Subject and Thesis Statement
This chapter is devoted to the situation of Jewry in Western Europe during the Second World War. The main subject is the consideration of how the attitude towards the Jewish population in European countries was formed under the influence of Nazi policy. From the author’s point of view, at that time, the Jewish population was becoming an integral part of the population of European countries and actively integrated into their economic and social activities. Thus, the varying degree of interaction in the economic and political spheres influenced how Jewry was perceived and threatened due to the influence of Nazi ideology in Western Europe.
Summary of Content
The author divides the structure of the chapter according to the countries in which there was a significant change in the way of life of the Jewish population. First of all, Yehuda Bauer considers France, in which, according to her, anti-Semitic sentiments have historically been strong (Bauer 228). However, even despite this fact, the Jewish community was quite strongly integrated into the system of French economic and socio-political life. After the fall of the French army, the process of the Holocaust affected all segments of the Jewish population in France.
As a result of that, they had to move to the south of the country or migrate. Further, the author notes that a collaborationist government was established in France, which exerted intense pressure on Jewry (Bauer 229). Thus, the author develops his thesis that the influence on Jewish society was exerted in European countries with the close cooperation of the local government with Nazi Germany (Bauer 229). This influenced the fact that the Jewish population was forbidden to take part in society’s many social and economic processes.
Subsequently, the author examines the situation that occurred with Jewry in the French territories occupied by Italy. The main point here is worth noting that the author mentions this zone as the primary way to rescue the population (Bauer 236). However, the central contradiction here is that Italy was in allied relations with Italy at war. In this historical summary, the author seeks to show that some political figures or influential persons did not constantly interact directly with the Nazis (Bauer 237). Thus, even after the Gestapo, policies related to the oppression of Jews were treated more strictly, and workarounds and zones were organized through which the population had opportunities to save the Catholic and Protestant communities. Besides France, the author also highlights the events that took place in Belgium and Holland.
Critical Comments
It should be noted that the author reveals the topic in sufficient detail and supports the statements with various historical facts reflecting the political situation of Jewry in Western Europe. Consequently, the purpose of this chapter was to demonstrate how differently people and local governments interacted with the Nazis (Bauer 241). These relationships were perceived differently in the countries as they mainly depended on the intentions of Germany towards the historical attitude towards the Jewish population. The main contribution of this chapter is that the author provides much information about how the degree of integration of the Jewish population influenced how the government and the population itself perceived them.
Moreover, an important factor that this chapter contributes to the field of research is the coverage of differences between situations in different countries. It is worth noting here that the author uses a comparison between political and social factors that influenced the way Jewry was persecuted. The author demonstrates the historical aspect of how this happened in Holland and the political aspects, as in France, where the local government made a direct contribution to the deportation of the Jewish population (Bauer 240). The situation in these countries was similar to what was happening in France, but the Belgian Jewish population managed to survive the horrors of the war. However, the situation in Holland was different since the Nazis perceived this country as being politically directly related to Germany. Consequently, the policy of the Holocaust there was much stricter (Bauer 242). Thus, the author builds the narrative structure by giving examples of the struggle against Jewry and how it manifested itself in different Western European territories.
In addition, the factors of how the actions of certain people contributed to the deportation and persecution of the Jewish population are demonstrated. The author also considers this problem objectively since they use historical details for his statements. It was not noticed that the author tried to keep silent or omit any facts since statistics are provided that can be verified, for example, the number of deaths “75 percent of the Dutch Jewish population perished” (Bauer 243). Moreover, these data cannot be interpreted differently since the information is presented from a historical point of view regarding Jewry.
The author’s objectivity is achieved due to what ideas are being promoted within the framework of this chapter. Yehuda Bauer strives to identify the factors that led to the reality in which Jewry found itself. The sentiments and obstacles to the rescue of the population contributed to the fact that Nazi Germany managed to establish political control by creating a system of “death camps” (Bauer 230). The main statement that the author promotes is that from a political point of view, the deportation, tracking, and capture of Jews was carried out with the help of the local French government, which greatly influenced how many people died in the camps. However, the book does not tolerate issues or topics for discussion as it is a historical reference without the desire to discuss what happened. Thus, the main task of this chapter is to demonstrate how Jewry was persecuted and what consequences it led to.
Work Cited
Bauer, Yehuda. “West European Jewry 1940–1944.” A History of The Holocaust, Franklin Watts, 1982, pp. 227–43.