We talked about the situation regarding the Jewish population in class today, and I believe that I have come to a more accurate understanding of the reality in which they lived. A question that I have always had is: why not just leave? I mean, my gracious, if i am faced with death and the possibility of being destitute the rest of my life, I will take my chances with the latter and work my way back to an acceptable standard of living. Yes I realize this could be construed as a demeaning way of looking at these peoples problems, but I do not mean it in this way. I truly believe that if it were me (disregarding the fact that I am female and women just "did not" work during this era) in that situation, I would do everything I could to keep my family alive and then fight my hardest to provide for them and myself in a way that I could be proud of.
As we discussed further, other factors began to weigh in and started to change my mindset about the Jewish populations predicament. When drawing an opinion on the matter there were a couple of "facts" that I took for granted. One, you have to go back and look at the time line. At what point was the "point of no return"? Again, if you look at the functionalist point of view (which I am more inclined to believe, along with a few intentionalist notions), it is not clear that from the beginning the holocaust was inevitable. If I put myself in their shoes, would I want to gamble and lose everything? I have to remember that that they did not necessarily know what lay ahead. It very easy in hindsight to say "oh you should have left", but living in the situations that they did I no longer think that line was so clear.
Another "truth" that I took for granted was that the Jews would have a place to go. I mentioned in class that I felt like either the Jews should leave or that the Nazi's should just deport them all (especially if they had no where to go. just leave them out on their own, its their problem). But one has to consider where could they go? I mean the could illegally sneak into other countries, but remember that many countries that would be "desirable" were at war! And no body wanted them. Somebody mentioned in class that they would not even let them settle in Alaska. Wow. And that's all I have to say about that.
Something that I think is important to remember and that is often overlooked in the history of the Jewish people. As Professor Malto said, what was happening back then (before the mass executions began) was not the worst tragedy to befall the Jewish population. Since the beginning of their existence, the Jews had been persecuted and abused. None of which were truly justifiable. I think that knowledge of their historical resilience hurt them in that it made their thresh hold for pain so great, they couldn't monitor the catastrophe they could face with normal amount of fear.
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It's tempting to project hindsight onto the situation. But in doing so, you may be persecuting a people for a lack of foresight. That is unfair, and you make it clear this is not your intention. In fact, all "historical errors" warrant this type of scrutiny. They are "error prevention" paradigms. And as you say, these people have seen it for centuries.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that the Jewish people have with their faith is the belief of the "Chosen People" meaning that God chose them to go through trials and tribulations for God. One point about them not having a way to leave or thinking ahead of time that they should could have a hand in this, Maybe they thought that by le3aving they would be ignoring one of the most basic aspects of their religion. This of course does apply to those people who could have somehow seen what was coming.
ReplyDeleteYour question is certainly understandable, especially in hindsight. Ultimately, I would argue that by the time it became clear to the Jewish population of Germany that they needed to leave, it was often too late to get out. (Elie Wiesel's 'Night' discusses this idea from a non-German perspective.) Aside from the restrictions on travel the Nazis themselves put into place, the economic context (depression) and the fact that Jews have historically been a persecuted group meant that few places were willing to accept a mass influx of poor Jewish refugees.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that our discussions have helped. It is important to ask these questions and raise these issues. Helping you all to understand both the choices and the limitations people in past faced is a part of my goal for the course.