POSTWAR: A Global History of the Second World War's Legacy

“Awda” means to return in Arabic, there is a  similar world in Hebrew “aliyah” which is reference to immigrating to Israel.  Though these words have similar meanings, they represent two radically different worlds. One that is Arab, one that is Jewish, and the home they wish to return to? A place known as Palestine and …

Continue reading “A Return Not Welcome”

If you were to visit the estate of notorious Nazi propagandist and war criminal Julius Streicher in 1946, you may have been surprised to see that the property had become the home of a group of Jewish teens and young … Continue reading →

Before the beginning of World War II, Zionists in Palestine, Europe, and America, were hard at work trying to create a national homeland for the Jewish peoples. Many different views were present within the Va’ad Leumi (National Council) of Palestine on how the ambition of Zionist ideology could be achieved. There was a distinct splitContinue reading “Zion: At What Cost?”

The Jewish population of Europe was devastated in the wake of World War II. Millions had been taken from their homes, worked to the point of death, and brutally murdered. Coming out of concentrations camps, places of refuge, or some … Continue reading →

As the Jewish population before, during, and after World War II is ranked high as a victim of the War, they did not relieve the reparations needed for consecutive relocations over the years.  The rapidly growing antisemitism in Western Europe caused the heightening Zionist movement advocating and calling for the Jewish Nation to protect its …

Continue reading “ZIONISTS AND JEWISH STATEHOOD”

It is safe to say the 1930’s and 40’s were not a good time for Judaism. Persecuted and nearly exterminated, European Jews drew the short straw during the second world war. Even after the German surrender their hardships were not over. Continuing to be ostracized by many of the communities they found themselves in, mostly …

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During WWII the Nazi’s used their position of power to orchestrate a horrifying genocide of the European Jewish population – the Holocaust. In Tom Segev’s article The Streets Are Paved with Money, he takes a look at the relationship between Palestine (a country with a significant Jewish presence) and Nazi controlled Germany during this time. …

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The Survivors: Where Did They Go? Given that the Holocaust was one of the most significant events of the twentieth-century, of course this topic is covered in public schools education to this day. However, the information provided in these classes and the perspective given to these students, is not the entirety of the events thatContinue reading “The Survivors: Where do They Go?”

The creation of a homeland is often deeply ingrained in community identity. The question of whether a community needs a specific piece of land is one of the themes of the readings for Holocaust and Homelands. Jewish people had been persecuted long before Hitler and the Nazi regime. Hitler used preexisting anti-Semitism to justify his …

Continue reading “Zionism”

Never Shall I Forget  Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall …

Continue reading “Facing the World”