Yad Vashem and the Jewish Virtual Library

In the New Jersey Star-Ledger last Thursday (7/19), there was an article titled “Alleged Nazi-era war criminal detained: 97-year-old accused of torturing people sent to death camps.” The article emphasis’s the resurgence of anti-Semitism specifically in Hungary BUT the resurgence of anti-Semitism is not solely occurring in Hungary. It is happening all over Europe and the US. 

In August 1953, Yad Vashem, located in Jerusalem, Israel, was established. Yad Vashem is “the official Israeli institution for the commemoration of the Holocaust,” as Suzanne Vromen writes in her book Hidden Children of the Holocaust. Yad Vashem writes on its’ about section

As the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Vashem safeguards the memory of the past and imparts its meaning for future generations. Established in 1953, as the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is today a dynamic and vital place of intergenerational and international encounter.

Overall, Yad Vashem is the center for education, research, documentation, and commemoration of the Holocaust. Yad Vashem is also responsible for the Righteous Among the Nation which acknowledges and commemorates those non-Jews who placed their lives at risk in order to help safe-guard (which was done in various ways, please see the Yad Vashem website for details) the Jewish community. The organization does extraordinary work. 

The next resource is The Jewish Virtual Library. It is also a fantastic and wonderful source relating to Jewish history, especially regarding the Holocaust.  A section of the site is dedicated to women and Judaism. This is an important and unique factor of site because when discussion of the Holocaust take place, women are not usually separately addressed. The Jewish Virtual Library naturally has photos and other imagery for the benefit of the general public.  Please also look into this site and the information available for you to read. 

So, how does this tie into the newspaper article? Very easily. Anti-Semitism and intolerance are unacceptable behaviors. Governments such as the United States, and the rest of the world for that matter, need to recognize the significance of the rise of anti-Semitism and address the issue. Accepting such behavior, especially intolerance, has already caused  dozens of genocides across the world, mostly located in Africa and the Middle East. “Modern” society needs to look back at the lessons learned from the Holocaust then look forward and try to prevent further genocide, intolerance, and anti-Semitic behaviors and ways of thinking. Without that that, anti-Semitism, intolerance, and genocides will continue to be the norm of the peoples of the world. 

Sources: 

Yad Vashem 

http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/museum/index.asp?WT.mc_id=ggcamp&WT.srch=1 

The Jewish Virtual Library 

  http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/index.html 

Germany, the expulsion, and the Cold War

The expulsion of innocent German civilians from 1944-1950 as a result of their defeat in World War II was the tip of the iceberg in world affairs that caused what we now know as the “Cold War”. I have encountered several sources as I researched for my Master’s Thesis that state the “Cold War” began with German unification of 1871. This  unification in 1871 sparked a series of events in Europe that ultimately caused the expulsion and the “Cold War.” Any history can agree or disagree with this statement but the expulsion of Germans is a clear tipping point that lead to the “Cold War.” Gilad Margalit’s work, called Guilt, Suffering, and Memory: Germany Remembers its Dead of World War II, published in 2010 is extremely detailed and informative. It gives an overview of the German expulsion, how soldiers and expellees are remembered from the end of the war until present day, and the relationship between former West and East Germany and their interpretation of the war and collective guilt. It is a work worth reading. Another work that looks at refugees and expellees and their presence in occupied Germany is Ian Connor’s Refugees and expellees in post-war Germany. His work covers the origins of the expulsion and the problems expellees and refugees faced in occupied Germany such as housing, food, and unemployment. The concept of how expellees should be represented in present-day Germany is hotly debated. Those expellee leaders, expellee organizations, and expellees, as well as their supporters, are labeled as revisionist because of their desire to give recognition to the suffering of 12 million Germans who were expelleed and the 2 million who perished on their journey to Germany. View museum exhibits have been created to acknowledge the expulsion form 1944-1950. Even though Germany and many other countries are working towards understanding their impact in World War II and the Holocaust, the events surrounding the expulsion and the expulsion themselves have not yet been included in this discussion thus causing a delayed acceptance of flaws on the hands of those who committed the expulsion.

Works mentioned:

Connor, Ian. Refugees, and expellees in post-war Germany. New York: Manchester University Press, 2007.

Margalit, Gilad. Guilt, Suffering, and Memory: Germany Remembers its Dead of World War II. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.

Study Abroad / Austria in the war

On the last day of May 2009, just two weeks after the end of my junior year of college (undergraduate), I traveled abroad for my one-month study abroad program. I landed in Heathrow International Airport in London where I would spend the first two days of my trip before continuing on to Munich airport and then a bus ride to Salzburg, Austria.  The program I enrolled in gathered the students in London first for nothing other then sight-seeing. Two days in busy London was unbelievable as well as overwhelming. Between the traffic, it's directions, the loads of people, the Tube, and other visual stimulus, I seemed unable to become coherent. I will always be glad that I was with other students during these two days otherwise I would still be in London, forever attempting to get back to my hotel.

More importantly are the pieces of information that I would soon discover about Austria and its relationship with the war (the Second World War). As I traveled the two hours from Munich, Germany to Salzburg, Austria, I noticed the traditional (and often, stereotypical) farm houses that lay next to the Autobahn and roads. These houses represented traditions that may not have always been unified under one German speaking government.

While living in Salzburg for one month, the belief that the Austrian government was a willing participant in Nazism and welcomed the Anschluss with open-arms was reinforced. In Salzburg, for example, the "Stumbling Stones" often go unnoticed, memorials to soldiers killed during the war are out of view of tourists, and other plaques in memory of those victims of Nazism are few and far between. The impression a visitor receives is that the city, as well as the rest of the country, would rather forget the supposed forced occupation and mass murder of the country's Jewish population. The Jewish population of the Salzburg never recovered after the war. One survivor returned to the city and rebuilt the Synagogue - in a different location then the original, which was destroyed during the war. The Synagogue is out of tourist's view. The hostel I was staying in for the month was a ten minute walk from this synagogue and I never knew it. Today, there are only about 100 Jewish people living in Salzburg. It was not until 2007, that formal recognition was given to forced Jewish laborers and other forced laborers renovated the Staatsbrücke (city bridge; a major bridge in the city for cars and pedestrians) during the war. The city government was forced to place a plaque on the bridge in 2007, after more renovations, because of pressure from certain members of the community. Without their pressure, the memorial plaque would never have happened. The story of the Staatsbrücke proves Salzburg's inability to come to terms with its past.  The city is still very much conservative Roman Catholic.

No historian can state that the whole of Austrian society were willing supporters of Nazism. That would support the concept of collective guilt which is incorrect and inappropriate. Yet, the Austrian government has a duty to the Jewish and other Austrian victims of the Holocaust by recognizing and remembering that such events occurred in Austria.  Believing in the idea that the country of Austria as a whole was a victim of Nazism pushes all blame to Germany as the sole villain which is also incorrect. The Austrian government today needs to denounce the actions of Nazi-supporting Austrian officials from during the war as well as the Holocaust and persecution of Jewish populations. Without this, cities like Salzburg will never be able to overcome their conservatism, perceptions of history, and accept the destruction of their Jewish community which has been preventing the city from remembering their lost community.

Helpful sources:
For more information on AIFS Study Abroad, check out their website: 
http://www.aifsabroad.com/

Brief history of Salzburg's Jewish population:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Salzburg.html

Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Salzburg:
http://www.ikg-salzburg.at/