c. 2000 Religion News Service
(Rabbi Rudin is the Senior Interreligious Adviser of the American Jewish Committee.)
(UNDATED) In 1848 Karl Marx wrote that “a specter is haunting Europe _ the specter of communism.” Two recent examples graphically illustrate there is another ominous specter haunting the Europe of 2000: false historical analysis and latent anti-Semitism.
On June 4, Professor Ernst Nolte, a prominent German historian, received the prestigious Konrad Adenauer Literary Prize given by a conservative Munich-based foundation dedicated to building “a better future.”
In his acceptance speech Nolte boldly asserted Nazi anti-Semitism had a “rational core” because Soviet communism enjoyed wide Jewish support. Nolte said because Nazism was “the strongest of all counter-forces” to communism in the 1930s and 1940s, Adolf Hitler’s attacks upon Jews may have had a “rational” basis.
In Nolte’s thinking, the Holocaust _ Nazi Germany’s systematic murder of 6 million Jews _ is not a unique historical event and Hitler’s years of power between 1933 and 1945 were not abnormal. Every Nazi action, no matter how brutal, was essentially a reaction against Joseph Stalin’s Soviet regime.
Indeed, today some German historians describe communism’s crimes as the “Red Holocaust.” Sadly, Nolte’s stale and discredited view that communism was a “Jewish” creation has been used by anti-Semites throughout the world for decades. It is depressing to see an influential German scholar utter the same kind of anti-Jewish untruths that are the ugly stock and trade of extremist groups within Western societies.
As if Nolte’s views were not disturbing enough, Professor Horst Moeller, the director of the anti-Nazi Institute of Contemporary History, made a speech in support of Nolte’s receiving the Adenauer Prize. Moeller praised Nolte’s “life’s work of high rank.”
Not surprisingly, a firestorm of criticism broke out, and the German media have been filled with sharp criticism of both Nolte and Moeller. The latter was accused of condoning “an intellectual political offensive aimed at integrating rightist and revisionist positions into the conservative mainstream.” Less than a week after receiving the prize, Nolte publicly repeated his controversial views about Nazism in Paris where he was warmly applauded by an appreciative audience.
Nolte’s public statements come against the backdrop of growing right-wing movements in several European countries. Earlier this year Joerg Haider’s Austrian Freedom party, an ultra-nationalist group, became part of the ruling coalition in Vienna. Jean LePen’s French brand of anti-Semitic rightist politics is also gaining ground. Some observers minimize this trend by noting the post-World War II Austrian and German republics have functioned effectively for more than 50 years. They see little danger that Nolte’s views or Haider’s politics will weaken democratic government in either country.
But I remain unconvinced by such assurances. There is a real possibility that as the direct memory of the Holocaust fades, German and Austrian opinion makers along with the general population may reach the dangerous conclusion there is no religious or moral stigma attached to Nazism and may perceive anti-Semitism as a necessary albeit harsh weapon that was employed by Hitler to stem Communism.
Another recipient of the Adenauer Prize, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, created his own firestorm by committing a highly embarrassing gaffe. Because he accepted $1 million in secret gifts when he was chancellor, he is now attempting to raise $3 million to cover the fine imposed on his Christian Democratic party.
In the rough and tumble of German politics, a Socialist foe of Kohl suggested a boycott of Kohl’s find-raising efforts. The angry ex-chancellor declared that it reminded him of the Nazi-sponsored boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses back in the 1930s.
Needless to say, Kohl’s inane remarks were met with derision and disgust. However, they sadly reveal that some aspects of Nazism are now fair game for contemporary political analogies.
The boycott campaign against German Jews was the start of a murderous anti-Semitic campaign that tragically led to death camp crematoria. A boycott of Kohl’s efforts to extricate himself from the financial wrongs he committed while holding high office is completely different. Kohl may or may not go to jail for bribe taking, but many of the boycotted Jewish shop owners were deported and killed at places like Auschwitz _ not because of shady business dealings but because of their birth into a specific religious group.
What’s next? Odious comparisons that Berlin’s crowded subways are akin to the cramped railroad cars that transported millions of Jews to death camps? Or complaints that today’s incompetent workers who are fired are similar to Jews who were removed from their jobs and livelihoods during the Nazi reign of terror?
DEA END RUDIN
