Holocaust Supremacism Poles Conciliatory Yet Attacked Berman

Holocaust Agendas, Conspiracies and Industries?: Issues and Debates in Holocaust Memorialization, by Judith E. Berman. 2006

Issues in Holocaust Supremacism. No Blame-Christianity German Guilt Diffusion. Holocaustianity. Polonophobia Even Though Polish Acquiescence to the Standard Holocaust Narrative

This book covers issues, among Jews and non-Jews, related to the legacy of the Holocaust. Contrary to its title, it only once mentions the Holocaust Industry at all, and then does not interact with it. It provides insights into the Jewish community in Australia, New Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, Great Britain.

HOLOCAUST SUPREMACISM IN THE USA: NOT EXACTLY A ZERO-SUM GAME, BUT CLOSE ENOUGH

The locus of Holocaust consciousness remains the USA, where it has grown to staggering proportions. She comments, (quote) Despite the passage of more than fifty years, interest in the Holocaust is now at an all-time high. There were more front-page stories in the NEW YORK TIMES related to the Holocaust in the first six months of the twenty-first century than during the entire twelve years of the Third Reich. In 2000, there were no fewer than 1,002 university courses on the Holocaust in the United States, taught at 324 different institutions. (unquote)(p. 1).

THE ORIGINS OF HOLOCAUST SUPREMACISM

Berman agrees that widespread Jewish and non-Jewish interest in the Holocaust did not develop until some thirty years after WWII. She traces it to such developments as Jews losing their fear that emphasizing their own suffering would go against the Anglocentric cultural consensus of their respective societies, or even promote anti-Semitism. Also important were the passing away of most Holocaust survivors, the Eichmann trial of 1961, and the Seven Day War of 1967.

ZIONISM DID NOT CAUSE HOLOCAUST SUPREMACISM: IT BENEFITTED FROM IT

The author rejects the supposition that interest in the Holocaust developed in order to promote agendas such as Zionism, although, of course, one can think of Holocaust consciousness arising first, and then secondarily becoming recruited to serve various agendas. In fact, she condemns what she considers misuses of the Holocaust by both non-Jews and Jews, and gives several examples of each. [However, this assumes that certain Jews control the narrative about the Holocaust, and that they are self-appointed arbiters of what is and isn’t the proper use of the Holocaust.]

NO GERMAN GUILT DIFFUSION: DOES NOT CONFUSE AGE-OLD GENERIC EUROPEAN ANTISEMITISM WITH EXTERMINATIONIST NAZI GERMAN ANTISEMITISM

Author Judith Berman rejects the portrayal of the Jewish victims as martyrs, primarily because the Jews had no choice. In doing so, she upholds the distinction between pre-Nazi and Nazi anti-Semitism, (quote) The inaccurate use of “martyrs” obfuscates the crucial distinction between traditional Christian anti-Semitism and Nazi racist anti-Semitism which was based on “blood” and “racial origin” which were permanent and therefore made change or coexistence impossible. (unquote)(p. 126).

Considering the common recent tendency to blur the two, perhaps owing to a growing anti-Christian bias in much of the West’s academia and media, along with the desire to shift the blame for the Holocaust away from where it belongs–the Germans–and onto designated targets (Christianity, Poles, etc.), this takes on further significance.

HOLOCAUST SUPREMACISM IN AUSTRALIA

Australian museums unambiguously promote understanding of the Holocaust as a unique event. (p. 46). When the genocides of non-Jews are mentioned, it is in a hierarchy with Jews at the top. (p. 47). As in the USA, newer trends have attempted to “universalize” the Holocaust [arguably in disingenuous Orwellian fashion] by the condemnation of “racism” and “intolerance”, but these trends—as well as non-Jewish genocides–remain subordinate to the hierarchy. (p. 122).

Some quoted Jewish leaders opposed promoting the Holocaust as unique because this could be perceived as insensitivity to the sufferings of non-Jews. (pp. 79-80). No kidding!

The reader who wants to go deeper in examining issues related to the Holocaust and its uniqueness should see the Peczkis Amazon Wish List: HOLOCAUST MISCONCEPTIONS…

HOLOCAUSTIANITY: A SUBSTITUTE RELIGION FOR JEWS

What about the Holocaust as a form of Jewish identity? Some Jewish educationalists, religious leaders, and scholars, in Australia, Britain, and New Zealand, believe that the Holocaust has been overemphasized to the point of becoming a spurious collective identification, and perhaps even becoming a substitute for Jewish spiritual life, faith, and culture as the foundation of “Jewishness”. (p. 65).

POLES MUST NOT DERIVE THE SLIGHTEST BENEFIT EVEN FROM THE STANDARD JEWISH-CENTERED APPROACH TO THE HOLOCAUST!

It goes without saying that the preeminence of the Holocaust that permeates western societies greatly benefits the Jews. That’s what it is for. However, for some Jews, even this lion’s share is not enough, and Jewish Polonophobia comes into play even here. Author Judith E. Berman comments, “Alarm was voiced that Jewish tourism would result in good public relations for Poland and that this would take the focus away from Polish anti-Semitism during and after the Second World War and the current uneasy state of Polish-Jewish relations…Moreover, it was argued that the trips would benefit the economy of an allegedly anti-Semitic Poland.” (p. 85).