Jewish Genocide and Uniqueness

Jewish Genocide: Uniqueness

• The Holocaust represents the darkest aspect of the modern nation-state, with Germany, a country renowned for its advanced education system, utilizing industrialized killing.
• Modern technology was exploited for horrific purposes, showcasing the state's capacity to orchestrate genocide in an organized, scientifically planned manner.
• A wide range of professionals, including list makers, train workers, engineers, chemists, doctors, phone operators, and office workers, were actively involved in the genocide.
• The intent of the perpetrators was the total destruction of all Jewish people, even those residing in other countries.
• Previous instances of genocide aimed to create homogenous states within defined borders, whereas the German belief centered on a global Jewish conspiracy for domination, marking all Jews as targets for death.

Christian Anti-Judaism

• Studying 2000 years of history is essential due to the highly ideological nature of the Jewish genocide.
• The concept of "The Jew" was used to depersonalize and dehumanize an entire group, reducing them to mythical figures of evil.
• Understanding the origins of these "fantasies" about Jewish conspiracies is crucial to understanding the basis of the Holocaust.
• Jews were blamed for various world events, including Bolshevism, Communism, Capitalism, and Germany's defeat in World War I.
• Christian Anti-Judaism involves total or partial opposition to Judaism and its adherents by those accepting competing belief systems.
• It assumes that Jewish people actively choose to believe in an inferior belief system.
• Modern German anti-Semitism posits that the inferiority and evil of Jewish people are inherent in their race/blood, not just their choice of belief system, denying a common humanity.

Christianity & Judaism: Tension and Rivalry

• Tension and rivalry between Christianity and Judaism began with fundamental terms like "Old" vs. "New" Testaments.
• "Testament" signifies "Covenant," while Jewish people use the term "TANACH," which does not translate to "Old."
• Christianity defines its Bible as 'New,' implying that Christianity has improved upon Judaism and is its successor and fulfillment.
• This suggests that Judaism is inherently flawed.

Conflicting Theological Views on Christian Anti-Judaism

• Rosemary Ruether's thesis stresses a direct connection between Christian Anti-Judaism and racial anti-Semitism.
• Early Christianity delegitimized Jewish rejection of the Messiah, perceiving it as a threat.
• To explain this rejection, Jews were divided into "Good" and "Bad" groups.
  • "Good" Jews were considered pre-Christian and were expected to accept Christ upon his return.
  • "Bad" Jews were seen as inherently blind and evil, destined never to accept Christ, and were accused of murdering him, with the crucifixion as the climax of their evil.
• Support for hatred of Jews was found in the Bible, specifically in the Gospel of Matthew, with the phrase "the blood on us and our children."
• Early Christian leaders favored Romans and blamed the crucifixion on Jews, a passage read twice a year in churches.
• Edward Flannery agreed that early Christianity superseded Judaism but emphasized that Jews were once the chosen people.
• God still loves them and gave them an important role in the 2nd coming
• Flannery's Thesis indicated it was a common belief in Christians that Jews must be preserved.
• Jews were not seen as evil, but still as blind.
• Medieval Europe's policies showed that while Christians may not have liked Jews, they believed in this "Preservationist View."
• Jews faced discrimination and oppression but not outright murder, differing significantly from German anti-Semitism.
• Christian Anti-Judaism did not directly cause gas chambers and the Nazi culture of persecution and mass murder.

Jewish Life in Christian Europe: High Middle Ages (1000-1400 AD)

• During the Second Crusade in 1111 AD, St. Bernard intervened to prevent the targeting of Jews for death, advocating for their preservation.
• The first blood libel occurred with William of Norwich:
  • During Eastertide of 1144, 12-year-old William was murdered near Norwich.
  • A monk, Thomas of Monmouth falsely claimed that Jews had ritually murdered him.
  • He asserted they crucified him like Jesus, ignoring that crucifixion was a Roman practice.
  • The story gained traction, leading to William being acclaimed as St. William, a martyr.
• The growing anger toward Jews during the Crusades turned the murder into a new chapter in anti-Semitism.

Concluding Thoughts on Christian Anti-Judaism

• Folk tales, blood libels, woodcuts, cartoons, rumors, and myths created a caricatured "Jewish Folk Culture."
• The portrayal of the Jew as a superhuman evil force became part of European culture and "civilization," crystallized in the High Middle Ages.
• Nazi views of Jews drew from this image of the Jew from the past 2000 years.
• Christian teachings/institutions fostered an environment where genocide could be conceived.
• Hatred of Jewish people developed over centuries due to Jews living in a Christian world.
• Christian Anti-Judaism is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition of the Holocaust.

German Anti-Semitism

• The term "Semite/Semitic" was initially used to denote geographic regions/language groups until 1879, referring to speakers of Hebrew and Arabic.
• Later, it was used to designate a "Race" of Jewish people.
• German Anti-Semitism signifies hostility, prejudice, or discrimination against Jewish people.
• The term "antisemite" gained popularity in Germany in 1879, becoming a scientific-sounding term for "Jew-hatred."

History of German Anti-Semitism

• Prussia, Germany’s largest state with the most Jews, was an absolute monarchy.
  • Jewish Legal Status was that of a “Resident Alien” and not a regular subject of Crown
  • Occupational, Residential, Marriage CONTROLLED by Crown.
• Jewish Civil Law, led by Rabbis, governed Jewish communities.
• Jews dressed alike, had their own language, and lived in self-segregated communities within a segregated society.
• Many Jews were poor and involved in irregular trades like textiles, members of a despised religion.
• This system functioned in the 18th century due to relative stability and peace.
• In 1871, Jewish people in Germany achieved full legal emancipation, with Germany becoming a Constitutional Monarchy and removing restrictions.
• Emancipation resulted from political/legal principles, not affection for the Jewish community.
• A new political principle established equal citizenship so all people can freely develop potential wealth/success benefitting ALL of society.
• However, sudden legal equality for former outcasts led to a backlash against the new norm.
• Centuries of anti-Judaism complicated the acceptance of Jews as true equals.
• Caricatures parodied Jewish emancipation, suggesting Jews would exploit their liberties to profit at the expense of Christians.
• Jewish wealth and power expanded exponentially

Evolution of German Anti-Semitism

Christian Anti-Semitism

• Adolf Stoecker, a Protestant Minister, considered Jews "tolerable strangers."
• He thought the Political & Social Rise of Jews was ‘spiritually blasphemous’.
• Jews were expected to be a Punished People
• Punishment/Oppression was thought to lead to their CONVERSION
• Stoecker was worried about the ‘weakening’ Christian & German Spirit
• Stoecker's GOAL was Conversion of Jews à NOT Expulsion

Nationalist Anti-Semitism

• Henrich von Treitschke, a University of Berlin professor, deemed Anti-Semitism a necessary aspect of German Nationalism.
• German Nationalism had Nativist & Ethnical Basis.
• Germany was considered a ‘Community of Common Ancestry & Blood’ and People NOT part of this community are NOT ’Real Germans’.
• Jews were considered alien to the ‘German National Character’ because of their different history, ancestry, community, traditions
• The GOAL here was Germanizationà More intermarriage, resulting in Jews eventually disappear and melt into German culture.

Post WW1 – Turn to Extremism

• Germany's defeat in WW1 created a lack of political unity and stability alongside the collapse of Parliamentary Democracy / Monarchy.
• Extremism on the LEFT (Communism); Extremism on RIGHT (Fascism) with Society being Polarized by 1933 à Nazi Takeover occurred there after
• Versailles Treaty insulting Treaty was essentially abandoned by international powers around 1933.
• Hitler appealed to peoples emotions/prejudices, lied & Exaggerated the ‘humiliation’.
• The Great Depression, an Economic catastrophe, led to people making the choice for revenge listening to demagogue instead of reason.
• To overcome all this: Belief that Germany needed to be tightly’unified’ by strong leader & ethnic German blood à At the heart of this new Nationalism is Anti-Semitism

Extreme Racial Anti-Semitism Arrives

• CHIMERICAL ASSERTIONS were asserted which were Claims of fact that are utter fantasies/fiction not based on a grain of truth
• Same tactics of Christian Anti-Judaism clearly return à Devolve into even further Hatred while 'Science’is Introduced to ’PROVE’ this hatred TRUE and NECESSARY.
• RACIAL Manicheanism: was Introduced of pseudo science & Scholarship into Anti-Semitism with GERMAN ANTI-SEMITISM becoming an inevitable result of RACIAL SCIENCE.
• Scholars/Academics/Social Scientists engaged in the Creation of a new type of ‘Religion’.
  • This included 2 Gods – Evil & Good with Absolute Good seen as Germany/Germans, while Absolute Evil was associated with the Jews.
• The STRUGGLE AGAINST WORLD JEWRY BECAME A STRUGGLE AGAINST ABSOLUTE EVIL because the MERE PHYSICAL EXISTENCE OF THIS EVIL (ENEMY RACE) IS INTOLERABLE & THREATENING
• For ‘GOOD’ TO WIN, EVIL MUST BE DESTROYED sinceTHIS Belief is NECESSARY for GENOCIDE to occur.
  • THE HOLOCAUST (3) transitions From PARTIAL to TOTAL GENOCIDE

When was the Genocide Decided?

Intentionalist View

• Focus completely on Hitler
• It was his idea (or intention) all along to preserve the Aryan race by exterminating the Jewish people.
• Hitler had his extermination plan from 1920 or earlier
• Beliefs from this came from corrupting childhood which let to the creation of "blue-print like plan" for a genocide
• Others blame it on his central role and strong dictator skills
• He controlled everyone underneath him and knew about everything that was happening amongst the Nazi Party
• Inevitable that his actions were to blame.
• Most intentionalists claim that his plan was written out in his autobiography, "Mein Kampf" or "My Struggle”
  • "The final goal, however, must steadfastly remain the removal of the Jews altogether".
  • "This struggle will not with annihilation of Aryan mankind, extermination of the Jewish people of Europe”
• The word "extermination" is key proof that he intended genocide.

Functionalist View

• It was not Hitler's obsession that caused the Holocaust and the Final Solution.
• A number of various reasons inside and outside of Germany led to Final Solution, including:
  • Too many failed attempts at emigration
  • Middle ranking German officials putting the idea in Hitler’s head
  • Bureaucratic or economic motives and wartime pressure.
• Holocaust didn't start until around 1941. After failing to deport the Jews, the Nazi party was forced into the decision to kill them after forcing them into Ghettos
• They felt that that was no place to put them, so they had no other option but to kill them.
• In 1940 they came up with the “Poland Reservation” & "Madagascar Plan” which was the Idea to deport the entire Jewish Population to Madagascar / Reserves in Poland
• When those ideas were abandoned Functionalists argue territorial solution turned to the "Jewish Question" Eventually being forced turn into "Final Solution" in 1941.
• “The Final Solution” directly meant extermination.

The Jewish Holocaust

• Mass murder began with OPERATION BARBOROSSA in 1941.
• The Killing of civilians / Jews on a massive scale can be traced to this Operation which was the Invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II.
  • It was Driven by an ideological driven desire to conquer the Western Soviet Union
  • This was to ensure the Use Slav labor for the war effort alongside acquiring Seize the oil resources and the grain supply in the Ukraine
• “LEBENSRAUM” – Living Space was aimed to execute a demographic revolution
• This was to bring German settlers, use Soviets and Poles as subjugated labor force and destroy Jewish Bolshevism (Communism)
• Soviet Union was symbol of Jewish thrust for world power by occupying various/scattered foreign governments

LOGIC:

• Jews love Communism/Socialism because to preaches that any OUTSIDER can become an INSIDER.
• It teaches ‘Internationalism’ to all socialists from any country / place are the SAME TOGETHER.
• It Rejects the very notion of RACE.
• The Invasion of Western Europe is a show of German POWER & STRENGTH, however the NEED to invade Western Europe was in order to accomplish something greater being INVASION OF THE EAST
• It was the true German ‘Frontier' and was to decimate Slavic populations. Assure control / access of Natural Resources to fuel entire German Empire DESTROY THE ROOT OF POTENTIAL JEWISH THREAT/POWER by ending Spread of Jewish Bolshevism.

Methods of Mass Murder

EINZATZGRUPPEN – MOBILE KILLING SQUADS

• These were Spread throughout Soviet Union that Followed behind the German Army. Men were Rounded up as well as Jewish Women & Children who were then followed up by SHOOTING
• 1.3 Million Jews were murdered by ‘Open Air Shootings’
• People were Marched in groups to edge of pits, shot, killed, fall into Mass Grave
• The process was too open & not speedy enough which brought Concern about Public Opinion / Media as Face-to-Face killing was taking a toll on the MURDERERS
• Truck Killing was Initially used by Death by Carbon Monoxide which became the Nazis 1 st attempt at Gassing.
• This was Quick and Easy but Not efficient enough

GAS CHAMBERS

• This was more Impersonal & Faceless and the Most ‘Efficient’ way to achieve Mass Murder. Move to “Conveyer Belt Killing” occurred with 10,000 People / Day at Auschwitz by 1944.
• GAS CHAMBERS Reveal something truly and terrifyingly unique of the Jewish Genocide: A modern state using its best resources of Science, Technology, Innovation, Bureaucracy for … MASS MURDER.

Perpetrators

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO PERFORMED THIS GENOCIDE?

• GERMAN ARMED FORCES / WEHRMACHT “DESK KILLERS” “ORDINARY MEN”
• Cannot understand German Army without understanding COMBAT The Scale of fighting (especially in Soviet Union) was HUGE and TRAGIC as 1/3 German POWs Die because of harsh conditions.
  • Freezing Climate, Vast Land, Impassable Roads, Inadequate clothing / Shelter
• WAR BRUTALIZES ALL PEOPLE so there is Concern for Self-Preservation.
• RULES DON’T MATTER ANYMORE and Any action can be JUSTIFIED/Deemed NECESSARY
• Armies around the world commit atrocities leading us to ask Why is WEHRMACHT so Different?
  • The answer is through IDEOLOGY & INDOCTRINATION
• Ideological hatred existed FIRST which was Brought to dire situations leading to EXTREMIST / DESTRUCTIVE MIX NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
• BUERACRACY allows people directly involved to feel they ARE NOT personally responsible.
• People believe in the Universal application of the RULES and Do things to distance themselves from brutal reality of what they are doing like Do not talk about it at breaks and have a Silent Agreement to not speak of their work whenever possible.
• They Use Euphemisms to refer to Genocide and did NOT act as one normally would question Why they were NOT inefficient?

“Police Battalion 101”

• Men in 30s/40s, too old for Army with 500 Men in each Battalion (About 40 Battalions).
• Were regular, blue-collar workers working in law enforcement once most German police are in the Army.
• Were ADULTS when Hitler came to power so were less susceptible to Nazi doctrine and not a strongly Nazified Group
• Not on the Front line of War / Battle and were not victims of War atrocities but were Sent to German occupied Poland
• Ordered to round up 1800 Jews and were Told their the job is to ELIMINATE THEM- Told if they were not up to it, could leave, this leading to 12 out of 500 Leavings.
• 10-20% of remaining men shot passed victims with 80% Fully Participating.
• Sense of HORROR / SHAME / REVULSION among the Men gradually lessened and transformed with Many men soon involved in Sadistic behavior. The question we now ask is WHY DID THEY DO IT? Was it Anti-Semitism or the Brutal Nature of War?
  • The answer lies within the fact that they Cannot leave each other through the greatest betrayal if they left and have there friends commit such acts.
  • There was a Strong urge to be PART OF, BELONG TO, SHARE BOND within a group in an alien environment making it a Very ORDINARY Human impulse.

The End

• Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945. The Soviets found 836, 255 women’s dresses, 348, 000 men’s suits, 38, 000 pairs of men’s shoes, 14, 000 pounds of human hair but only 7, 650 LIVE PRISONERS