Introduction
The tragedy of the Holocaust, which occurred more than half a century ago, continues to be the topic of political and religious discussions. Even though the Nazi regime of Germany sought to destroy all European Jews, some still managed to survive. However, after the end of the war, the calamities for the Jews did not end. Many Holocaust survivors faced constant threats, anti-Semitism, and persecution as they tried to build a new life.
Those who could not or did not want to return to their pre-war homes often found themselves in camps for displaced persons. Before and after the Holocaust, there were and continue to be problems with Jewish identity. Disputes continue to go on; what is the nature of Jews, is it their ethnic origin or religion? The Holocaust had a considerable impact on the lives of Jews, but did not significantly affect Judaism; however, it became the trigger for the creation of the state of Israel.
Background
Evidence illustrates that the Holocaust significantly impacted the lives of Jews. After coming to power in Germany, the Nazis did not immediately begin to commit mass murder. However, they quickly used their powers and excluded Jews from German society, making them the target of persecution. Among other anti-Semitic measures, the Nazi German government adopted discriminatory laws and used violent actions against Jews in Germany.
From 1933 to 1945, the persecution of Jews by the Nazis became more and more radical. In 1933, the largest Jewish population was concentrated in Eastern Europe, including Poland, the Soviet Union, Hungary, and Romania (Keßler et al., 2022). During the Holocaust, about 6 million Jews suffered from the repressive regime. The Nazis persecuted Jews because they were radical anti-Semites. This means that they treated Jews with prejudice and hatred. Anti-Semitism was one of the central tenets of their ideology and was the basis of their worldview.
Throughout the territory controlled by Germany and its allies, the persecution of Jews took various forms. For example, legal discrimination in the form of anti-Semitic laws, various forms of public identification and exclusion, organizational violence, internment, and forced labor (Katz, 2020). This tragedy considerably influenced the lives of Jews and Judaism in general.
Judaism Before the Holocaust
Throughout history, Jews have faced prejudice and discrimination, known as anti-Semitism. Expelled by the Romans almost two thousand years ago from the land now called Israel, they scattered around the globe and tried to preserve their unique beliefs and culture, living in the minority (Klawans, 2020).
Before the Nazis came to power, many Jews rarely or never attended European synagogues. However, most continued to celebrate Jewish holidays. A minority of Jews in Germany strictly observed Jewish religious rites. Some Jews were poor, while most Jews belonged to the middle class. Many Jews considered themselves a religious group professing Judaism.
Others considered themselves an ethnic group; they considered themselves ethnic Jews but did not profess Judaism. Jewish intellectuals and religious leaders have discussed the impact of modern life in Europe on Jewish traditions (Johnstone & Cohen, 2019). There was a wide range of opinions between those who believed in the strict preservation of Jewish customs and those who believed that Jewish religious practices needed to be adapted to modern life.
Judaism After the Holocaust
Persecution and genocide have influenced Jewish religious practice in different ways. When the Nazi regime and its accomplices exerted more pressure, Jews had fewer opportunities to maintain and observe religious traditions. Nazi ideology identified and persecuted Jews primarily based on ideas about race, not religion. Many people who converted to the Christian faith and assimilated were still considered Jews based on Nazi definitions of race (Katz, 2020).
Nevertheless, many Nazi leaders, German officials, and collaborators also held anti-Semitic views rooted in traditional anti-Jewish prejudices based on religious fanaticism. Because of this, attempts by religious Jews to observe holy commandments during this period of persecution often encountered difficulties that non-observant Jews did not face. Religious Jews and their leaders have faced unprecedented situations and dilemmas. For many Jews who faced persecution under Nazi rule, spiritual practice played an essential role in their struggle for survival (Keßler et al., 2022).
However, identity problems were not solved after the Holocaust. There is still debate about whether Jewish identity is religious or ethnic, or ethnoreligious (Braiterman & Anderson, 2019). The Holocaust significantly impacted this, but the effect was different in different parts of the Jewish community. Some people call it a call to return to orthodox religious rites. For others, it is a call to integrate into the non-Jewish world to avoid similar things in the future.
For many Jews who faced persecution under Nazi rule, religious practice played an essential role in their struggle for survival. Another consequence of the Holocaust can be considered the creation of Israel. It was dictated by the centuries-old desire of the Jews to revive the national heart in their historical homeland and mass persecution, which urgently demanded a politically guaranteed asylum for the Jewish people. After the horrors of German Nazism, people wanted to create their own state.
Evaluation
Thus, comparing the problems of Judaism before and after the Holocaust, one would notice that they have a common feature – the issue of identity. Before the Second World War, specific religious and cultural problems existed. Their lives had no unity, as there were different cultural, linguistic, and religious traditions. Some Jews observed unique religious and cultural traditions, and many were not religious.
Others had the same national cultures, languages, and self-identification as their non-Jewish neighbors. This was because Jews lived in entirely different countries with different cultural traditions. Since Jews did not have their own state, this did not contribute to solving identity problems.
Moreover, the Holocaust did not contribute to the unification of religious traditions. Many had difficulty accepting that a loving God could allow this to happen to good and faithful people. However, many, on the contrary, sought solace in faith.
Also, one of the significant events of Judaism is the creation of the State of Israel because the oppressed Jews wanted to have a state where they would not have to live with the horrors of the past and create their own culture, traditions, and community (Samardzic et al., 2021). Thus, before and after the Holocaust, the problem of the development of Judaism and its integration into modern society persisted. There was and continues to be a problem with the nature of Jewish identity.
Conclusion
Summing up all the above, the Holocaust is a traumatic event for the whole world and, to a greater extent, for Jews, which significantly impacted their lives. This difficult period united Jews worldwide, creating the State of Israel. However, before and after the Holocaust, Jews did not agree on cultural and religious traditions.
Similarly, while many Jews turned to faith to preserve their religious and ethnic identity as much as possible, others, on the contrary, under the influence of the Holocaust, decided to abandon Judaism so that similar events would occur more often in the life of the Jewish people. At the moment, the divisions in Judaism remain the same as before the Holocaust. Will the Jews ever be able to resolve these differences?
References
Braiterman, Z. J. & Anderson, I. L. (2019). Ethics and Suffering since the Holocaust: Making Ethics “First Philosophy” in Levinas, Wiesel, and Rubenstein. Modern Judaism – A Journal of Jewish Ideas and Experience, 39(1), 114–118. Web.
Johnstone, B., & Cohen, D. (2019). Chapter 6: Faith Traditions, Spiritual Transcendence, and Selflessness. Neuroscience, Selflessness, and Spiritual Experience, 10, 109-129. Web.
Katz, S. T. (2020). The issue of the uniqueness of the Holocaust: after forty years of study. Modern Judaism, 40(1), 48-70. Web.
Keßler, K., Ross, S. M., Staudinger, B., & Weik, L. (2022). Jewish Life and Culture in Germany after 1945: Sacred Spaces, Objects and Musical Traditions. De Gruyter.
Klawans, J. (2020). Imagining Judaism after 70 CE. A Companion to Late Ancient Jews and Judaism: Third Century BCE to Seventh Century CE, 201-215. Web.
Samardzic, A., Kowalsky, Y., Zylstra, M., Gutgarts, E., & Suzuki, L. (2021). Holocaust survivorship and religiosity: Meaning and identity. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 31(8), 1077-1090. Web.