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After Liberation - Until 1948 when Israel is Formed
A lot of Holocaust research tends to be over the time period 1942 to
1945 from its apex, to the decline of Nazi power in Europe. It is interesting
to see what happens after Hitler’s reign of power ends and what the Jews
decide to do at this point. The Holocaust is one of the most terrible
things to happen to a race of people in history, and the Jews have been
reduced to a mere fraction of what they had once been in numbers. Their
survival will depend on a determination to exist and overcome the most
horrific campaign to destroy them since biblical times.
According
to Holocaust History, the Nazi’s tried their best to eliminate all of
the Jews in Europe, and almost accomplished this goal. At the conclusion
to World War 2, Europe is in terrible shape. Jews and other war survivors
are left with the ruin of what used to be their homes, businesses, and
cities, now no more than broken down piles of rubble and painful memories.
These refugees of war are known at the time as “displaced persons” or
also known as “DP’s”, who surprisingly only a small number in comparison
are actually Jewish. One would think, that considering the focus of Liberation
was to free the Jews specifically from their horrible existence, that
the majority of DP’s would be Jewish. That is simply not the case.
In adition, the number of people that needed to be resettled at the time
is almost an unmanageable number. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration (UNRRA) initially tried to accomplish this goal, but soon
after taking on the responsibility it is determinedinadequate in its ability
to accomplish what it had intended. With the dissemination of the UNRRA,
a new organization (The International Refugee Organization) is put in
charge of finding the 1,200,000 Jewish and non-Jewish people homes and
a stable environment in which they could exist. With the resettlement
of about a million DP’s, it is easily seen that the IRO was a better solution
then the UNRRA (What Happened to the Jews?).
The need for the Jews to have their own independent state is very clear.
Living among other peoples has not afforded the Jewish race any favors,
there past being riddled with persecution, unfortunate occurrences, and
overall a hard existence. The foundation for the birth of Israel is easily
seen, more so after the Jews are liberated at the end of World War 2.
According
to a lecture giving by EllyDlin, there are three primary reasons for the
Jews in the establishment of Israel. The first reason is a personal, psychological
standpoint. What had once been strong, flourishing Jewish communities
had been turned into no more than broken down, ransacked, and hollow versions
of what they had once been. The once proud and healthy establishments
now the product of unbearable memories of what had been stripped from
them, and no way to return them to their former glory.
Dlin continues in the second reason stating the political, sociological
standpoint. Discrimination for the Jewish people did not stop at the end
of the Nazi rule; on the contrary it was just as strong, if not stronger
than it had been. The people who had lived with the Jews had been a part
of removing them from their former places of residence and were no eager
to see them return. The new residents were not about to relinquish what
they had unjustly appropriated when the Jewish community was removed,
and they were afraid that with the return of the former owners, they would
be blamed for collaborating with the Nazi’s to have them removed in the
first place so they could move in and acquire what the Jewish community
left behind. If the Jews were allowed to return then they could possibly
identify those responsible for some of their pain and suffering, which
presented a threat to the new inhabitants.
Dlin finishes her hypothesis in the third reason, stating a national,
Zionistic standpoint. Two thirds of the Jewish nation in Europe had been
killed during the Nazi’s rule. The Polish and Lithuanian Jewish populace
had all but been eradicated. One could be persuaded that this was in large
part due to the fact that the Jews lived among all these other nationalities,
and did not have a nation of their own. Considering this, the Jews were
subjected to whatever laws the nations they resided in deemed appropriate,
even the ones they were specifically designed to destroy them (Dlin).
According
to the webpage The Creation of Israel, the Jews had nowhere to return
to, no place that they could call their own and with this in mind, the
seeds of Israel took root and began to grow. The time for the Jewish nation
to start looking out for itself was now; no one else seemed inclined to
treat them kindly and fairly. As a people they have been reduced to a
mere fraction of what they once had been. If they intended on surviving
as a people they had to have a steadfast determination, and they had fight
every step of the way for a place that by their birthright they considered
their holy land.
Consequently, the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of a
plan that would partition what is at the time Palestine and give it to
the Jews, thus creating the state of Israel. The current residents did
not agree with this solution and war broke out between the Jew and the
Arabs almost immediately after. The fighting continued on unabated for
a year until concessions could be made.
After coming out of one of the worst wars in history, one cold believe
that the Jews and Palestinians were ready to end hostilities and get on
with normal life again, so in 1949, Israel signed separate cease-fire
agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan, and Syria. This allowed Israel
to draw its borders, which ended up being 70% of Palestine; way over what
the UN partition plan intended them to have. These borders are now known
as the “Green Line” (Creation of Israel).
Finally, the Jews have a place to call their home. The effect of the creation
of the state of Israel could only be seen as a beacon of hope for the
Jews in the aftermath of one of the greatest tragedies to ever befall
a race in the history of our planet.
The
website, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum states that as a result
of the creation of their new home, The Jewish people now had their own
place to exist. DP’s and other Jews from around the world started pouring
into the new, independent state. Now they could be free from the persecution
they were forced to endure at the hands of the Nazi’s and other nations
that had so callously allowed such atrocities to befall them. By 1953,
a large number of Jews and other DP’s had immigrated to Israel (United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Even with the institution of Israel as its own independent state, the
road for the Jewish people isn’t going to be an easy one by any stretch
of the imagination. Looking to a positive note in closing, we look to
a quote from Professor E. Gutman on Israel’s Declaration of independence:
We are witnessing today, thus, the continuing development of the democratic
State of Israel, based on the values of freedom, justice and peace, as
cited in the Declaration. Furthermore, the Declaration’s calls for ‘bonds
of cooperation and mutual help’ and ‘a common effort for the advancement
of the Middle East’ are being realized in the continuing peace process
between Israel and her Arab neighbors. (Gutman)
Works Cited
-Gutman. E."The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of
Israel." Jewish Virtual Library.American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise
N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
-The Aftermath of the Holocaust.United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumN.p.,
n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
-“Formation of Israel”.Theocracy Watch N.p.,
n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
-Dlin, Elly."Did the State of Israel Come About Because of the Holocaust?"
N.d. Address. The Jewish Agency for Israel.The Jewish Agency.N.d.
Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
-"What Happened to the Jews After the Holocaust?" The Holocaust
History Project.
N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
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