Today is Yom Hazikaron laShoah ve-laG’vurah (יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה) or ‘Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day’ in Israel. It is celebrated on the 27th of Nisan (Hebrew calendar) each year. For me, a student of history, the Holocaust is a living thing, that has roots stretching back decades before Hitler came to power, and still reverberates today. Outside of the details in a book, the Holocaust took millions of real people, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, and with brutal and calculated efficiency, exterminated them because they were Jewish.
One of the most haunting days I have experienced at the National Archives in Kew, was when I stumbled on a dry bureaucratic document from 1934. Hitler had come to power and Jews were once more being unsettled through persecution. The British viewed this with alarm. Not because of any particular fondness for European Jews, but out of concern for a potential rise in immigration into the British Mandate of Palestine. So they took stock of some the Jewish community in Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany.
I thought I would take a moment out of ongoing research, to share some of this with you. This is some of the world that was.
Before the Holocaust – Romania:
Poland:
A note on the image above. As part of the revisionist history currently being promoted, is the lie that ‘Zionism’ until the war was almost non-existent. It suits hard-left politics to promote the Bundist movement as being the ‘natural choice for Jews’, and suggests that until the Holocaust, Zionism was not major currency. Yesterday, in time for Holocaust Remembrance Day, the modern Yevsektsiya, ‘Jewish Voice for Labour’ ran such a piece on their website.
Put aside the absurdity of suggesting that the ‘stay where you are’ ideas of the Bundists, who were wiped out by the Holocaust, have validity. This report explicitly suggests that years before Hitler began his war of conquest, ‘the great majority of the younger generation was anxious to leave‘. It goes on to say that pressure on Palestine was very high and would remain so. The Polish section of the document spanned several pages and the word ‘Bund’ did not appear once.
Czechoslovakia:
Germany:
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There was a program years ago here in the US, hosted by Ed Asner, on why the world did nothing during the Holocaust. One thing that was read was a British Foreign Office cable, which said that “the Jews are finally getting what they deserve.” I was a child, but I remember that verbatim.
So yeah, the UK knew exactly what was going on. Everyone did.
” Saying you are worried about leeft wing antisemitism is like like saying you are worried about antisemitism when it occurs on a Wednesday. It kinda sounds like you don’t really give a shit”
h/t Geoffrey Cohen
Don’t the left love empty sound-bites. Do you really buy into those kind of empty slogans, or do you just like them because they seem to work on those with empty-heads? I oppose all antisemitism, and beyond this all forms of racism. Focusing on antisemitism doesn’t mean I don’t give a ‘sh*t’ about other racism. I oppose racism and beyond this I oppose all forms of prejudice, focusing on racism doesn’t mean I don’t give a ‘sh*t’ about Homophobia. Etc etc.
At the moment, the greatest political threat to Jews in the UK, is with Corbyn and the left. Putting out one fire, the big immediate one, makes no statement about others beyond suggesting I consider this the more immediate threat of those in front of me. It shows how vile people like GC are, and how they keenly abuse antisemitism for their own political purposes.
What do you mean political threat? Suppose I am a Jew in leafy South Bucks. By what process is Corbyn going to hurt me ?
can you tell me where that came from – It is such a classic I want a screenshot.
I honestly can’t recall, probably somewhere in the bowels of the web site. I liked it a lot so I wrote it down accurately to the last syllable. I don’t make stuff up. I could have left y’all thinkiing how clever I was to have made it up all by me umble self
Dumb Bellamy said…
> I don’t make stuff up.
LOL! Howler of the week.
Stephen
Once again an irrelevent quote that has no bearing on the conversation.
Leftwing Antisemitism is copiously documented in the history of the Soviet Union ( if that autocratic dictatorial colonial state could ever be considered leftwing)
The creator of Marxism/Socialism, although having Jewish ancestry, was extremely anti-Jewish.
We all know about rightwing Antisemitism; rightwingers don’t even bother denying it, and many are even proud of it.
On the other hand the leftwing emphatically deny their Antisemitism, even as they verbalise and act it out.
Antisemitism is an irrational, and almost undefined hatred of Jews that can metamorphasize into whatever the hater wants to hate at the time.
To all intents and purposes, Antisemitism knows no boundaries, and is used by all and sundry as a ready made hanger to attach all and any grievences for which they have no explanation.
To the leftwing we are Capitalists.
To the rightwing we are Liberal Socialist/Communists
To white supremists/racists we are ‘lovers of black and coloured people’ and all that entails.
To black supremists/racists we financed the slave trade, exploited and abused the poor.
To the poor we are the bankers and factory and shop owners that exploit and overcharge.
To the rich we are trade unionists and socialists that want to destroy society.
To everyone we control the world, own all the banks, run all the news media; and are just the most powerful………..(add what takes your fancy as the choice is unlimited, or is limited only by your imagination
So tell me what day we should call it; maybe the whole week.
How telling that in a post about the situation of pre-war Jewish communities in Europe, you focus on your obsession, trying to prove that the Labour party today isn’t antisemitic (all the while pushing your own version of smarmy antisemitism).
Rebecca I am trying to prove no such thing. I have an academic interest in theories of knowledge.
Dumb Bellamy and knowledge separate themselves like oil and water.
First, you are disingenuous.
Second, you are not an academic.
Third, you are a troll. You troll Jewish websites, while spewing what you clearly think is “academic.!” You insult and bait Jews. You may call this “academic” but for others, there is a different word(s).
If you showed any real concern for Jews regarding antisemitism, you would go away and never return, as you do not have any knowledge of antisemitism, or have any consideration for Jews. You are a disgrace!
Here is the real racism problem in the LP
https://bookburnersrus.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/the-labour-partys-problem-with-muslims/
I’m guessing we won’t have now to wait long for David’s 200 page rant against JVL now they are soon to meet Corbyn. Timing, of course, is of the essence.
At least you now admit you are not an “academic!” You “guess!” Well, Stephen, “guess” what? Your comments are proof that (1) you are not an academic; and (2) you bait and insult Jews! You wish you were as erudite & knowledgeable as David, but you are not, just envious & jealous!