The political and spiritual significance of the Holocaust on the Jewish people

How was genocide on this scale not prevented and what are the long-term implications for Judaism, humanity and God?

The Holocaust – a genocide committed by a barbaric regime with one purpose – to achieve totalitarianism. Nazi rule, was simply a case of radical evil[1].The Jewish people have always been subject to persecution, such as the Russian pogroms, as well as Spanish persecution. Even Saint Augustine, a key figure in Roman Catholicism argued that Jews should be punished because of their denial of Jesus Christ. Yet, what the Jews under the Nazis experienced, is frightening and quite simply unimaginable. However, what is so complexing about the Holocaust is why the Jews and other ‘minorities’ were subject to the most barbaric means of violence that the world at that stage had ever witnessed. But in order to really understand the political and spiritual significance of the Holocaust for the Jewish people, one must understand the reasoning for this particular persecution of the Jewish people.

Seventy two percent of Jews under Nazi hegemony had their lives brutally taken from them. The brutality of the Nazis included mass shootings into mass graves, the use of mobile gas vans, the use of zyklon-B-gas in these vans as well as gas chambers and the ‘medical experimentation’ of some Jews. Many Jews were brutally tortured and many died of starvation and disease. Yet, arguably the most disturbing act within the Holocaust, is the way that the Nazis treated young Jewish children and babies – they were often thrown onto a fire alive. However, I would argue that the most disturbing fact from the Holocaust, is the sheer scale of the genocide.

To understand the reasons why Jews were persecuted, one would have to study the life of the architect of anti-Semitism in Germany at this time– Adolf Hitler. Klara - Adolf’s mother, died from breast cancer seven years before the beginning of the First World War. Hitler believed that the family doctor who was called Eduard Bloch – a Jew, was to blame for his mother’s death[2]. Hitler then served in the German army throughout World War One and he was infuriated when Germany surrendered to the Allied forces. Hitler believed that the Jewish liberals and scholars committed treachery and he therefore viewed the Jews as ‘parasites’[3]. When Hitler returned from the war, he joined the National Socialist German Workers Party and he managed to merge anti-Semitism with anti-capitalism as well as German nationalism to form an ideology. The core belief in the party was that there is only one pure race – the Aryan race. The Jews were viewed as a threat to this pure race and Hitler therefore believed that they had to be ‘dealt with’.

Hitler gained a lot of support during the Weimar Republic era because of the hyper-inflation that occurred in nineteen twenty three. This was a direct consequence of the treaty of Versailles. The treaty of Versailles essentially ruined Germany’s economy, which paved the way for the far-right political party to gain substantial support. As well as the hyperinflation, the economic depression occurred, which led to six million people in Germany unemployed.

In January nineteen thirty three, President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as chancellor, but when Hindenburg passed away a year later, Hitler appointed himself leader. Within the same year, Jewish persecution began. This included the burning of books and the elimination of all other political parties. This enabled anti-Semitism to be at the heart of German politics. Five years later, Jews were forced to register their property and Kristallnacht occurred.

The original plan to ‘deal’ with the Jewish people was a territorial solution. This plan would have seen the Jews dumped on the island of Madagascar, which was part of the newly conquered French empire[4]. However, the plan was never put into action because it was impractical at the time of proposal, due to the country’s commitment to the war. This paved the way for an extreme solution – ‘The Final Solution’. This was the plan to annihilate the Jewish race. It first came into action in nineteen forty one in Chelmno, Poland[5]. After the Wannsee Conference in nineteen forty two, the systematic deportation of Jews to extermination camps began[6]. The head of this conference was Reinhard Heydrich. The mass genocide of the Jewish people carried on until the liberation of Germany in nineteen forty five.

Unsurprisingly, the Holocaust raised a lot of questions about spirituality, both in relation to God and the human race. Therefore, it is perhaps unsurprising that there is wide range of views, but a lot of philosophical questions have been raised, such as: What does it mean to be a bystander to evil? Where was God during the Holocaust? Why didn’t God intervene and save his ‘chosen’ people? Why did God create humans with the capacity to act in such an unimaginable way?

Since the Holocaust, a lot of Jews have turned their back on God, because of his apparent absence throughout the Holocaust. For example, Judith Plaskow no longer accepts God as omnipotent and omnibenevolent. She argued that to believe Judaism holds a solution to innocent suffering is purely wishful thinking. This is why we need to let go of this ‘anger’ and expect reality which is a combination of good and bad. This view is hugely significant for Jewish spirituality. In addition, Richard Rubenstein was a Jewish scholar who argued that because of the Holocaust, it is no longer possible to believe in a supernatural deity who acts in History[7]. This is hugely significant, because Judaism is a theistic religion. If this view was to be adopted universally, it would completely change the way Judaism is viewed. Rubenstein goes on to argue that Jews today are living in the time of the 'death of God’.

One of the effects of the Holocaust on the Jewish people was the increase in Humanistic Judaism amongst the Jewish community. The founder of this branch of Judaism was Sherwin Wine who argued that using reason alone shows that it would be a mistake for Jews to expect God to save them. Therefore, the age of reason is the age without God[8].

Whilst many Jews have criticised God because of the Holocaust, some have defended God’s nature. Yaffa Eliach emphasised how having faith during the Holocaust provided the individuals with the strength needed to try to survive[9]. Yet for me personally, Yitzchak Berkovits’ defence of God was particularly significant. He believes that anti-Semitism is an innate part of being a Jew – it reminds you of who you are. He also argued that times such as the Holocaust are times of great suffering, but not of suffering in vain. God was right there during the Holocaust - never letting us forget how much work needs to be done in this world to build on the covenant between God and humanity[10].

As one would postulate, the Holocaust raised hugely significant questions about spirituality, but the Holocaust was also politically significant for the Jews as well. For the many negatives that the Holocaust inflicted on the Jewish people, it can be argued from a Jewish perspective, that there was one positive outcome and that is the state of Israel. Zionism is a Jewish movement that has one purpose – to create a state for the Jewish people. It began under Theodore Herzl who wanted a state for Jews to reside in, which would make them immune from further persecution and anti-Semitism. The British supported this movement officially with the Balfour Declaration exactly one hundred years ago. This meant that the British favoured a Jewish state in the home of Palestine – an area which at the time was under British administration. However, when Nazi Germany was liberated, vast numbers of Jews were displaced and this led to an increase in support for Zionism.

The Holocaust is to my belief, why the state of Israel formed in nineteen forty eight. This is significant in itself of course, but it is hugely significant today as Israel and Palestine are still at war. The violence has recently increased, mainly due to Donald Trump’s comments about Jerusalem[11]. The formation of the state of Israel is so controversial, because it is religiously motivated. Not only was the formation of Israel controversial, Israel’s actions ever-since have been controversial too. Even today, they are building illegal settlements in Palestine, because a lot of Israelis believe it is their religious ‘duty’. According to the World Bank, Israel is spending more than fifty percent of its budget on war machines – not for defence but with the aim of occupying the whole of Palestine[12]. This has seen the decline of Palestine geographically and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism such as Hamas, whose ideology is that all Muslims have a duty to fight the Jewish enemy[13]. Zionism can be traced back to the beginning of the twentieth century, but the Holocaust was politically significant for the Jewish people.

Whilst political and spiritual significances have been addressed, fundamental questions about the nature of God have not to my opinion been answered sufficiently. Therefore, I have a thesis that addresses this issue in relation to the Holocaust. The theory is based on the postulation that God exists. It is to my belief that the reason God did not prevent the Holocaust is because by not intervening, it gave Zionism the political ammunition to strengthen their claim for a state for the Jews. It is because of the Holocaust that the United Nations granted the formation of Israel in Palestine and apart from Palestine and neighbouring Islamic countries, there was minimal opposition. This has provided Jews with a home, free from persecution that will enable them to live harmoniously and the Jewish population will be able to increase, strengthening the covenant between God and ‘his people’. This theory combines the political and spiritual effects of the Holocaust and in my view, offers a coherent explanation about God’s nature.

[1] Emil L.Fackenheim, To Mend the World: Foundations of Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought (Indiana University Press, 1994), p. 9.

[2] Ynet, ‘Hitler blamed Jewish doctor for mother’s death’, (09.12.2009)< https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3816350,00.html> [accessed 01.12.2017).

[3] Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Holocaust Theology, (University of Exeter Press Reed Hall, 2005), p. 26.

[4] Martin Shaw, War & Genocide, (Polity Press, 2003), p.79.

[5] Michael Berenbaum, Chelmno Concentration Camp Poland, https://www.britannica.com/place/Chelmno-concentration-camp-Poland [04/12/2017].

[6] United States Holocaust Museum, The “Final Solution”, <https://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007704> [09.12.2017]

[7] Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Holocaust Theology, (University of Exeter Press Reed Hall, 2005), p. 41-43.

[8] ibid., p. 52-55.

[9] ibid., p. 73-75.

[10]Yitzchak Berkovits, Understanding the Holocaust, <http://www.aish.com/ho/i/48954101.html> [25.11.2017].

[11] Julian Borgerand Peter Beaumont, The Guardian, Defiant Trump confir0ms US will recognise Jerusalem as capital of Israel, <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/06/donald-trump-us-jerusalem-israel-capital> [09.12.2017].

[12] R.Garaudy, The Case of Israel: A study of Political Zionism, (Shorouk International, 1983), p. 16.

[13] Andrea Nǜsse, Muslim Palestine: The Ideology of Hamas, (Harwood Academic Publishers Imprint, 1998), p. 29.