Book contents
- Judaism, Antisemitism, and Holocaust
- Series page
- Judaism, Antisemitism, and Holocaust
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Judaism
- Part II Antisemitism
- Part III Holocaust
- 9 The Philosophical Foundation of the Holocaust
- 10 Killing God
- 11 The Nazi Refashioning of the Image and the Likeness
- 12 The Recovery of a Name after the Assault on the Name
- Bibliography
- Index
10 - Killing God
from Part III - Holocaust
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 March 2022
- Judaism, Antisemitism, and Holocaust
- Series page
- Judaism, Antisemitism, and Holocaust
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Judaism
- Part II Antisemitism
- Part III Holocaust
- 9 The Philosophical Foundation of the Holocaust
- 10 Killing God
- 11 The Nazi Refashioning of the Image and the Likeness
- 12 The Recovery of a Name after the Assault on the Name
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 10 shows how what began with philosophy’s rendering God superfluous ended in a war against the God of Abraham. Here we have the singularity of the Holocaust, which lies in a singular assault on the Jewish people as the perennial witnesses to that God the God of Abraham. Drawing on the testimony of the Holocaust diaries, written within the whirlwind of the assault on God, this chapter demonstrates that this defining feature of the Holocaust can be seen, for example, in the Nazis’ use of the holy calendar in the execution of their actions, in the prohibitions against prayer and Sabbath observance, in the destruction of synagogues and Hebrew Bibles, and in the targeting of children, elders, and mothers. What the diaries reveal about the essence of Holocaust that the historians cannot, it is argued, is this: The Holocaust was the systematic annihilation of not just of the bodies but of the souls of the Jews as a means of annihilating the God of the Jews. It is unprecedented and unparalleled.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Judaism, Antisemitism, and HolocaustMaking the Connections, pp. 205 - 228Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022