninformed post.

1) Yes, the fascist regime of Iran does have 12,000 or so Jews living there as hostages. They are forbidden to leave the country. And every so often, the Iranians hang a few after secret trials on trumped up charges of espionage. They have even less rights than the average Iranian, although there is one Jewish kapo allowed to sit in the majlis simply for cosmetic purposes.

As for the 'healthy' existence of Europe's Jews, you obviously live in a different reality. Jew hatred is rife in most of western Europe. A staggering proportion of Jews are leaving countries like France, Belgium, Sweden and Britain because they simply don't feel safe there anymore. Anti-Semitic incidents are skyrocketing.In Ireland, a plaque commemorating Dublin's former mayor Chaim Hertzog has been removed because of the danger of vandalism. Even former chief Rabbi of the UK Jonathan Sacks, on of the more establishment rabbis has finally admitted he no longer feels comfortable as a Jew in Britain. Most Jews forbear wearing yarmulkes, Stars of David or anything else identifying them on the streets because it is open season. The Dutch and Danish governments actually issued statements advising Jews to do this for their own safety.

The only country with a major Jewish population that has actually faced up to the Holocaust honestly and has made a real commitment (as opposed to platitudes) to fighting Jew hatred is Germany.

2. Unlike Europe, America never had legal, government backed Jew hatred.In fact, George Washington wrote a famous letter to the Jewish community specifically assuring them that they were welcome in the new America as valued citizens.Considering that Jews weren't even allowed to live in Norway or Sweden until the 1800's, aside from the odd doctor as needed.

True, the US didn't formally enter WWII until 1941. But long before that, they kept the UK alive and fighting against Hitler with Lend-Lease, loans, and sales of arms,munitions, food and raw materials they weren't sending to Hitler..and that includes the Soviets after June 1940. The American Navy and Merchant Marine were also waging a de facto war in the North Atlantic against Hitler's U-Boats long before Pearl Harbor. So you're wrong there too.

3. You're right that secularism is on the rise in many parts of Europe - CHRISTIAN Europe, that is. Most of the 40 million or so Muslims the EU invited to its shores have a different view of the matter.And they're not just targeting Jews. Take a look at the 'no go' areas in British and French cities or the rape statistics in Oslo.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for an intelligent, insightful article.
Please proofread the article; typos detract and distract from the important message it contains.

OM said...

Now Europe has ironically imported millions of Muslims whose religious laws do actually command them to hate and kill Jews- and Christians. (Note: Lebanon was once a Christian majority country and a democracy). Today most of European Jew-hatred is expressed in the demonization of Israel, the spreading of Palestinian lies and propaganda about the history of the area, etc.

Important to remember that even the United States did nothing to help the Jews and actually turned around a ship of refugees seeking safety back into the hands of their genocidal murderers. And the Jewish -owned NY Times (which today is one of the most antisemitic major newspapers) buried information about the holocaust on the back pages so as not to appear "too Jewish". How many millions would have been saved had they put it on the front page -in all its horror?

I tried to find out the cause of antisemitism and discovered there is no one cause. Every evil totalitarian ideology has antisemitism at its center-or at least as a prominent feature.From Naziism to Communism to Islamism to Fscism to Progressiveism (BLM for example and all the embracers of the BDS movement -including current Democrat congresspeople.

What I learned was that wherever there is EVIL, you will find antisemitism. So if one is confused about who the good guys are vs. the bad guys, look to see which group embraces antisemitism,, which political party, etc. British historian Paul Johnson calls it a "mental disease". because it's so irrational. Whatever Jews do they are hated. Hated as communists, hated as capitalists, hated for being stateless people living "parasitically" in other countries. Now Hated for having their own country!. It's God' litmus test for evil.