Anti-Semitism: From 'War with God' to Crematoria

Children are turned into guinea pigs, adults, if lucky, have their names erased, work like slaves, and become numbers tattooed on their arms; if unlucky, they are immediately sent to the gas chamber and their bodies are consigned to the crematorium. Before death, their clothes, watches, suitcases, and valuables were confiscated, their hair was shaved and used in the textile industry. Before being sent to the crematorium, their gold teeth were extracted. This fate befell over a million victims of the largest forced labor and death camp of Nazi Germany, Auschwitz in Poland, which was liberated by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945. The majority of these victims were Jews, but thousands of non-Jews, including prisoners of war from the Red Army, political and ideological prisoners, Roma, and Poles also perished there. Auschwitz became a center for implementing Hitler's 'Final Solution' to eliminate eleven million Jews in Europe. Decades before Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power, anti-Semitic and racist ideas were taking shape and radicalizing in Germany. The Holocaust and gas chambers that claimed the lives of six million Jews began with words and thoughts. Although anti-Semitism existed in various forms in Europe for centuries, from the late 19th century, this thought became organized and took on a radical structure in Germany. Wilhelm Marr introduced the term anti-Semitism into political literature and founded the 'Society of Anti-Semites.' Marr's 'struggle' was not only against Jews and Judaism but also encompassed Christianity and the idea of theism. He considered Christianity one of the forms of Judaism and deemed it a disease for human awareness. Marr, who also saw himself as a revolutionary, hoped that one day 'every worker would become an enemy of God.' This anti-theistic idea of Marr echoed years later in the Hitler Youth anthem: 'We no longer want rabbi or pope... we want to be godless again... Hitler is our savior.' Many anti-Semitic figures actually sought to separate from the past civilization and begin a new historical narrative, one that in the last years of the Nazis became synonymous with the elimination of Jews from the earth. One of the symbols of separation from the previous Jewish-Christian civilization was the burning of the Hebrew Bible in various cities in Germany under Hitler's power. Despite such positions, some Christians joined the anti-Semites. While many consider World War I a catalyst for the racist beliefs of the Nazi Party and its policies, writings from years before the outbreak of World War I can be read as Nazi ideas years before the Nazi Party existed. The 'Eastern Border Region Society,' formed in the last decade of the 19th century with about 54,000 members, considered the Slavic race inferior and called for the erasure of Polish identity in Germany. Heinrich Class, the head of the extremist nationalist organization 'Pan-German Society,' another organization established at the end of the 19th century with many supporters among educated Germans, believed in the superiority of Germans over other 'races.' In his famous book 'If I Were Emperor,' published two years before the outbreak of World War I, he explicitly discussed the racial superiority of Germans, condemned Jews, and spoke of the need for Germans to conquer other countries. His book was reprinted five times in a short period. Class also called for the disenfranchisement of German workers, the abolition of democratic elections, and the establishment of a strong and ruthless leadership. The racial anti-Semitism idea was a significant transformation and leap because it put Jews on an irreversible path. Traditional anti-Semitic Christians expected Jews to convert, while secular anti-Semites wanted Jews to forget their rites and traditions. Jews were condemned and left without a solution against those like Hitler, who viewed Judaism as a 'racial' matter, as race, unlike religion and tradition, is not changeable. Gunter Jikeli, a senior researcher at the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy (ISGAP), tells Radio Farda: '[From the anti-Semites' perspective] Jews must be hated because of their race. This actually became the primary source of the worldview of Germans, which contrasted with the worldview of the French, claiming that being German was a specific and hereditary race passed down from parents and ancestors, something that in the French belief was seen as merely residing in a region affirming citizenship.' Jews were imaginary enemies. Nazi Germany glorified war and sought a new civilization and identity while conquering more lands in Eastern Europe and cleansing it of natives so that their lands could be allocated to German farmers, who would in turn give birth to many children to serve future wars for the Führer. Many Jews took pride in their Germanness and fought for Germany in World War I. Nazis, like the 'Pan-German Society' and figures like Wilhelm Marr, targeted Jews. They portrayed Jews in their propaganda as an enemy everywhere. In this propaganda, Jews represented both bankers and capitalists as well as communists and Bolsheviks. While many Jews took pride in their Germanness and fought for Germany in World War I, Gunter Jikeli comments on the idea of Jews being 'always present for conspiracy': 'It was completely insane. Of course, their politics were similarly foolish. Blaming Jews for all problems could not have any basis in reality – yet they believed it, which did not include all Germans. However, a large part of German society truly held such beliefs, and this principle was part of their worldview, as they believed that Germans were the greatest nation on earth and that if they were to grow, their victory depended on fighting Jews. This belief was a significant part of their message.' The Nazi Party's policy towards Jews from 1932 to 1941 was not the same and gradually became more radical with military victories, leading to death camps like Auschwitz. Initially, Jews were marginalized from cultural and social life, then subjected to beatings and repression, and finally ended up in death chambers. At the same time, Nazis were in a fictional war with Jews, thinking that if they exterminated all the Jews in the world, the world would be a better place and they would succeed in their goals. Of course, such a belief was baseless; I mean, Jews were by no means a threat to Germans or Nazis. Gunter Jikeli notes that no Jewish community was small enough to be safe from the Nazis, from dozens of Jews on a small island in Greece to 200 European Jews who had fled to Norway. Regarding the Nazis' urgency and priority to eliminate Jews, Jikeli believes that the Nazis' military conquests radicalized their policy towards Jews. He states about the Nazis' urgency to eliminate Jews: 'Nazis were at the same time in a fictional war with Jews, thinking that if they exterminated all the Jews in the world, the world would be a better place and they would succeed in their goals. Of course, such a belief was baseless; I mean, Jews were by no means a threat to Germans or Nazis. Therefore, you can see the lack of rationality in their perspective; this is actually the foundation of anti-Semitism, which is based on an irrational belief and conspiracy delusion that the Nazis believed in, thinking that behind every conspiracy, there were Jews – which was fundamentally wrong.' One of the Nazi Party's propaganda sources was the forged document 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion,' which claimed that Jews were constantly conspiring to dominate the world and wanted to create social tensions through various means, including the spread of infectious diseases. Although the forgery of this text was proven decades ago, it continues to be reprinted in countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey. Honeymoon in the Death Camp. Every day, a train of Jews arrives at Auschwitz. About 20 to 30 percent of the passengers were selected for work in the camp and slavery, while the rest were sent to the gas chamber. Victims were falsely told that the gas chamber was a shower room for cleaning. The first moments of arrival at Auschwitz were made up of women, children, the sick, and the elderly. Many others died from exhausting labor or by gunfire. Nazis owned the bodies of Jews, and their lives depended on their will. All property of Jews and other camp prisoners was confiscated. Many of them were subjected to experiments by Nazi doctors. Some Nazis lived with their families in this camp among their slaves, some insisted on spending their honeymoon there, and music groups were formed from the future gas chamber victims for their entertainment. Auschwitz was a hell for its victims, but Nazis had a good time in this camp and other forced labor and death camps. Some Nazis lived with their families in this camp among their slaves, some insisted on spending their honeymoon there, and music groups were formed from the future gas chamber victims for their entertainment. In case of disobedience, resistance, or escape, Nazis would resort to collective punishment. Some researchers and writers say that the Nazi relationship with Jews in these camps was based on dehumanization. In other words, Germans did not see Jews as human and were capable of enjoying and having fun amidst the mass killings and torture of thousands. Hannah Arendt, a philosopher and historian, considers Adolf Eichmann, one of the organizers of the Holocaust, to be an unfeeling bureaucrat. However, many disagree with this view. Alon Confino, author of the book 'A World Without Jews,' writes that there was a lot of emotion and enthusiasm among the Nazis, and their actions towards the victims were not devoid of feelings, and Hannah Arendt, who was an observer at the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem, is mistaken in this regard. The indifference of Germans to the fate of the victims can partly stem from the complicity of a portion of the German people with Hitler. Many profited from the closure of Jewish businesses and the appropriation of their properties over the years and participated in the burning of the Bible and the humiliation of Jews. The small accomplices of Adolf, step by step, as Ian Kershaw, a British historian, states, began the path to Auschwitz with hatred and paved it with indifference.