Among my foci in my history degree was Nazi Germany. An observation I’ve long made about Germany is that its pursuit of destroying the Jewish people led to its own destruction. Not only the physical destruction, though that was immense. I meant its spiritual destruction. From the mid-18th century to prior to WW II, Germany was the center of philosophy, music, fine arts, science, etc. With enormous help from the US, Germany’s recovery from WW II was and has been impressive. Germany is thought of as a technical, mechanized, economically successful country.
But it has never regained its position as a thought and creative leader.
Germany hated Jews more than it loved Germany. If history has taught us anything, it’s that when you hate Jewish people more than you love yourself, you wind up losing. It might not be instantaneous, but eventually, it always happens. From the macro — such as the Farhud in Iraq — to the micro. My favorite example of the latter is Simon Guggenheim. Switzerland cared more about limiting Jewish opportunity, so Guggenheim emigrated and made his fortune in the US instead.
Historian Deborah Lipstadt has observed that anti-Semitism is irrational because its purveyors cannot be disuaded with any rational argument. I would argue that anti-Semitism, at its core, is also self-destructive. It’s hard to find a country that pursued a policy of eradicating its Jewish population that either still exists or is doing very well.
With all of the hate that has been floating around in recent years, and dramatically amplified since Oct. 7, I fear this country might be on a similar path.
Israel and Jews have become a convenient scapegoat, the entity on which to dump frustrations about real world grievances such as loss of prestige and economic downturn. Note: These are the exact same two issues that propelled Hitler to power.
But getting rid of the Jews, and getting rid of Israel, will not solve these problems, just like it didn’t for Europe, North Africa, the Middle East . . . the list goes on. In fact, it only harmed those places, because Jews were essential to those countries’ economics, politics and culture.
As Jewish Americans, we can do one simple thing: Continue living and speaking up for our American and Jewish values. That is the way to ensure our survival. No less than Mark Twain observed that it has never failed us.
© IJN 2026
