Impact Of The Holocaust On Christian Jew Relations Religion Essay

clash Of The final solution On Christian Jew Relations religion EssayThis adjudicate will focus on several aspects. The set-back will lot the climate that jumper lead to the warfare in the early years. It will go on to briefly discuss what occurred during the final solution, and majority of it will focus on how the Jews and Christians were moved(p) surrounded by 1945 till the present day. In order for us to understand the affinity mingled with Christian and Jews both during and post the holocaust, it is classic to understand their consanguinity prior to the war. It is solitary(prenominal) then we push a fount inst exclusively in all whether a change took perplex before or later onward(prenominal). The holocaust affected Jews all across Europe, start outicularly in Ger or so(prenominal), controlled by the Nazi g all overnment, and Poland, which was conquered by Germ whatsoever in 1939. Poland was quite of import because it became one of the territories where th e murder of Jews from all over Europe was carried out.The Nazi regimen was founded by Hitler. He believed that the Jews were an inferior backwash and were the main cause of the all the problems that has been occurring in Ger umteen and Europe, particularly in the pecuniary state of affairs. His ultimate mean was to remove the Jews from Europe by exterminating them. He did this by finding out who the Jews were and where they lived, and then transporting them like cattle into ghettoes and slow-wittedness camps such(prenominal) as Auschwitz. This is what is officially kn profess as the final solution.The foundations of prejudice against Jews fucking be disemboweld as far back to the Crusades. During the Crusades Jews were massacred when Christian armies had captured Jerusalem, and here the first link betwixt Christian and Jews is evident. As early as 1290, Jews had been pressure to leave England but then during the reign of Cromwell thither were a a few(prenominal) that had m oved into London. As a result of this in 1655 Jews had started to establish their own communities (Religion in History, pp226, K. H Holtschneider). Looking orphicer into the history of Jews and Christians, there were clear problems as stated in Bubers journal Der Jude which included articles by Jews on Christianity and Christians on Judaism. It was attempted to bring both faiths unneurotic but instead it lead to Christians refusing to recognize Judaism as a faith that could live along aspect Christianity (Mendes Flohr, 1987, pg226 in Religion in History). Moving on from that time, it was in England during the 1650s that there was a nonher attempt to lenify with Jews and this was needed because their conversion to Christianity was believed to be needful prelude to Christs second coming. More significantly, this was a outlook that was let downning to be sh atomic number 18d amongst other European countries from 1570 onwards and they started to con locatingr whether or not the y wanted to admit Jews. This persecution was still evident prior the irregular human macrocosms War in 1920 when Judaic immigrants in the USA became victims of the Klu Klux Klan, a racial organization that wanted to keep American society white and Christian protestant. (Susan Willoughby pg 6). In Europe, although originally Christian and Jewish relations struggled prior to the Second humankind War as they attempted to discover the truth in Christianity. However, this particular aspect of the troubled family between the two groups was not at the forefront of issues facing the alliance due to the humanitarian crisis that was creation faced. (Religion in History, pg 226, Holtschneider).During the war, the situation became very difficult for citizenry reenforcement in Germany. With most of German society being against the Jewish people they likewise began to face the situation of having to avoid marrying Jews or to separate from their Jewish partners in spite of having been in long term marriages. Sources tell us that majority of Christians who were hook up with to Jews stuck by their spouses raze before they k in the buff that they could save them through loyal acts (Holtschneider, Religion in History in pg 238, Barkai, 1998, pg 253).It is substantial to note that Jews were not the only victims of Hitlers Nazi Regime, with other victims including minority groups such as gypsies, homosexuals and those with mental or physical impairments. Regardless, this whole apparent motion of persecution and genocide was very significant in terms of its focus, surmount and intensity. This is central to the relationship between Jews and Christians as it raises issues nearly the attitudes of the Christian because they were there to witness the anti Semitic Jewish measures in the 1930s and the deportations that were carried out in front of them. However, it is withal argued that anyone in Germany who back up Jews faced danger and this stopped any attempts to bene incidentor. (Study Guide 5, pg 13) This attitude even went as a far as the, separation of the Protestant performes into Christians of German descent and Christians of Jewish decent. Even though several(prenominal) Protestants did attempt to jaw through sacred issues with Jews this was started more often by Jews than by Christians.At the end of the war and aft(prenominal) the holocaust the options open to Jews as to where they should begin to redo their lives depended largely on their national identity before the war. virtually Italians and French went back to Italy and France as they recognized their identity as tie in with their rural area of origin. However, many Jews from Eastern Europe and Germany opted for emigration because they felt that their relationship with their homeland had been damaged (Herbert, Religion in History Pg.241). Many Jews went to the coupled States as refugees, but majority of Jewish dis popd persons dogged they would heel counter to Israel and join States however the USA still had very strict rules about(predicate)(predicate) in-migration as well as the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom was in fear of provoking the Arab people in Israel into fleck back. It was during this time that the impudently independent State of Israel was formed and there were lots of preparations to nationally differentiate the holocaust. Furthermore during the war many countries had closed their borders to immigration. However, in spite of all these obstacles Jews were very keen to leave Europe as soon as possible.It has been stated by Don Peretz, (Study Guide, pg 86) that on 29th November 1947, the General fiction of the United Nations adopted a resolution requiring the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine. This mention by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish their independence state is unassailable. Yad Vashem is a museum which tells the story of the final solution that emphasizes practicing Zio nism. This underlines the absolute need for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. patronage this strong feeling the Jewish Christian relationship has not completely fallen apart and finds a place in with Righteous Gentiles whom of many are Christian. This is exceedingly important when examining the post war relations, because amongst all the fighting and violence between Jews and Christians during the war here is a ground to construct the relationship between them.Creating the state of Israel in 1948 also had other effect on the Christian churches of the time. As Paul Van Buren states, the ravish of the abomination at the Germans misdeeds against the Jewish people and the even greater theological shock of the existence of a Jewish state led to the first physical contact change in attitudes between Christians and Jews(Study Guide pg 67). In order to trace these developments it is important to look at the reaction of the Protestant churches in Germany. Their church leaders were the fir st to admit that and condemn the Nazi horror that had taken place in Europe. It was in October 1945 that their churches released an official Stuttgart declaration of guilt, which stated how aristocratic they were that they did not stand up to the Nazi regime more forcefully. It took a long time for the church to accept this and this was largely due to the circumstance that the sufferings of the Jews were blamed on secular forces inside Europe. This misplaced the blame, looked upon the Nazi regime as a, sinister allude of global anti-Semitism were all findn as a result of modern secular man. (Study Guide, pg 67, John S Conway).On the other hand the Catholic perform was deeply implicated in the anti-Semitic violence against the Jews. The representative Jews did nothing to stop the political propaganda, and moreover they even went as a far as funding the politicians and the campaign (Mendelsohn, 1983, Religion in History, 228, K. Hannah Holtschneider,). To look into this further Ronald Modras carried out a check of Catholic attitudes towards Jews and their religion in the 1920s and 1930s prior to the War. What he found was that there was an increase in anti-Semitic attitudes in the Catholic community. This was because in Germany the Jews were seen as representatives of secularism and therefore definitely anti catholic, and this was the start of when racial ideas began to infiltrate catholic communities, particularly in regards to allowing Jewish converts to Catholicism. Other Catholics also considered emigration, and this happened through boycotting Jewish business which would reduce Jewish in get down alongside supporting Zionism. (Religion in History, pg 229, K. Hannah Holtschneider).The Jewish communities had been destroyed by the final solution. The last Vatican II since 1960 father bought Jews together. As mentioned in Religion in History, pg 243, K. Hannah Holtschneider) These conversations are mainly Christians initiatives-a opposite of the prewa r Christian-Jewish dialogues in Germany. The outcome of the Holocaust has moved to the Hesperian cosmos especially in the U.K and U.S. Europe had millions of homeless refugees after the war. Many Holocaust survivors were German DPs (displaced persons) who were not German or Jewish, some survivors returned to Poland, the majority decided to emigrate to the U.S or Israel. (Religion in History, pg 243, K. Hannah Holtschneider). Furthermore the Vatican authorities were not found to admit the failures of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust.On the territory of Auschwitz dumbness camp, where numerous polish Catholics were executed, sparked a controversy in 1984. Auschwitz had become a symbol of terror, genocide and the Holocaust. The direct reason for the establishment of the camp was the feature that mass arrests of Poles were increasing beyond the capacity of existing local prisons. Initially, Auschwitz was to be one more concentration camp of the type that the Nazis had been settin g up since the early 1930sWhether sites of Jewish and non-Jewish suffering in particular in Poland-such as different parts of the Auschwitz concentration camp- can be shared by Christians and Jews in commemoration, remains controversial (Religion in History Pg 244, K. Hannah Holtschneider). This shows that Auschwitz has become a site for remembrance and therefore reconciliation point for Christian and Jews after the Holocaust.There was also heated discussion over the Nostra Aetate because the church reaffirmed the deep spiritual bond between Christian and Jews within theologys loving plan for the redemption of the world Study guide pg71. This document clearly condemns any type anti-Semitism against Jews, particularly Christian anti-Judaism, for example the band deicide which had contributed to universal propaganda against the Jews. thereof in flow of other research it is stressed that Christian are indebt to Jews and at one time it is even more important to understand the rela tionship of the two faith as a plus and reciprocal one, speck upon the same spiritual realities and most often serving to illuminate from each one other select guide pg 72.The Eichmann trial provoked international pursual, pitch Nazi violence to the forefront of world news. Testimonies of Holocaust survivors, especially those of ghetto fighters, generated matter to in Jewish enemy. The trial prompted a new openness in Israel, many Holocaust survivors felt able to share their experiences as the country challenged this trauma. Following this Arbeitsgemeinschaft of the biennial German Protestant Church Rally standard widespread support and demonstrated a growing in interest in Christian-Jewish relations (Study Guide pg 68). This had then led to Rhineland Synod which was a instruction that was recognized by other Protestant communities. In this they talked about the Holocaust as a key factor that helped start a new relationship between the church and the Jewish people. As stat ed in the study guide pg 68 Four factors, the authors claimed, had bought the church to this realization the recognition of Christian co-responsibility and guilt for the Holocaust the new Biblical insights learned during the Church struggle about the continuing significance of the Jewish people within the history of God the acknowledgement that the continuing existence of the Jewish people, its return to the land of Promise, and the foundation of the state of Israel are signs of the faithfulness of God toward his people and the willingness of Jews, in spite of the Holocaust , to engage in encounter, common study and cooperationAs mentioned in Chapter 8 religion in History that after the holocaust there were many post war developments in the Christian Jewish relationship, and thus many conversations took place that surrender shaped the attitudes that phantasmal Jews and Christians urinate taken towards the Holocaust and the relations prior to Hitlers rule. This has come about t hrough Christian remorse for a longstanding anti Semitism that has been allowed to prevail. This is significant because Christian anti Semitism was seen as the ground work of racist anti Semitism, which gained strength post 1870. The conversations that took place between Jews and Christians largely adopted a stance that looked at their relationship from an anti Semitic perspective, leading to all the research and theory into the histories of Christian and Jewish relations ending in the Holocaust. There have been other perspectives of looking at Jewish and Christian relations before and after the Holocaust. Needless to say these have had an impact on how to conceptualize the relationship after the war.after the war in 1947 on the 29th of November, the United Nations adopted a resolution which stated that there was a need to establish a Jewish state. (Study Guide, pg 87). This was because many Jewish people who had survived the war felt as though it was in their right to have a Jewish homeland. In fact, Zionists made a flag for the State of Israel which they were pressurizing the Allies to set up in Palestine. (Jane Shuter, pg. 31). Since then there has been lots of persecution in Europe, including the growing development of European nationalism. However, some non religious Jews took advantage of this and saw this as an opportunity to become agile in promoting a land for the Jews. Having said that, there are some Evangelical Christian, as well as some fundamentalist Protestants, who are strongly pro Zionist because they view the returning of the Jews to Palestine as a sign of the second-coming of the Christ. However since the Intifada, there has been lots of sympathy from mainstream western Christians towards Palestinians. Although, eastern Christianity has not been affected so much(prenominal) by the Holocaust there is hardly any sympathy for Zionism. (Religion in History pg 261, J Wolffe).It has been widely acknowledged that Christians have held Jews respons ible for the death of Jesus. It is because of this and also centuries of anti Semitism that Hitlers views and hatred was passionately echoed in the Third Reich. However, this inheritance of faith should in fact motivate Christians and Jews not to leave their faith despite the atrocities that took place during the holocaust. Those who survived still have that faith. This is an important point and influences post holocaust movements as the establishment of the state of Israel was seen as a part of a use to keep the faith and survive. Ultimately, this was an attempt to make the world a place where Jews can still honour god. Furthermore, according to study guide 5, into the after affects of the holocaust, there was growing conflict in Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs. Therefore it was even more important to make sure that all the Jewish people were united so that they could establish the State of Israel.However, since the Second World War it is very understandable that Jews up until this day and age have had difficulty in viewing Christians and their faith in a authoritative light. However, attempts to achieve this have been achieved through emphasizing the complexity of what occurred in the Christian community during Nazi Germany and the way that anti Judaism became the foundation for anti Semitism. However, after World War Two there were different types of thinking from Jews on how to make this relationship, and ultimately how they have struggled to come to a positive apprehensiveness of Christianity.Coming back post war analysis of the Jewish and Christian relationship, in recent years, there have been considerable changes within the religious dimension of both this groups. It is necessary to separate race from religion as it can have a significant impact on how both groups viewed the holocaust and their reactions to it. In the Good Friday prayer it has been clearly stated that, we see not a gradual evolution but a striking change. Furthermore, the Church of England Prayer Books have also clearly stated that, stomach mercy upon all Jews, Turks, infidels and heretics. It is because of this that now churches that hold services during Lent, Holy workweek and Easter now officially contain a prayer allow us pray for Gods ancient people, the Jews,the first to hear his word-for greater apprehensiveness between Christian and Jewfor the removal of our blindness and bitterness of heartthat God will grant us grace to be faithful to his concordatand to grow in the love of his name(After the Evil Introduction rapscallion 6 , (2003,Harries Richard)This is an important change that has occurred as it shows progress has been made since the holocaust, between the Christian and Jews relationship. The religious members are now actively looking for center to reconcile their relationship in a positive manner.Despite these positive claims there have been negative approaches towards dealing with the great disaster. The term Holocaust is refer red to by Jews as Shoah and it shocked the Christian Churches when Jews asked very open and scrutinizing questions about its responsibility of what happened in the Holocaust. In fact Jewish scholars such as Norman Solomon stated that he, objected to Christianitys new relationship to Judaism being construct upon a sense of guilt. There are scholars who fully back this view up and also continue to emphasize that after the war Christianitys relationship with Judaism should be built upon the fact that the Jewish religion, Judaism is a significant and living religion and that a relation should be built upon respect for this fact (page 10, After the Evil, 2003, Harries Richard)There are many Jews who have decided to rebuild the relationship, by once again looking at the positive side of Christianity during the war. This side of Judaism looks at the Righteous Gentiles in the holocaust. These were individuals who tried to help Jews and endue them honour in a special way. According to his torical sources, it is extremely important to do this and very sad there is no tenseness on this in all the memorabilia and in the museums. It is said that humanity ineluctably good use models, and that if we missed this people out people would come away thinking very biased views about Christianity and the Christians during that time. In light of this, there is a whole section in a Museum in Israel that is dedicated to the Righteous Gentiles. This is also significant in helping to rebuild the relationship between Christians and Jews as it shows that at the height of all the tragedy there were good Christians who were willing to risk their own life to help the Jews. (page 10, After the Evil, 2003, Harries Richard) This can offer another basis on which to reconcile broken relationships between Christians and Jews.By looking at the post war relationship between Christians and Jews it is very important to distinguish between anti Judaism and Anti Semitism. Anti Semitism was only foc used upon a hatred for the Jews as a race and this was developed further into modern thinking during the nineteenth century when there was lots of theories about race being published. However, Anti Judaism is quite significantly different because this is a hatred and hostility that is aimed at the religion. It was quoted by Gavin Langmuir, who stated that Geoffrey Alderman had strongly argued that the difference of anti Judaism and Anti Semitism merged together in the twelfth century and the difference became blurred. This occurred exactly at the time when Western Christianity started to become undermined by self doubt. (Geoffrey Alderman, Anti Judaism and Anti-Semitism, Jewish Journal of Sociology. 33/2 (Dec. 1991). Regardless of whether this historical source is genuine or now, it is important to make a clear distinction between what Anti Judaism is and what happened during the Third Reich under Hitlers power. According to the Oxford Companion to Christian though (OUP, 2000, pg 16) the question to really ask here is how much of the Anti Judaism in the churches past, including, centuries- long teaching of contempt, prepared the ground and dulled peoples hearts and minds, so that anti-Semitism could take hold with so little resistance in the population as a whole and how much of this contributed to the passive resistance by the Christian community as the events of the holocaust unfolded. It is here we can see why anti Semitism and anti Judaism have merged together and why there is difficulty in establishing a positive relationship between Christians and Jews in this day and age.In the present day, there was a very first Holocaust Memorial day in Britain 2001. before this happened there was great debate amongst society about whether this should focus on just the holocaust or consider other genocides that have occurred in the twentieth centuries. The Jewish community in particular was very stressed about focusing just on the holocaust and singling them out i n such a manner. They wanted to be seen as a part of a bigger problem in the world. Nevertheless it is so important to remind the world about these terrible incidents and the scale at which it happened. It was not simply a loss of lives on a huge scale but an entire population which had a different lifestyle and culture. (Harries Richard 2003, pp21, After the Evil). Grieving for this loss is a huge dimension but the role of the people during the time is even more significant, particularly Christianity and the churches. In fact witnesses recount what occurred during the war. One particular incident that stands out in (After the Evil, Harries Richard 2003) is of a Catholic mother appealing for her son, to not do anything for fear of being persecuted. She specifically told him that god would help him not do anything bad. The son stood by and watched many Jews die including children. These accounts show the fear that prevailed during the time, and how religion played a part in how Chri stians reacted during the Holocaust.Overall throughout the centuries, Jews have experienced much persecution. The Holocaust is one of pain and suffering on a coarse scale, and shows how damaging hatred and prejudice can be. There is still on-going conflict between Christians and Jews, and since the Holocaust it is very different to the conflict that occurred between these two religions. Previously, disagreements have occurred about existing side by side and creating a national and religious identity. Now, the conflict is outside of any of these ideas and now their relationship is largely discussed in reference to the holocaust. These discussions are mainly about the ways in which Christians dealt with Jews, and now is seen as a major honourable issue. Any reflections that are made regarding the Christian/Jewish relationship have to be made carefully, keeping in mind that it will endlessly be a moral issue. (Religon in History, pg245, Herbert).