- Published: December 17, 2021
- Updated: December 17, 2021
- Level: Intermediate School
- Language: English
- Downloads: 4
A headline d Judea Declares War on Germany, appeared in The Daily Express of London on March 24, 1933 (Johnson 2001). It showed how Jewish leaders were urging Jews all over the world to unite and boycott all German goods. Germany’s economy was already suffering and inflation was at its worst. The new Hitler’s Regime was unable to stabilize its political, social and economical situation when it had to deal with the Jewish declaration of a holy war against Germany (Johnson 2001). Revelation of this article has led many historians to review the events leading up to the reprisals taken by Hitler and his government against the Jewish uprising. Some have argued, that there were already Anti-Semitic feelings in Europe long before Hitler’s Regime and the international boycott by the Jewish community served as the ” the first shot fired in the Second World War” (Johnson 2001). Even though it is true that the Jewish leaders, such as Rabbi Stephen Wise of the American Jewish Congress, were urged to forego these tactics, they did not relent and continued to boycott in hopes of destroying Germany’s economy, industries, and government (Johnson 2001). Despite the boycott, violent feelings, and insults spread about the Germans, it does not justify the brutal measures Hitler and his Regime took in retaliation. The mass effort to confine them in concentration camps or ship them out to Palestine in collaboration with the Zionists was underhanded, unjust, and malicious (Johnson 2001). Boycotting, printing news paper articles, and declaring speeches against Hitler and his Regime was still nothing compared to what Hitler and his government did to the Jews. Boycotting goods in order to deal a blow to a country’s economy hardly warrants imprisonment in gas chambers, persecution, and violence carried out against millions. Could a simple headline really be equivalent to a shot that started WWII? The Jews were already targeted and persecuted in Europe and Hitler wanted them out of his country long before the boycotting. The article and its interpretation as a holy war declared by the Jews was just a lame excuse in order to carry out the monstrous atrocities witnessed by many during The Holocaust. Works Cited Johnson, M., R. The Jewish Declaration of War on Nazi Germany: The Economic Boycott of 1933. The Barnes Review, Feb., 2001. Web. 26 Apr. 2011