Nazi Archives - Messenger to the Thoughtful

The modern State of Israel was born out of two great movements: 1) the deep desire of Jews throughout history to have a homeland with Jerusalem at the center; and 2) the aftermath of the Holocaust as over six million Jews were systematically murdered during World War II. Form the first reports of the Shoah in 1941 and 1942, to the liberation of the concentration and extermination camps in 1944-1945, the world found it impossible to believe that such dehumanization and mechanized mass murder could happen. General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, ordered filming and written accounts to be made, and he predicted there would be later denials of this evil.

By 1947 Great Britain could no longer justify restricting Jewish emigration to their ancient homeland and turned over control of its mandate to the newly formed United Nations. During the war, England and all the Allies closed their doors to Jews seeking to escape the Nazi genocide. At Evian in 1938 and again in Bermuda in 1943, antisemitism won the day, even after clear reports of the atrocities.

On November 27, 1947, the United Nations voted Resolution 181) to partition the British Mandate into two areas: a small Jewish enclave where populations were mostly Jewish, and a larger Arab land. The Jewish Zionist groups accepted the small size and difficult borders. The Arab nations and populations did not. The Mufti (Islamic leader) of Jerusalem, Haj Amin El-Husseini, promptly declared jihad and the surrounding Arab nations (Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, declared their opposition. The Mufti had been a close ally of Hitler, and he approved of the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen. On May 14, 1948, Israel declared her independence as a nation, again accepting the UN boundaries. Israel also asked for all peaceful Arabs within her nation to stay in their homes and not take up arms. Alas, the Mufti and the nations around her all called for war.

A truce was declared in 1949. In the next 18 years, a variety of movements, resolutions, and organizations emerged among the Arab opponents of Israel, all saying, “NO!” to Israel’s existence and calling for all her people to be thrown into the sea. Please note, from 1949-1967 Egypt ruled in the Gaza, Syria possessed the Golan Heights, and Jordan ruled Jerusalem and what is called the West Bank. The 400-500,000Arab refugees from the 1948 conflict were NOT welcomed into the Arab nations – they were left on impoverished refugee camps, a perfect place for radicalizing the generations of haters.

The Palestine Liberation Organization and its military branch, Fatah, was established in the 1960s with a charter for the destruction of Israel. It is only at this moment that a “Palestinian national identify” was manufactured by the PLO with KGB support. While many Arabs had lived for generations in this land, they all identified with one of the cultures or nations surrounding them.

Since 1949, there have been numerous opportunities for peace:

In 1967, Israel defeats her much larger enemies and gains control of the Golan Heights, Gaza, The Sinai, the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), and Jerusalem. These gains came from Israel defeating her foes on the battlefield, not a plan of genocide or expulsion.
In 1973, Israel was invaded and came close to losing her battle with Egyptian forces in the Yom Kippur War.
In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign the Camp David Accords, bringing peace between Egypt and Israel, full diplomatic recognition, and a framework for the future. Egypt receives the Sinai Peninsula back and leaves Gaza for a future Palestinian State.

From 1978 to the 2000s, numerous peace plans have been generated, with Israel willing to give back up to 93% of the territories gained in 1967 and even share a Jerusalem capital. Every time these accords are sabotaged by Arab leaders refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist. The late Yasser Arafat, head of the PLO, would smile for Western cameras, then reassure Arab audiences that Israel’s destruction was still the goal.

In 2005, Israel removed all her Jewish citizens from Gaza and gave control over to the Palestinian Authority, leaving a beautiful land, flourishing businesses, and hope for the future. Alas, in 2006, Gazans, fed up with the corruption of the PA, voted in Hamas, a terrorist organization devoted to Israel’s destruction. Hamas turned Gaza into a fortress, with their military hiding behind civilians.

There is much more to share here, but this historical overview helps the thoughtful person realize that there can be no new Palestinian State and no lasting peace until Arab leaders recognize Israel, commit to diplomacy and trade, and renounce violence.

The apocalyptic ambitions of Shiite-rule Iran, the rapacious economic goals of China, and Russia’s ever-present interest in power all make this region volatile. Add to these empires the scores of Islamic radical movements, and generations of Arabs raised on anti-Jewish propaganda (including Holocaust denial), and we have a potent mix for eternal conflict.

This is the history ignored by current protestors, who chant slogans for Israel’s destruction and Jewish extermination. In the next post, I will assess the current situation and prospects for peace. Israel is far from perfect, but no other nation has held out her hand in peace so often, only to see it slapped away. Israel has no genocidal policies, and she will make peace when her enemies stop their killing.

This week we remember the unfathomable and unimaginable evil of the Holocaust. Six million Jews and millions of others perished at the hands of Nazi Germany’s systems of enslavement, mass shootings, and industrial murder. This moment of demonic horror is not the first or last genocidal episode in history; however, it is the most morally reprehensible, because a civilized world looked on and did almost nothing to stop it. The few thousands who helped their Jewish neighbors deserve great praise, and Yad Vashem honors them as The Righteous Among the Nations. The harrowing reality of passivity in the light of such evil is a cause for deep reflection, repentance, and a renewal of resolve that declares, “Never Again!”

Some prominent survivor voices can help us reflect:

“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” (Elie Weisel)

“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” (Simon Wiesenthal)

“The Holocaust manifested the veneer of civilization so thin and fragile that repetition is possible.” (Sam Kaltman)

“Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.”

As we humble ourselves and remember this moment, how can we cultivate hope and build a more peaceable future? Here are some insights arising the ashes of the Shoah:

We must resist anti-Semitism wherever it is found, especially since it is often disguised in protests against the State of Israel. The BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movements that question Israel’s right to exist and shout, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” are actually calling for the end of Israel and the destruction of millions of people.
We must call on Palestinian leaders to stop denying or minimizing the Holocaust and denying the rights of Jews to live in their ancient homeland. We must oppose all false revisions of history that only serve a political narrative and sanction racism. Leaders advocating for a new Palestinian state are declaring it shall be “Jew-free” (a phrase from Nazi Germany) while demanding that Israel absorb hugely inflated numbers of refugee descendants of the 1947-49 conflict.
Going broader and deeper, we must purge intolerance and racism from our hearts and our speech. I am not muzzling free expression in the public square, but calling for love and wisdom in how we think, feel, act, and speak.
Positively, we can celebrate the lasting contributions of Jewish traditions to our world, including Monotheism, the moral compass of the Ten Commandments and the Hebrew Scriptures, and the foundations for private and public ethics, human rights, and restorative justice.
Christians in particular must recover the Jewish roots of our faith and stop misreading biblical texts that turn the shouts of a mob into blood libel and religious violence against the very people from whom our Messiah comes.
Finally, we must resist all forms of Holocaust denial and revisionism that try to lessen the evil or minimize the impact of this moment. Instead, we must accept the challenge of Richard Rubenstein, who declared, “Before the Holocaust, one could profess Christian identity and we accepted it. After the Holocaust, you must prove it.”

May we pause and ponder, reflect and repent, and renew our resolve to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.”

Tag Archives: Nazi

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