NEVER AGAIN - PART ONE

The SS men loaded the children into wheelbarrows and dumped them into the fiery ravines.

Living children burned like torches.

Sara Nomberg-Przytyk, Auschwitz, 1943

This post deals specifically and only with the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis ending with WWII in 1945. It does not cover the murder of 5 million Gentiles - the insane, gypsies, communists etc. The term used to describe this mass murder is 'Final Solution' and not 'Holocaust' as is commonly used by historians. The term 'Final Solution', German - 'Endlösung', is a more accurate term than ‘Holocaust’ or the Hebrew word 'Shoah'.

'Holocaust' ('sacrifice') implies there was a purpose in mind or a purpose was achieved. Proving this is impossible and therefore equally difficult to disprove. For example: Jews sinned and God punished them - making Hitler an innocent instrument of God. Or: The Zionist orchestrated it to force the creation of the state of Israel - making the German people the most gullible on earth.

'Shoah' which means ‘catastrophe’, falsifies the true nature of what happened. A shoah is a natural event beyond human control (Amos Oz) and this was not the case. It was very much an event under human control which could have been prevented by humans.

'Final Solution' is the most accurate term as it describes what the Germans tried to achieve - solving a perceived 'problem' which has been around for thousands of years - the 'Jewish problem'. The Nazis were right; murdering all the Jews is a way to solve this 'problem'.

But then so would murdering all the gentiles - a Zionist is a Jew who shoots back.

So, maybe it is best if there are no problems which needed solutions of any kind.

The Final Solution raises four important questions

• Why did the highly civilized Germans murder Jews?
• Why didn't the Jews fight back?
• Where was God when this was happening?
• How can a similar event be prevented?

HATRED AND HORROR

The Germans (and others) came to hate the Jews after a fresh wave of anti-Semitism which swept Europe at the end of the 19th century. This was followed by an overwhelming horror filled fear. The combination of hatred and horror led to the Final Solution coming into being.

The term 'anti-Semites' was first used in 1879 to describe a group of Germans who viewed Jews as being part of a 'Semitic race'. This 'race' they believed would never fit into German society. So effective was the propaganda at the time, few people, even now, realized there is no such thing as a 'Semitic race'. It belongs firmly in the pseudo-scientific conspiracy field but like all good conspiracies, it had a nugget of truth to it.

There are different 'groups' of related languages. Speaking a particular language does not imply belonging to the dominant race of a 'group'. This is simple logic - English speaking, New York, Chinese, aren't Anglo Saxons. Whether he was a real figure or not is immaterial, the Bible goes to a lot of trouble to explain Abraham was not 'Semitic'. He and his family were called 'Hebrews' - 'outsiders'. Racially they were Persians - Aryans (the term 'Iran' is the local pronunciation) - they were not Arabs.

During the 19th century, Jews slowly became part of mainstream German society and by 1870; all forms of discrimination had been lifted. The largest part of German Jewish society tried to integrate in both society and the modern world. This was possible because they had changed much of their religious practices. The new Judaism was called 'Reform' and it was very accepting of and similar in practice to Christianity. 

At this time, modernism swept the world with a series of unsettling events with Albert Einstein proving time is an illusion, Sigmund Freud showing unexpressed emotions never die, and Karl Marx encouraging workers to rebel because they had nothing to lose but their chains. This provoked strong opposition especially in Germany where a large part of the population was trying to hang on to the 'good old days'. The world, as the Germans saw it, became filled with uncertainty. Resentment of the emancipated, liberal Jews grew. The 'Bolshevik' Jews were especially blamed for periodic financial downturns but never praised for upswings in the economy.

Modernism brought about a Christian theological revolution driven by German theologians who were trying to bring religion in line with the new understanding of the universe. The result was a more modern approach amongst liberals and a far more careful reading of the Bible amongst conservatives. The result was a splintering of the protestant church but by 1900, almost all the churches had accepted that scripturally, the Jews were 'God's children'. As an unintended consequence, the entire issue of the 'chosen people' surfaced again especially amongst Germans who were more exposed to the new theology. For the deeply religious, this was not an issue but for ordinary Christians it was a crisis. No matter how the theologians tried to placate, all they understood was they were no longer amongst 'the chosen' and this created jealousy and eventually hatred. 

The Roman Catholic Church increasingly tried to correct social ills associated with modernism resulting in a new liberal theology. A unique type of anti-Semitism came into being. An article in an official Church publication (Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche) of 1930 provides one of the clearest examples: Two types of anti-Semitism can be distinguished, one national and politico-racial, the other politico-governmental. The former combats Judaism simply because of its racial and national foreignness, the latter because of the excessive and deleterious influence of the Jewish segment of the population of a given people. . . . The legal order of the system of competition in modern private economies has Judaism's fingerprints (or rather, the mark of its spirit and its character) all over it, as if it had been cut to its measure. . . . Only anti-Semitism linked to the rise of moral decadence (the decline in births) represents an internal anti-Semitism. The Catholic Church encouraged their members to be good 'natural' or 'internal' anti-Semites and fight Jewish decadence.  

Some German Christians believed God need to be upgraded to a 'God of the Germans' - a God sympathetic to Germans. This idea was spread by people like Professor Ernst Bergmann who said either we have a German God or none at all and it is because we believe in Him and not in our own German God that we are defeated in the struggle of the nations. Hitler was seen as the new messiah (We have faith, deep and unshakeable faith that he (Hitler) was sent by God to save Germany - Hermann Göring). 

Though the belief Jews poison wells and use children's blood in the making of unleavened bread was still common in Eastern Europe, it had little credibility in the more sophisticated and skeptical Germany where proof of every assertion was required. In its place myths which could not be proved one way or the other gained traction. The most popular of these occurred in various forms. Jesus was said not to have been a Jew but an Aryan called Jesus ben-Pantera.

The early Christian church spoke of ‘Jesus, the son of a virgin’ with the Greek word for ‘virgin’ being parthenos. The Jews heard it as Jesus ben-Pantera or ‘Jesus the son of a panther’. As the name ‘Pantera’ was not a Jewish one, they decided it must have been a Roman one and concocted and entire tale around it. Mary, they said, was unfaithful, Joseph divorced her and she took up with her Germanic Roman legionary called Pantera. This is how it is written in the Babylonian Talmud.      

When Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf expressed his fear of the Jews, he gave voice to a common phenomenon. (While thus examining the working of the Jewish race over long periods of history, the anxious question suddenly occurred to me whether perhaps destiny, for reasons unknown to us poor mortals, had not unalterably decreed the final victory for this little race.) The ancient Egyptians were scared of the Jews; and he said to his people, “Look the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we (Exodus 1: 9). The book of Esther explain it neatly, If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.

The belief of a superior race being in an unfair position to do better in life is a particularly dangerous form of racism as it easily grows into violence. Haman, in the book of Esther wanted all the Jews killed, as they were a threat to his high position. And like the Nazis, he saw himself as the victim who couldn't compete on a level playing field. It is true we have made discriminatory laws, but they are directed not so much against the Jews, but for the German people, to give economic opportunity to the majority. (Adolf Hitler, 1933)

The Germans believed they were the superior people but the Jews were underhand and sneaky and so got the advantage. Richard Wagner's music drama, Nibelungen Ring (completed 1874) was constructed from a variety of traditional stories and songs reflecting the culture of the late 19th century - tales with which his audience could associate. In the beginning, there were the gods who were awesome, giants who were dumb, dwarfs or nibelungs who were evil (half the dwarfs were black, the other half Jewish), and nymphs who were good. Later another hero (a superior human) called Siegfried was created. He killed some of the dwarfs but was then treacherously slain. The Germans believed themselves to be part of the superior race of Siegfried who tries to rid the world of dark dwarf (Jewish) evil. And they believed themselves betrayed by their own government and the world.   

Added to the strange mix of half-believed myth were conspiracy theories. They are popular as they, like myths, account for the vagaries of life and personal failure - they provide a justification of actions. The most impactful anti-Jewish conspiracy theory is a booklet called 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'. Because it was written for the barely literate, it remains one of the most influential works in history and it was (and still is) used to sway the plebian masses. Hitler used it as proof - the existence of the Jews is based on one continuous lie is shown in incomparable manner in the Protocols. The 'Protocols' was closely linked to the theory of the Jews being responsible for the German surrender during the First World War and the punishment imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. (The stab in the back theory.) 

Going from anti-Semitism, with little violent action, to the Final Solution however was a massive step and the crude propaganda of media like Der Sturmer, offended Jews and Germans alike and was a complete failure. The average German wasn't roused to violent action by the crude pornography - they were disgusted and blamed the liberal Weimar Republic for the freedom of speech which allowed such filth to be published. The Jews were equally offended and left the country. In 1933, there were approximately 520 000 Jews living in Germany. During the next six years under Nazi rule 300 000 emigrated. These were the wealthy and leaders who left the 200 000 most vulnerable mostly Haredim behind - 180 000 of them were murdered.

On 9 November 1938, Germans were offered the chance to murder all the Jews with no repercussions. The night became known as Kristallnacht - named for all the broken glass of smashed Jewish shop windows (and Gentile owned shops) lying in the street. For the Nazi high command, the night was a complete disappointment because there was no mass murder - 91 Jews were murdered. The night was unpopular with Germans in general and the insurance companies who had to carry the cost were furious. Hitler ordered Goebbels to get the German people ready to murder Jews. What he produced was the most successful propaganda campaign in history.

The majority of Jews in Germany belonged to a conservative unnoticeable integrated prosperous middle-class. But two Jewish groups created a completely different perception - an unfavorable one. The one group was the highly aggressive and often violent Bolsheviks with their connection to the Soviet Union the other was the Haredim. By 1939, the Bolsheviks had mostly left the country after vicious encouragement and a large number of murders. The other was the Haredim, and Goebbels had tehm in his sights.   

Haredi Jews were the most conservative and reactionary group in Europe. They stood against all modern art, science and human development and wanted the world to remain frozen in the Middle Ages. From around 1870, fleeing Russia and Poland, hundreds of thousands started streaming through Western Europe mostly on their way to America. Some settled near towns and cities where wealthy Jews were to be found. For the first time Germans, Gentiles and Jews, saw them for what they really were as they were no longer confined and isolated in shtetls. It was a shock. Jews and Gentiles, alike, took an unfavorable view of their superstition, pagan religious practices and medieval customs. (As they did of the behavior of the Gypsies and Polish peasants.)

The result of the anti-Semitism - hatred - was to lay the foundation and build the walls. The roof was horror. The Germans feared the Jews would take revenge for what had been done to them. Goebbels capitalized on their fear and concentrated on demonizing and dehumanizing the Jews making them seem as cruel and vengeful as possible.

The most successful part of Goebbels' campaign was a film called Der Ewige Jude ('The Eternal Jew') where Haredi Jews were depicted with real footage from Polish shtetls. They are equated with the spread of rats. Right near the end there was a cruel scene showing a Haredi ritual animal slaughter. Hitler, who was a vegetarian, was so shocked when he saw this scene in October 1939 he made his final decision ordering, this Jewry must be annihilated (as Goebbels had written in his diary after he had seen the film).

The film was released to the general public in 1940 and it had the effect Hitler wanted. What the German public saw were 'rats' - a primitive people behaving like rats - coming to slaughter them and their families with great cruelty, and they took the final step. The impact was as if the zombies of World War Z were a real thing. The Germans believed they were acting in self-defense to protect their way of life, and their lives. There is a form of logic to this. They believed if the Jews were all dead, the Allies and especially America would no longer have a reason for war and it would end. Germany would then be able to get a just peace, free from the 'evil Jewish influence'.