Anti-Zionist Jews keep repeating the mistakes of Nazi Germany.
History has a warning for Jewish anti-Zionists. It’s written in blood.
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This is a guest essay written by Dr. Rae who writes the newsletter, “Dr. Truthfinder.”
You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
One of the most irksome sentences in the English language: “As an American/Australian/Canadian/British/French/Argentinian/etc. Jew, I oppose Zionism.”
The message of today’s Jewish anti-Zionists is basically, “I’m not like those other Jews; Zionists are bad; I’m morally superior to them.”
If that has a familiar ring, it’s because a minority of 1930s German Jews thought the same. They assumed that Hitler’s policies would never apply to them, only to those strange Eastern European Jews who refused to assimilate, who embodied the stereotypes of shtetl Jews and primarily spoke Yiddish.
Some were Social Democrats or Communists. They were a sharp contrast to the long-standing Jewish communities in the Rhineland who spoke German and were not particularly distinguishable from non-Jewish Germans.
Guess what these German Jews discovered? The same thing that today’s anti-Zionist Jews will learn if they are ever in Hamas’ clutches.
Do the beliefs of anti-Zionist groups of today, who support Israel’s elimination despite the atrocities of October 7th, really differ from those of the German anti-Zionists at the dawn of the Nazi empire?
A minority of German Jews were anti-Zionists who felt that Jews should assimilate rather than strive for their own state. They considered themselves as German as everyone else. Until they discovered that most everyone else did not.
The German Jewish anti-Zionists, just like today’s anti-Zionists, strongly opposed a Jewish state and justified the attacks on “those other Jews.”
From The New York Times on August 18, 1934:
“We members of the League of National German Jews, founded in 1931, have always in war or peace placed the good of the German people and the German Fatherland above our own good. Accordingly, we greet the national uprising of January 1933, although it brought rigors for us, for we saw it as the only means to clear away the damage done in fourteen unhappy years by un-German elements.”
“We agree fully with the political testament of Reich President and Field Marshal von Hindenburg, who called the accomplishment of Reich Chancellor Hitler and his movement a decisive step of major historical importance and stated that reconciliation which will include the whole German fatherland must follow the national awakening and unification of the German people.”
I can only imagine the corresponding modern version: “We, the members of the League of [insert nationality] Anti-Zionist Jews, have always placed the good of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian lands above our own good. Accordingly, we greet the Gazan uprising of October 7th, although it brought death to fellow Jews, for we saw it as the only means to clear away the damage done by 70 unhappy years by Zionist elements.”
Furthermore: “We agree fully with the political testament of Columbia University’s Palestine Studies professors, who called the accomplishment of Hamas and their movement an ‘awesome’ step of major historical importance and stated that reconciliation which will include the whole Palestinian land from the River to the Sea must follow the national awakening and unification of the world against Israel.”
Nothing’s really changed. The anti-Zionist German Jews were also involved in boycotts, in the opposite way of today’s BDS movement. They fought against the international boycott of German goods that began in response to Nazi terrorism.
They were thus identifying with the aggressor — whether Hitler or Hamas — and unable to accept the reality that these organizations hate you and will murder you no matter how hard you grovel and try to pass as an “acceptable” Jew.
“Of course, the vast majority of Germany’s 525,000 Jews recognized that Nazism posed a threat,” wrote Dan Freedman, Senior Editor at Moment Magazine. “But a small number of politically conservative Jews saw themselves as indistinguishable from gentile Germans. They shared Hitler’s distaste for the Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar Republic.”1
“…Once Hitler came to power in 1933, conservative German Jews implored him to recognize them as loyal Germans,” added Freedman. “Their presence in the western part of Germany, they argued, dated back at least to Charlemagne and the Carolingian Dynasty, circa 800 CE. Many had fought in the trenches of World War I — some 12,000 Jewish soldiers had died fighting for Germany.”
“…Some conservative Jews believed Hitler stoked antisemitism only as a way to ‘stir up the masses,’” according to Sarah Ann Gordon in her 1984 book, “Hitler, Germans and the Jewish Question.” Others didn’t believe Hitler would last that long, considering the volatility of German politics.
“Jews on the right eventually realized that loyalty to Germany afforded them no protection against the Nazis,” wrote Freedman. “In the eyes of Hitler, they were simply Jews and not special. The Holocaust loomed before them, as it did for all German Jews and, indeed, the entire Jewish population of Europe.”
According to Sarah Ann Gordon, German Jews in the early 1930s were highly represented in white-collar jobs such as scientists, university professors, bankers, doctors, lawyers, writers, and actors. Between 1905 and 1931, 10 out of 32 German Nobel Prize winners in science were Jewish. None of that saved them from concentration camps.
And what was happening in the United States? A remarkable survey conducted in 1938 found that more than half of Americans blamed Europe’s Jews for their own treatment at the hands of the Nazis. This poll showed that 54 percent of Americans agreed that “the persecution of Jews in Europe has been partly their own fault,” with 11 percent believing it was “entirely their own fault.”
What about elite American colleges? Good old Harvard University, for example, formed a German club as soon as Hitler rose to power. Alas, they were barred from calling it “The Hitler Club,” with headquarters at “Hitler Haven,” not by Harvard administrators, but by Hitler himself. From The New York Times on April 5, 1934:
In another example of interesting parallels, in 1933, Columbia University’s president hosted the reception and lecture of the Nazi ambassador, Hans Luther, calling him the diplomatic representative of “a friendly people.”
In 1936, Columbia University accepted a gift of $9,000 (equal to $216,828 in 2025) for the “preparation of a document narrative history of the German Center party,” which had supported Hitler’s rise to power. Just like Qatar providing funding for Columbia University’s Middle East Studies program today!
Indoctrination does not happen overnight. It occurs incrementally, with desensitization increasing circumspectly, until beliefs that previously would have horrified ultimately seem justified. Militias acclimate their members to violence gradually, first, with fitness programs, then with minor crimes such as graffiti, then with full-on violence.
The persecution of German Jews in the 1930s also happened gradually. First, Jewish business boycotts, then Jewish exclusion from university and government positions, then restrictions from other white-collar professions, then removal of their citizenship, then registration of their assets, then marking their passports with the letter J, then Kristallnacht, then the yellow-star armbands, then the concentration camps, then the exterminations.
Terrorist organizations are acclimating the West to violence against Jews. First, by associating “anti-Zionism” with calls for peace and freedom in the West Bank and Gaza. Then, fanning the flames of boycott and divestment movements. Then, encouraging peaceful campus tent protests with rhyme chanting and arts and crafts. Then, calling for a “one-state solution.” Then, the removal of all Jews “from the River to the Sea.”
Then, violently chanting to intimidate and disturb other students. Then, restricting movements of visibly Jewish students on campus. Then, vandalism, causing tens of thousands of dollars worth of damages. Then, assaulting blue-collar campus workers who get in their way. Then, calling for murders of Zionists with posters reading, “Crush Zionism,” “The enemy will not live to see tomorrow.” and drawings of boots crushing a Jewish Star.
What do you predict the next steps will be?
Pity the people who say, “We will be found on the right side of history” — a frequent retort by anti-Zionists. Deep down, they know they are wrong but need to falsely reassure themselves.
The anti-Zionist German Jews thought they would be on the right side of history, too. No one thinks they are on the wrong side of history. To superciliously say so flaunts one’s narcissism and naïvety.
Can anti-Zionists really avoid Jewish communities, delis, and synagogues for the rest of their lives? Because the terrorist organizations they condone would bomb every one of them.
Most of the feedback I get is positive, but I occasionally get the random idiotic insult. Is that in some antisemitic playbook? Because the haters know that the typical Jewish soul wants to heal the world. In addition to being a writer, I might be a teacher, a therapist, a physician, a nurse, a scientist, or an attorney specializing in human rights. Someone who is deeply disturbed by silly slander.
Like most other Jews, it hurts my soul to see this suffering. I want it to stop, but it can’t while Hamas and other terrorist organizations have power. The enemy of peace is disinformation, and I will continue to fight it.
No Jews are dancing around celebrating the deaths of Palestinians. We were not cheering and chanting at dead babies in coffins, spitting on captured bodies, or triumphantly handing out candy. The current situation in Gaza is a horror show, created and directed by Hamas.
A tiny light has begun to shine in Gaza. Brave Palestinians are protesting against Hamas, despite Hamas torturing and murdering them. I believe they are sincere. It makes perfect sense; Hamas has ruined their lives. Hamas instigated Sharia law, segregated men from women, even forbid casual socialization between them. Hamas imprisoned, tortured, and/or killed anyone who spoke against them or for peace with Israel.
And, of course, Hamas is responsible for all of the deaths in this war. They could have stopped it any time by releasing the hostages and stepping down from power. But their hubris is stronger than any actual regard for their people.
Now-assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s life reads like a Greek tragedy. Initially a murderer of four Palestinians and two Israelis, he was given a chance to improve himself while imprisoned. He was allowed to enroll in 15 college courses, and his life was saved when an Israeli surgeon removed an aggressive brain cancer.
Instead of redeeming himself, he squandered away his opportunities. He used the classes to study the Israeli mindset, sure that he could beat them with superior psychology. He assured his fellow inmates that he would free them. When his plans backfired, he announced that he didn’t care if 100,000 Palestinians were killed, since their deaths were turning the world against Israel. He ends up destroying his people, and destroying the organization he had built in an attempt to destroy Israel. He died alone — an abandoned, weak, old man flailing at an Israeli drone.
Maybe Gazans don’t want to live in tragedy. Perhaps they are ready for peaceful coexistence. I’m waiting for Western protesters to nurture this brave little flame. If they actually care about Palestinians, they will realize that Israel is here permanently and any attempt to destroy it hurts both Jews and Palestinians.
What’s the delay?
I’ll assume they’re busy altering their signs to read “Israelis and Palestinians will be Hamas-free, from the River to the Sea” and “There is only one solution: coexistence.”
Shalom.
“Hitler’s Enablers Included Conservative German Jews.” Moment Magazine.
And this is often accompanied by a strong element of self-loathing among these types of Jews.
Sadly, unlike Nazi Germany, much of the world does not yet see through the propaganda of Hamas and the Islamist-Jihadist agenda. When they gain enough political power in Europe, the true horrors will become clear… and it will be too late.
I mostly can't get over the demonstrations by the Israeli left which also began soon after the war. They call for the release of the hostages as if our government is holding them rather than Hamas. Hamas attacked the biggest Israeli peaceniks yet the left howls. The Arab workers from Gaza gathered intelligence that was used on Oct 7 returning to kill the very people trying to help them. My brain can't process this.