Holy Hatred: Christianity, Antisemitism, and the Holocaust

265 Pages·2006·0.764 MB·English

by  Robert Michael

HOLY HATRED:
CHRISTIANITY,
ANTISEMITISM, AND
THE HOLOCAUST
Robert Michel
ADDITIONAL PRAISE FOR HOLY HATRED:
“This work is a thorough treatment of an immense topic. So
much has been written about Christian antisemitism, and about
the Holocaust, that general readers can sometimes lose sight of
the fact that an intimate causal relationship existed between the
two. All that had gone before, it seemed, allowed the Holocaust
to happen––indeed, it might be said that the Holocaust was in
fact the culmination of the previous twenty centuries of Christian
animosity towards Jews, a hostility that only intensified with each
passing year. Robert Michael has crafted a timely study which
deserves to be read by specialist and non-specialist alike, the bet-
ter to understand the dynamics of Christian Jew-hatred from the
time of the early Church fathers to Hitler and beyond. Michael is
to be congratulated on bringing light to an area that has in the
past all too frequently been darkened by the clouds of supersti-
tion, bigotry, and denial. This work is, in short, a praiseworthy
achievement––a model of its kind.”––Paul R. Bartrop, Honorary
Research Fellow, The Faculty of Arts, Deakin University, and
Head of History, Bialik College
“Holy Hatred is a masterful, beautifully written study of how
Christianity and the churches shaped and sustained a lethal anti-
semitism for almost two millennia. With a full command of both
primary and secondary sources, Robert Michael exposes the
extent and continuity of Christian racial and theological anti-
semitism from the earliest foundations of the Church through the
Holocaust. Michael powerfully delineates nearly two millennia of
the obsessive Christian teachings that dehumanized Jews and the
behavior [Christians] justified, including the numerous calls to rid
the world of Jews and Judaism. The author shows the critical
importance of Christian antisemitism to German and Austrian
Nazis at all levels and to the vast populations that sustained them.
In unforgettable, even shocking, portraits, Michael reveals the
extent to which Christian antisemitism shaped the views of lead-
ing German literary figures, composers, philosophers, and politi-
cal thinkers from left to right. A brilliant work, the work of a true
master, a powerful and courageous study, unlike that of so many
who have written on the subject of antisemitism, who have cho-
sen to appease Christians and Christianity. Future studies of the
Holocaust or of antisemitism will have to address Michael’s work.
This is a unique and extremely important book!”
––Eunice G. Pollack, University of North Texas
“Following in the footsteps of Poliakov and Flannery, this book
offers a powerful description of Christianity’s intimate involve-
ment with Judeophobia and anti-Semitism from the gospels for-
ward. In the later chapters, which focus on Central Europe in the
modern period, the author pulls no punches in describing the reli-
gious traditions and historical precedents upon which the Nazis
drew.”––Peter J. Haas, Abba Hillel Silver Professor of Jewish
Studies, Chair, Department of Religious Studies, and Director,
The Samuel Rosenthal Center for Judaic Studies, Case Western
Reserve University
“If anyone still remains ignorant of the Christian origins of anti-
Semitism––ancient and modern––and its contribution to the
Holocaust, this book will remedy that bliss: clearly, and in com-
prehensive detail. Organized, institutionalized defamation of Jews
and Judaism is shown to derive from the Christian Bible and its
sainted interpreters, while incitement to murder Jews begins with
the Church Fathers, Popes, and holy men and contaminates the
Christian and Secular West. A history of Christianity’s crusading
sins against Jews, Judaism, and God, in thought, word and
deed.”––Richard Elliott Sherwin, Professor, Bar-Ilan University
Holy Hatred: Christianity,
Antisemitism, and the Holocaust
BY
ROBERT MICHAEL
HOLYHATRED
© Robert Michael,2006.
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2006 by
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ISBN-13:978–1–4039–7471–6 hardback
ISBN-10:1–4039–7471–3 hardback
ISBN-13:978–1–4039–7472–3 paperback
ISBN-10:1–4039–7472–1 paperback
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Michael,Robert,1936–
Holy hatred :Christianity,antisemitism,and the Holocaust /
Robert Michael.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–7471–3 (hardcover :alk.paper)––
ISBN 1–4039–7472–1 (pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Christianity and antisemitism––History.
2.Judaism––Relations––Christianity.3.Christianity and other
religions––Judaism.4.Holocaust,Jewish (1939–1945)––Causes.
I.Title.
BM535.M52 2006
261.2(cid:2)6––dc22 2006043778
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd.,Chennai,India.
First edition:October 2006
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
This book is dedicated to all those people whom
I love and who bless my life. In particular,
my wife Susan, and my children Stephanie,
Andrew, and Carolyn.
The unexamined life is not worth living.
—Plato, The Apology 38a.
Help others, be compassionate, and, at the least, do no harm.
—The Buddha
Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
—Micah 6:8
If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what
am I? If not now, when?
—Rabbi Hillel, the Elder
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like
it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments.
—Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 22
Without memory there can be no redemption.
—Ba’al Shem Tov
Courage is a person who keeps on coming on. Slow him down, maybe, but you
can’t never defeat him.
—Leander McNelly, Captain, Texas Rangers
Be a human being first, a Christian second.
—Nikolai Grundtvig, Danish theologian
The Christians say they love him, but I think they hate him without knowing it.
So they take the cross by the other end and make a sword out of it and strike us
with it!...They take the cross and they turn it around, they turn it around,
my God.
—André Schwarz-Bart, The Last of the Just
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. Christianity, Antisemitism, and the Holocaust 1
2. The Church Fathers 15
3. Medieval Violence 45
4. The Germanies from Luther to Hitler 105
5. Christian Antisemitism, the German People,
and Adolf Hitler 153
Postscript 185
Notes 187
Index 239
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following. The libraries without whom this book
would have been impossible: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth,
Brandeis University, Brown University, Harvard University, Yale University,
Ringling School of Art & Design. My colleagues at the University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth and at the Humanities Network headquartered
at Michigan State University. My teachers at Boston University, Columbia
University, Brooklyn College, and the University of Connecticut. The
Commonwealth of Massachusetts that supported research grants to me as a
faculty member in the commonwealth’s higher education structure. In par-
ticular, this book would not have been possible without the guidance of
Professor Peter A. Bertocci, late of the Philosophy Department of Boston
University, who, I am sure, continues to inspire students from a higher
mountain.