In March 1933, Adolf Hitler took power in Germany after a rigged election where his thugs had burned down the German parliament building and had blamed the main opposition, the Communists, in order to gain more votes. He instituted a dictatorship in Germany and tried to bring his country out of the economic depression that the collapsed stock market in New York in 1929 had led to.
Dictatorships occur from time to time in the history of all peoples — had Hitler been primarily interested in using a dictatorship to bring Germany out of an economic depression, I suppose he would be a national hero today. He succeeded in bringing his adopted homeland to a certain level of prosperity, as well as restoring Germans' pride in being Germans.
But, this was not Hitler's only goal. He had a vision for the world, one where Germans, styled Aryans, would rule the planet and all other peoples would be subject to their rule. And in his vision, certain people were to die. Gypsies, now called Roma, were regarded as a criminal class to be executed. Homosexuals were regarded as deviants to be executed. People who in one way or another did not come up to snuff were to be executed. But the most important group of people who had to die were Jews. In the eyes of the racist Nazi philosophy and religion, Jews were a race who stood against all that was good, and had to be exterminated, the way one exterminates cockroaches. Hitler was very clear about all this. His book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) detailed what he felt had to be done.
He proceeded to have laws passed that progressively impoverished the relatively prosperous German Jewish population. At first Jews thought they could ride it out in Germany, that this was just another of the many many Jew-hating Germans to rule Germany — that this too would pass. But by 1935, they realized the problem was not going away, and this man and his party were intent on destroying their community. They began to flee Germany, seeking desperately first to preserve their money, and then when they realized the mortal threat, their lives. Neighboring European nations began to see more and more German Jewish refugees and decided, at a conference at Evian, France, that the doors to these refugees would largely be closed.
At last, German Jews, desperate for a place to run to, began to run to Mandate Palestine; a few short years previous they never would have considered deserting the civilized Berlin for Mandate Palestine. But now they were happy to get out. Thousands of Jews settled in Tel Aviv and Haifa, giving a distinct flavor to the buildings they had erected.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Dave Nalle
So Ruvy, your argument is that as the allied armies were advancing towards Germany to eventually free the Jews in the camps, it would have been better to bomb the camps and kill those hundreds of thousands of Jews immediately, rather than roll the dice and hope some were still alive when allied forces came to liberate them?
Ok...
Dave
2 - Jet
Dave, you're talking like we had laser quided bombs back then.
3 - James
Hitler DID bring Germany out of the depression as promised, a full FOUR YEARS before the zionist controlled governments of Britain and the U.S.!!! It is TRUTH beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Hitler was fighting AGAINST this new world order monster that WE are faced with today!!! Our governments are now INFESTED with trotskyites and marxists who are inches away from worldwide communist tyranny VICTORY!!! No more FREEDOM! No more PRIVATE PROPERTY! No more Human RIGHTS!!! COMPLETE CONTROL of your every move is what they have in store for you! ENJOY!!!
4 - Jordan Richardson
Apparently RANDOM caps lock is ALSO what they have in STORE for YOU!
5 - Jet
Now what did I do with that pink triangle?
6 - Ruvy
James (at comment #4),
Custard heads like you are part of the reason that Jews like me cannot afford to forgive or forget the murderous excesses of the allegedly civilized Germans, and the callous disregard for humanity displayed by their enemies at the time, the Americans and the British.
It is not for me to say now, 66 years after the fact, that the fire-bombings of German cities by the Americans were wrong. They were fighting a war for survival against an enemy determined to subdue, if not destroy them. But that the Americans and British both refused to bomb the railway tracks leading to the concentration camps, the outskirts of these death camps so as to make them inoperable and enable the escape of the the more voluble of the prisoners held there was and remains UNFORGIVABLE.
Everyone in the vicinity of the ovens used to burn Jews alive knew of their existence - the periodic falling of human ashes all over Eastern Europe testified loudly as to what was going on. Once the Americans were cracking "Fortress Europa" after D-Day, they could have done something about this evil they knew the Nazis were perpetrating. That they refused to, and that they refuse to work for a secure Jewish state today, even after knowing all this, and even after knowing all that the Jewish people have gone through - is UNFORGIVABLE. That the British shut the doors of the most available and best refuge of the Jewish people is also UNFORGIVABLE.
In effect, the Americans and the British were holding the Nazis coats for them while they committed the evils they did.
May G-d judge them all and pour out His wrath upon them for their committing murder, and for their standing by with folded arms while murder was being committed!
Had Hitler merely sought to bring Germany out of economic depression, he would have been a national hero. Indeed he would have been a model for the incompetents in the rest of the world. But Hitler's primary goal, as witnessed by the desperate efforts to murder off Jews no matter how bad the military situation, made him the symbol of satanic evil throughout the world. That Arabs (and you) admire this symbol of satanic evil speaks more of them and you than you realize.
7 - Christopher Rose
I don't know a whole lot of Arabs (or Jews for that matter) but in my whole life I've never met a single one who even mentioned Hitler, let alone expressed any admiration. I guess there may be some that do but, like yours, their views are in the eccentric minority.
Hey, Ruvy, instead of dwelling on the past so pointlessly as you do, what non death or destruction related ideas do you have for a better future? Hopefully something a bit more coherent and constructive than hanging on in there 'til your god returns in twenty years?
8 - Ruvy
Chris,
MY next two articles for the politics section will be on topics that unfortunately deal with death and war. But that does not mean that there is not a brighter side to the world, nor a better one.
If you'd like to peruse and perhaps report yourself, here or elsewhere, Israel remains a leading power both in technology and medicine. This site, Eye 2 Israel, will give you a broad overview of the contributions our scientists and technologists have made in bettering the world.
9 - Christopher Rose
And will there be anything new in those articles or just more of the same you usually come up with?
I am already well aware of the significant scale of scientific and technological contributions being made in Israel, Ruvy. It is a trend to be found in the majority of countries, even the most faithist, because our future and our survival depends on it.
10 - Ruvy
bitter rants about events in the past (have you forgiven the Romans yet?) that nobody can ever change....
lo nishkáH v'lo nisláH "We will not forget and we will not forgive"
This phrase is used in modern Israel to refer to Gush Qatif and the unnecessary and illegal expulsion of Jewish residents from Jewish Gaza in 2005, and the destruction of their lives by the Israeli "government". It applies, however, to all of our enemies in the past, save those who have honestly attempted to make restitution or reparations to us - in other words, nobody.
Now let's look at the example you gave above, the Roman savages, and consider a point or two. Usually, if someone is to be forgiven for an evil act, he is forgiven because he has rendered an apology of some kind or another. The Romans, and their immediate Christian and Byzantine successors, pursued an unsystematic program of genocide against the Judeans over a period of 600 years, a genocide which forced most of them (who survived, that is) to leave for other parts of the world. One Judean that you may be familiar with was a German Jew named Rosenberg. But for the Roman/Christian genocide against Judeans, he never would have been in Germany. One of my grandparents also came from Germany, also named Rosenberg. And but for the Roman/Christian genocide against Judeans, he never would have been in Germany either.
Now, no more Romans are running around spouting lines from Ovid or praising the heroism of the Scipios. So the closest we can get to them are the Byzantine Christians, who have evolved into the Orthodox Christians of Eastern Europe - and the Vatican. The pope's basic title is "Bishop of Rome". For a short time, the bishops of Rome were like the Roman emperors themselves.
So, if we seek to look for an apology from the Romans, it must come from the mouth of the Vatican or the mouths of the metropolitans of the assorted Orthodox churches. Has such an apology ever come from the Vatican or the metropolitans of the Orthodox churches for the genocide by the Romans and their successors the Byzantines and Christians?
Chris, if you can find such an apology, please let me know! I now of no such apology, no such expression of regret, remorse, or any indication by these individuals or institutions of the terrible harm they have done to MY people. So, where does forgiveness arise? Why should they be forgiven? On whose say-so? Yours? The Christians who think that "I believe in Jesus" is all they need to do and all the shit that they and their ancestors have done is wiped away clean?
It's not an issue of holding onto hate, it is a matter of demanding justice. Similarly, American Indians can demand justice of those who managed to exterminate them - the whites; black Americans can demand reparations of those who enslaved them - fellow blacks in Africa, Arabs and whites; Arabs who have been dispossessed by their own leaders false promises in 1948.... The list goes on and on through history, not merely with my own people demanding justice, but also with wrongs committed by one people against another weighed and measured in a Cosmic Scale of Justice stretching back through Time. And it goes all the way back through Time. That is the real meaning "nothing is lost in the sight of G-d".
That is another angle of Redemption and Divine Judgment, one that is barely mentioned even by our own sages, who, too often concern themselves only with Jews. Whether you believe this or not, agree or not, think it is rational or not is of no interest to me. For me to attempt to convince you of any of this would be idiotic, so it's not even worth trying. But, it's there, and at the appropriate time, Justice will be served.
11 - Jordan Richardson
Ruvy,
Knowing, then, that justice will be served, I guess I just have one small question:
Why so angry?
12 - Ruvy
Why so angry
Jordan, if someone cuts your arm off, knowing that his leg will be cut off in punishment does not make the pain of the arm cut off any less. Even though vengeance is best served cold, it usually does not satisfy.
But the pain from the damage done does not decrease, except over time. And in an unredeemed world, one cannot afford to forget or to forgive. The Nazi genocide of my people is just one of several we have been subjected to over time, a fact that too many Jews conveniently forget.
In a Redeemed world, we will all see Justice served - and it will not be a pleasant experience at all - for any of us.
13 - Jordan Richardson
I'd argue that many Jews choose to "forget" the tragedies of their ancestors because they prefer to honour their memories in a different way than you choose. Instead of moping through life shaking ones fist, figuratively or literally, at everything that appears to not side with them directly, they choose happiness, joy, passion, and the like. There's no fault in that.
You choose a life of anger, vengeance, and so forth, all the while acknowledging that it is God who will have that which you seek. At best, all of your vengeance seems wasted. At worst, your entire life seems as such. At least that's how you come across with virtually every single word you say.
Quite frankly, I feel sorry for you.
14 - Jordan Richardson
By the way, the analogy of one's arm being cut off doesn't really fly. Physical pain via direction action doesn't really compare to your lifestyle of vengeance by proxy.
15 - Ruvy
Jordan,
Judaism is known as dat zékher - a religion of remembrance. Remembering (at least for us) is painful. Choosing pain is counter-intuitive. One of the issues of Redemption is to bring an end to the dat zékher, and all the pain it entails, and to inaugurate a dat ma'aséh, a religion of doing.
So, there will be a lot less pain in a world of far greater happiness.
As for me, I do not "shake my fist" at the world in any sense of the word. This is a useless gesture. Vengeance, as I pointed out, usually does not satisfy.
But it falls to me to remember and to remind others to remember - not because I want to suffer pain, but because remembering also reminds one of the essential lessons of history, which when forgotten, bring disaster upon he who forgets.
Sometimes these lessons are brutal lessons. Most folks do not have trouble with the easy lessons - it's the brutal lessons that make remembering so hard and so unpleasant. And sometimes the brutal lessons need to be applied to one's enemies.
People who do not have the guts to apply firmness in dealing with enemies usually find that as time goes on, the solutions to righting the wrongs get more and more difficult, and more and more painful to apply - and these gutless wonders shy away even more from their application. So the situation gets worse and worse until radical solutions must be employed. That is what has happened in the last 42 years or so with respect to Israel. Fearing to apply firmness in the very beginning of liberating our land from foreign control (1967) has led to a deteriorating situation that gets worse and worse monthly.
The issue has never been seeking peace it has always been securing victory. The Israeli government has wasted its efforts seeking peace from those who wish to butcher us (cows asking butchers not to slaughter them?) - when we should have made clear that if the defeated Arab enemy did not come to the table on their knees begging for peace - they would be slaughtered. That is the way of the world, and our failure to realize this and apply the brutal lessons of history is costing us terribly today.
And now, I must leave you for the Sabbath. Catch you on the other side of the weekend.
Shabbat Shalom
Ruvy
16 - Joanne Huspek
Thanks Ruvy.
I don't see your stand as being out of the ordinary, after all, you've got the background that calls for a certain amount of caution.
The one thing that impresses me about the Middle East (all sides, Christian, Jews and Muslims) is the fervor of the feeling to the point where the loss of life furthers the cause.
That's why in the case of terrorists, there's no talking to them to try to change their position.
17 - Robert M. Barga
you know Ruvy, you make me sad to be a jew. You sit here, bitch about things that are far in the past, and then have the nerve to continue bitching when OUR PEOPLE are violating other's right. Israel has no right to a secure state if she herself can not keep it, just like the Arabs, the Christians, the Pegans, etc. don't
18 - roger nowosielski
Well expressed, Ruvy, at least in terms of explaining your position. I'd still have to say it's a static view of the world. I'm not saying now that the progress we've made - especially in terms of human nature - has been spectacular. But there is also no question that some of the prejudices of old and other abhorrent practices - and no, I need not name them - are well past us as we are moving forward, however slowly. Life and consciousness are expanding; what was beyond tolerance in the old days is now commonplace and hardly raises an eyebrow. But your view doesn't admit any of that. There's always the enemy and there's no changing it.
I don't know whether this thinking is rooted in your personal views or in your theology; it it's the latter, I would question the theology. I know of course that you cannot allow yourself to do that, and so, IMO, you are stuck in that the world hasn't changed for you since the Jews were enslaved by the Pharaoh. And the only redemption will come about with the age of the Messiah, who will then set you free once and for all.
Again, I think I understand where you're coming from, but it is a "closed-world" view - however much you believe it is grounded in your theology.
All told, not a very happy tale, I'd say, whereby the whole history of suffering, enslavement, and looking for and finding the Promised Land, ever-present warfare, can only find its final resolution is some cataclysmic and apocalyptic event, in the Final Redemption.
See, I too happen to believe we'll never achieve a perfect world, but your theology seems to commit you to a mentality of victimhood and endless suffering. That's no life for me.
19 - STM
Ruvy, one small point. It was the British who firebombed German cities into piles of rubble with massive armadas of night bombers, not Americans, who preferred to go instead for the Nazi war industries. But between them, day and night for three years, they did a pretty good job of levelling the place.
The British felt far less bad about killing German civilians, possibly because the Germans had done it to them first.
To that end, the Nazis sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind.
Of course, I'll just add here that the British and Americans and their allies were fighting against Nazi tyranny and at the time did what they felt they had to do, which was to destroy Germany completely. But while they were smashing German cities, did you expect them to slaughter the occupants of the camps too? To waht end?
Were the Nazis not tyrants - with everything that went with it - it's unlikely that these two great democracies would ever have gone to war in the first place. The people of Britain and America were quite happy living peaceful. At the time, they weren't in the business of persecuting jews, either - despite what you say.
Yes, they were - reluctantly but determinedly - fighting Nazi tyranny. Just in case that small point eludes you.
Also, you do realise that a white paper is an idea, rather than a piece of legislation? You know as well as I do that the stream of migration to Palestine couldn't become a flood. It would have been great for the British slogging it out in North Africa with the Germans to also have to deal with an uprising of Arabs like a dagger behind their backs in Palestine. The strategic risk, especially in terms of having enough oil from the mid-east to fight the Nazis, would have been too great. Desperate times demand desperate measures.
The other side of the coin is the British were the first to raise and train a full brigade of Jewish troops, from Palestine, who were made part of the British amy and sent into action in Italy.
So they were actually the first to arm and raise a serious, well-trained Jewish army, if you like, to fight against Nazisim.
Another small point. You forgot to mention the large numbers of jewish refugees who escaped to England just prior to the war.
And the kinder transports ... the rescue by the British and the transport to England of as many Jewish children as they could get out of occupied Europe prior to the start of the war proper.
Also ... another small point. You know as well as I do that prior to the Nazi onslaught, not that many jews wanted to leave their homes, uproot their whole lives and head off to an uncertain future in Palestine.
You know, it's the omission of so many small points that always undoes your arguments.
I'd be blaming the Nazis lock, stock and barrel. Without them, none of these issues would have arisen in the first place.
Just thought I'd add a bit of balance there Ruve, 'cause it sure as hell won't come won't from you.
Of course, why should I be surprised. I've heard it all before.
And to the fool who made the stupid comments about Hitler being right, if you had half a brain you'd be dangerous so at least we can be thankful in some small way. But give yourself an uppercut anyway, along with Ruvy. A really good one.
20 - Dr Dreadful
Stan has it about right with regard to the (non-existent) Allied persecution of Jews. Anti-semitism was not much of a factor, if at all, in war policy decisions. It would have been a bit like being savaged by a bear and worrying about his breath.
As in any war, a government's primary responsibility is to defend its own people - which in the case of Britain and America included their own not insignificant Jewish populations. Protecting others outside your borders, while an ideal, is not always possible or expedient. Any military decision is going to hurt someone.
To add a little vignette, my grandparents actually took in three Jewish kids from Tottenham as evacuees during the war. They later emigrated to the US and my aunt is still in touch with them.
21 - roger nowosielski
Very good points, STM; knowledge of history coming in handy. I don't know much about anti-semitisim in America, but to tell the truth - I haven't heard much at all, if anything, coming out of Britain.
A side point, perhaps: Ruvy's militant stance does help to evoke such responses and bring out the nuts.
22 - Baronius
Most of the death camps were in Eastern Europe, specifically Poland, because that's where most of the Jews were. There were a couple of camps to the west of Germany. Most of the German camps were located in what became East Germany. Dachau was the only sizable camp which was liberated by the Americans, I believe, and Bergen-Belsen the only one by the Brits. The rest were on the Eastern front.
History has shown that leaving the liberation of Eastern Europe to Russia only brought about more decades of oppression. It was a bad idea. We shouldn't have waited to enter Berlin at the same time as the Soviets. Frankly, if we had the resources, Patton's idea of sweeping across Europe through the Russians had merit.
My point is, the US, French, and British military weren't operating to the east of Berlin. Their bombers were focusing on the industrial areas of Cologne and the Ruhr Valley. Whatever happened on the other side of the continent was Russia's to stop. Russia took their time, though, especially in Poland, where they gave the Nazis a few extra weeks to finish off Warsaw. Russia had few planes and no interest in saving the Jews.
If you're going to allocate blame for an evil act, the most goes to those who performed it. Some blame falls on those who were most able to stop it, but didn't. Last are those who were least able to stop it. The Brits and Yanks didn't have to spank Dresden the way they did, and they could have used the last weeks of the European Theater more effectively, but that's the extent of their blame.
23 - Dr Dreadful
I don't know much about anti-semitisim in America, but to tell the truth - I haven't heard much at all, if anything, coming out of Britain.
To put it cynically, Roger, it's loooong out of fashion. World War 2 made it decidedly 'not cool' to rip on the Jews. Or to be more charitable, the Holocaust brought it firmly home to the popular psyche as to what a horrible thing it was.
It's very rare nowadays to meet anyone who's actively anti-Semitic. I can't recall coming across such a person in at least 20 years.
I haven't heard much at all, if anything, coming out of Britain.
The only place I ever hear it in Britain is at a football stadium when Tottenham Hotspur are playing. The Tottenham area of north London has a large Jewish community (the team's owners are also Jewish) and certain moronic 'fans' of the other team will use that as a way to insult their opponents. Even so, it's not dyed-in-the-wool anti-Semitism, it's just stupidity.
Ruvy's militant stance does help to evoke such responses and bring out the nuts.
Know thy enemy.
24 - The Obnoxious American
It's very rare nowadays to meet anyone who's actively anti-Semitic. I can't recall coming across such a person in at least 20 years.
You're kidding right doc?
Let me ask the question a different way - how many people have you met recently that are actively racist against anyone? Right, they don't usually share that information freely.
I know, us jews are all rich and smart and weild lots and lots of power. I heard all about that when I was growing up in Queens, electricity turned off because we didn't have cash to pay the bill. Fact is, even with the millions of dollars us jews are all are born with, and the guarunteed jobs in high places of every government, media institution and lawyers office, even with all of that, we still face prejudice. I get it on a near daily basis, by accident mostly, because I think people don't even realize that I am jewish.
25 - The Obnoxious American
Just in case a 2002 link isn't good enough for some here, here is something from Feb of this year on CNN:
Anti-Semitic attacks rising, UK watchdog reports
"Watchdog says January saw highest ever number of anti-Semitic attacks in UK"
"Police: More Jewish attack victims than Muslims despite bigger Muslim population"
Oh, I know, those who choose not to see anti semitism will say how I'm all wrong (as well as my cited references) and once again suggest that it is the fault of attitudes held by the likes of Ruvy and myself that are at fault for the rise of anti semitism, or as one person here said, "bringing out the nuts." I don't blame the victim for rape or other forms of prejudice, would be nice if others had the same respect for Judaism.