Summary
Title: The Holocaust and Antisemitism: A Short History
Author: Jocelyn Hellig
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
ISBN: 1851683135
Pro:
• Excellent explanations for how and why antisemitism has managed to survive
• Provides great insight into the interplay between antisemitism and culture
• Explains how Christianity has, and has not, supported antisemitism
Con:
• None
Description:
• Explores the nature of antisemitism from the ancient past down through today
• Discusses both religious and secular antisemitism in historical and cultural context
• Argues that antisemitism remains a potent force that cannot be ignored
That’s the topic of Jocelyn Hellig’s book The Holocaust and Antisemitism: A Short History. Until recently an Associate Professor of World Religions at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, Hellig has specialized in Judaism and Jewish history as well as interfaith relations. According to Hellig, a crucial factor in Western antisemitism has been precisely the question of interfaith relations — specifically, the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.
The culmination of Western antisemitism is, of course, the Holocaust — and part of Hellig’s point is that without the power of Christian antisemitism, preached from the pulpits for several hundred years, the Holocaust would have been unthinkable. This does not mean, however, that she lays the entire blame of antisemitism at the feet of Christianity.
On the contrary, Hellig takes great care to historicize antisemitism by putting it in its cultural and political context in each era. There is no single, simple line between the Christian gospels and the gas chambers of Auschwitz. As important as the former are to the latter, there are still a myriad of factors which have played a critical role.
One of the most curious is the fact that Jews are only as “hatable” as they are important. Real hatred of Jews stems from the idea that they have some “cosmic role” to play — remember, Western antisemitism involves not simply dehumanizing Jews, but also demonizing them. Hellig writes:
- “[T]he intensity of Jew-hatred is directly proportional to the importance of the role assigned to Jews in a particular culture’s larger worldview. If Jews are not assigned any special historical or cosmic role, significant levels of anti-Jewish sentiment do not result, as was the case in China and India. In other words, Jews have to be endowed with a significance that makes the “worth hating,” as is the situation in the West.”
For Christians, that special role was the fact that they were the chosen people of God, but rejected God when he walked among them as Jesus. For modern Europeans, that special role was their vast holdings of power and influence which meant that they were trying to take over the world and eliminate Christian, European culture. Wherever antisemitism flourishes, paradoxically, belief in Jewish power and strength also flourishes.
