Anti-Semitic Propaganda - Essay Example

Both of these interesting stories are examples of anti-Semitic propaganda that tries to rewrite the history of the Second World War. Before discussing each story's credibility in turn, it is important to provide a brief overview of the historical record. Only then can we know what we are really talking about when it comes to the history of World War II and who was responsible for it.

World War II did not come out of the blue. It was a response, many historians believe, to the unequal treatment of Germany in the Treat of Versailles that ended the First World War. The unfairness was exploited by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to create the conditions for their murderous tyranny and the destruction of much of Europe. Those who suggest that the war had simpler origins, such as the exploitation of Germany by Jews—as both these stories suggest—are living in a fantasy world. Adolf Hitler was the victim of no one. He believed in the will to power and would let no one prevent him from achieving his aims. It is very true that Jews hated Hitler, but they hated him in response to his hatred of them and his rabid persecution of them. These stories are fabricated and are full of lies. They are typical examples of anti-Semitic propaganda.

Part of the reason that anti-Semitism is still around in these various forms is that it has a rich historical tradition (Lazare, 7). As the writer David Solway writes:

Anti-Semitism and its consequences, as they act themselves out in the social and historical realms, have gradually come to acquire the character of a deeply harbored expectation, a necessary effect of an immutable cause, as if it were a part of the phenomenal world, the prolonged absence of which dimly registers as a gap in the normal sequence of events. This gap or hiatus must be filled to restore the equilibrium of things, which is why anti-Semitism is felt as somehow legitimate. It is its recession that is intuited as unnatural (Solway).

These kinds of stories come from this tradition. As the true causes of the Second World War fade from memory and the Internet permits the dissemination of a wide range of information to whoever is interested, these kinds of stories can gain traction. It is important that we take a stand against them.

Freedman's work in particular is loathsome. The main trick he employs is to pretend to have some sort of credibility. Any credibility he might have is by association only. He is not a historian and it is impossible to judge his relationships with the people he claims he knows. What is easy to judge, however, is the authoritativeness of his comments. They have none. Perhaps psychologically impaired, perhaps malicious, the speech he makes is insensible and full of lies.

Anti-Semitism prevails wherever there are people who refuse to take a stand against it. It is a loathsome manner and it should be treated as such. These stories are based on lies.