Reflection on the Exploitation of the Jewish Suffering - Term Paper Example

An Analysis on Norman Finkelstein’s “The Holocaust Industry: Reflection on the Exploitation of the Jewish Suffering”             The dictatorship ofAdolf Hitler was based on the survival of the fittest. A sense of jingoism pervaded throughout the Nazi Germany during Hitler’s totalitarian rule. Hitler had always denigrated the race of the non- Aryans. This racial discrimination made him intolerant towards other nations and cultures. Hitler had definitely given Germany a recognizable position in world history but his adoption of certain policies like sending the Jews to the concentration camps marred his reputation. This was a black mark on his personality. The phenomenon of the Holocaust of the Nazi Germany involved the extermination of the Jews. In this genocide, six millions European Jews were killed during the Second World War. The Nazi authority also killed people from other factions like the Soviet prisoners of war, Polish civilians, homosexuals and physically retarded people. Therefore, from a broader perspective, the authority assassinated over eleven millions people of Europe. A special unit called Einsatzgruppen openly murdered the Jews and the political opponents. Various historians had penned this merciless act down. However, it has been now alleged to the American Jews that they are exploiting the memories of the Nazi holocaust to gain political influence and financial stability. This policy of the American Jews has been exposed in Norman Finkelstein’s The Holocaust Industry: Reflection on the Exploitation of the Jewish Suffering. According to the author, the Holocaust industry is perverting the Jewish culture. In my opinion the work is a document on the genocide of Nazi Germany and the emergence of the Holocaust consciousness. Finkelstein begins, ‘This book is an anatomy and an indictment of the Holocaust industry’. (Finkelstein, 3) The American Jews are now using the memory of the Nazi Holocaust as an ‘indispensable ideological weapon’ and has ‘acquired victim status’. (Finkelstein, 3) The introduction to the book contains autobiographical elements. The author’s parents were the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. He also refers to his father’s friend who after becoming the director of a Holocaust Israel museum could not restrain himself from power and profit. Finkelstein’s mother could never understand his indignant attitude towards ‘the falsification and exploitation of the Nazi genocide’. (Finkelstein, 7) As evident to me, the author does not favor the campaigns of the American Jews to extort money by presenting themselves as the victims of the Nazi rule. It is like distorting the history, which should not be altered at any cost. A nation’s pride is in ‘the integrity of the historical record’. (Finkelstein, 8) The author is of the opinion that the physical dimension of the Holocaust must be reduced and the moral values of the Israelites must be uplifted. He further adds that many a record on the Holocaust is adulterating the history behind it. The records are ‘a tribute not to Jewish suffering but to Jewish aggrandizement’. (Finkelstein, 8) I agree with the author that it is a moral travesty to compare the unhappy state of the two people in misery and say that one is happier than the other. The American Jews consider their situation as the most pathetic and ignore the plight of the other. The author reflects that a person named Gore Vidal said a man un-American on the ground that he gave more importance to the Civil Wars keeping aside his Jewish concerns. There are a number of tragic incidents in the history like the atomic bombing of Japan and the massacre of Pearl Harbor. Those incidents also killed multitudes. The question that the author strikes us with-Why the Jews was silent for such a long period?  He also observes that until 1960s there were only a few numbers of movies and books touching upon the subject of the German Holocaust. A Jewish explanation states that they were taken by the horrors of the Holocaust and remained in a shock for a time. However, Finkelstein opines that the American silence was due to the conformist policies of ‘the American Jewish Leadership and the political climate of post war climate’. (Finkelstein, 13) By the year 1949, the West Germany became a crucial power. It was one of the American allies to fight against the Soviet Union. The gradual empowerment of Germany was followed by threats from the other nations and at that juncture the Jews posed themselves as the victims of the Holocaust. The Holocaust industry forced the Swiss bank to provide financial aid of half billion dollars ‘to locate all un-claimed Holocaust era assets’. (Finkelstein, 175) The author finds how various institutions are raised by the American Jews and the way of extorting money from the Switzerland, Germany and any other nation that can be accused of Nazi brutality. The modern Germany has already shown their atonement for the sins committed in the Nazi era. They have provided financial aid. The emergence of the industry was due to the growing numbers of movies and museums in the late 1970s. There was the resurrection of the Holocaust phenomenon into the popular culture. A few directors showed unbounded sympathy towards the Holocaust of the Nazi Germany. According to them, the holocaust denial might not be a major problem but its ignorance could not be accepted. The indifference to the Holocaust incident was like an assault on the memory. The movie “Schinder’s List” was phenomenal in rekindling the Holocaust consciousness. This paved way for making a sentimental issue out of it and earning compensations. Novick had also reported on the four Encyclopedias speaking loads on the Holocaust of the Nazi time and resurrected the image of the Holocaust in the minds of the people. It is said that each identity is grounded in ‘the history of oppression’ (Finkelstein, 32) and for the Jews it is the Holocaust through which they seek their ethnic identity. In my opinion, The Holocaust industry is a controversial study and Norman Finkelstein makes an interrogative approach to the realm of Holocaust industry. He has analyzed in the book how the Holocaust industry has become a part of the American culture. He also throws light on the recent agreement on the Holocaust compensation. The Arab-Israel War of 1967 was the platform that gave Israel an International status and the room to popularize the Holocaust consciousness. The leaders of the American Jewish community were delighted to see such dominance of Israel. For the last thirty years, numerous laws have been passed to ensure a complete silence on this incident of the history. Laws have been passed to ban the use of the term Holocaust for any other activities of genocide. Finkelstein condemns the Holocaust industry, as it is of no use to a make a journey down the memory lane, which is discomforting. History should not be manipulated at any cost. The historical events are a nation’s assets and it should remain integrated. These aggrandizements cannot be tolerated.  Every nation has a history of oppression and the fact that Israel was denied of identity for a long period made the Nazi Holocaust a platform to gain ethnic and political recognition. The strong defense of the Holocaust brand progresses at an accelerated rate and the leaders of this passive yet strong movement are playing with numbers to raise their monetary funds.  According to me, the reason behind Finkelstein writing this book is that he wants to curb the Holocaust consciousness and reveal that to the world at large the corruption involved the Holocaust industry. The desire for power and recognition on the part of the American Jews and the Israelites is augmenting day by day and they are cashing on the memory of genocide. Finkelstein through this book lay bares the Jewish policy of shedding crocodile tears. Work Cited Finkelstein, Norman, The holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of the Jewish Suffering, London, Verso, 2003            Read More