Germany, Zionism and the Jews. A Few Historical Notes. Part One.
Contents:
Introduction. Edom and Others.
The Templers and the German Colony in Jerusalem.
Germans, Zionism, and Jews
Personal Note of Yair Davidiy
The Kaiser and Amalek
William Hechler
The Germans Saved the Jews of Palestine in Wordl War 1!
1. Introduction. Edom and Others.
Our present (still in progress) ongoing series concerning Esau and Edom touches on Germany since Edom became prominent amongst the Germans. This does not mean that most Germans are Edomites. On the contrary, other sources trace the Germans to Gomer (Ashkenaz, Togarmah, Riphah) and to Magog and even in part to the Canaanites. As well as to others.
Many Israelites were once in Germany but most left in the Great Migrations to the USA of the 1870s and later. Whole communities and social groups evacuated the region of Germany and went overseas as if pushed by a Divine Force as recorded elsewhere. We have shown that these Germans were (on the whole, with exceptions) of different origins from most of those who stayed behind.
Since the Holocaust the Germans in Jewish and West European consciousness have been associated with an evil Hatred of the Jews.
The Germans (and others e.g. Austrians) in WW2 did identify with Hitler and medium sized (he was 5' 8") Adolf the pervert did give expression to an aspect of the German National Soul.
Without Hitler our perception of the Germans may have been different. Or it might not. The attitude of the Germans to the Jews has always been ambivalent. Today Germany is considered one of the best friends of the State of Israel. How genuine German friendship towards the Jews really is today is difficult to say.
It is definitely good policy for Germany. It is within the interests of Germany to be friendly towards Israel and the Jews, at least for now. Â That is the offcial policy. Concerning the man-on-the-street however different sentiments prevail. Statistically it is claimed that ca. 60% of Germans believe that Israel is waging a war of extermination agaisnt the Palestinians. It is not. Far, far from it. Just the opposite. The Palestinians are thriving in Israel more than in the Arab countries. [In our opinion Israel should transfer them elsewhere but it is not doing so and is not liable to do so, unfortunately, in the near future.] The only explanation for such a widespread gross inimical misconception must be that the Germans basically still hate Jews and are projecting their own dark urges on their would-be victim.
Our own organization, Brit-Am, has or had a few sympathizers in Germany and some of our articles have been translated into German.
See: Deutsche Brit-Am
On the other hand many of our supporters and sympathizers (as if we have that many!) are descended from ancestors who came from Germany.
So too, amongst our South African supporters.
Even though we emphasize that most of those who left Germany in the 1700s and 1800s were different from the others their physical descendants sometimes (but definitely not always) feel a little uneasy in the face of opinions not friendly towards Germans.
Anyway the notes below are not meant to be a comprehensive authoritative study but rather points of interest for the sake of gaining an historical perspective.
2. The Templers
The Templers were a German Protestant sect who branched off from the Pietist Movement (New Birth Fundamenatlist type) movement within the Lutheran Church.
Main Souce: Templers (religious believers). From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
# The Templers were expelled from the [Lutheran] church in 1858 because of their millennial beliefs. Their aim was to realize the apocalyptic visions of the prophets of Israel in the Holy Land. Membership in the Temple Society, as of 2009, is about 1000 members.
.# ..their aim was to promote spiritual cooperation to advance the rebuilding of the Temple in the Holy Land, Palestine, in the belief that thist foundation will promote the second coming... On their course to achieve that goal, their contributions towards raising the standards of agriculture, crafts, scientific research, business and building in an undeveloped province under Ottoman rule were significant. Many see them as an indispensable aid in the early establishment of the Yishuv [early Jewish settlement in Palestine of the Modern Era], and perhaps a role model for the Zionist Movement of the time. #
The Templers had settlements in Haifa, Jaffa, Sarona (near Jaffa-Tel Aviv), and Jerusalem.
The Templer settlement in Jerusalem gave rise to what is known as the German Colony ("HaMoshava HaGermanit" in Hebrew) centered around the Emek Rafaim thoroughfare. The neighborhood is still officially and unofficially known as the German Colony. It is now part of the new city of Jerusalem and Jews live there. It is an upper middle-class prestigious area. Yair Davidiy once lived there for several months and has friends there.
[ I could never understand why the Jews allowed and still allow the place to retain its name as the German Colony. In World War -1 throughout Britain and the British Empire places and people (including the King of England and his family) who had German names changed them to Anglican ones. The Jews suffered from the Germans far more than the British did so why do they retain a name testifying to German presence? Hardly any Germans live there nowadays so why keep the name? For all the Jewish pride and self-respect and Israeli Redemptionist sentiments in my opinion in some ways the Jews still suffer psychologically from having been subservient to the Gentiles for thousands of years.
Not changing the name of the "German Colony" to something more Jewish of Biblical is a symptom of this. ]# While in Germany the Templers were regarded [as] sectarians, the Evangelical proselytes [Jews and Arabs who converted to Christianity but were not associated with the Templers] gained major financial and mental support from German Lutheran and united church bodies. This created an atmosphere of mistrust and envy among the colonists of different denominational affiliation. #
In 1898 Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Palestine. Following the visit support for the Templers increased. At its height, the Templer community in Palestine numbered 2,200.
The British took control of Palestine in 1917. Many of the Templers were deported and Templer property was confiscated. Later part of the property was returned or a partial compensation was given.
In 1922 the British received the Mandate over Palestine from the League of Nations though the British had been ruling there since 1917.
After the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933 they began a process of Nazifying German colonies and settlements in foreign lands. Descendants of Germans (or non-Germans who had adopted the German language) were to be found in isolated communities throughout eastern Europe. They were to be instrumental in WW2 in helping the Germans control the civilian populations in occupied countries and in helping to round up Jews and kill them.
The Nazis applied their propaganda efforts alongside political and economic pressure to the Templers in Palestine. Many of the younger generation were strongly influenced whereas the older ones showed more resistance.
Jewish residents remember a sign, similar to signs then prevalent in Germany, at the entrance to the German colony in Sarona saying, "No Entrance to Jews or Dogs".
# By 1938, 17% of the Templers in Palestine were members of the Nazi party.#
When WW2 broke out the British deported most of the Templers sending many to Australia. Others were exchanged for Jews living in Germany.
3. Germans, Zionism, and Jews
The Jews had been in Germany since the earliest times, in fact Jews had been there before most of the Germans.
The Jews suffered constantly and grievously under German rule even though many Jews identified with the Germans. There were also converts of Germans to Judaism and Jews who became German Gentiles. Before the Nazis the Germans had an ambivalent attitude towards Zionism. Theodor Herzl himself came from Austria and spoke and wrote in German as did other Zionist leaders. German was considered the language of science, culture, order, and progress.
There was a movement amongst Jews in Palestine to make the German language the official language of the Yishuv instead of Hebrew. A struggle on this issue took place which involved the sabotaging of German printing presses.
Many Jews were pro-German. The language of the Jews of Europe was Yiddish which is a German dialect with Hebrew and other additions. Assimilationist Jews admired and imitated German culture. The Reform Movement was Germanic in character and it was centered in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (which was also German in many way).
In WW1 Jewish populations in eastern Europe often suffered from their Gentile neighbors or from occupying forces. The German Army was considered a protective influence. When WW2 began many Jews, due to memories of the WW1 experience, imagined that the Germans would be preferable and fled to their areas, only to be exterminated for their trouble shortly afterward].
See: Brit-Am Now no. 1738.
#3. The Holocaust: The Jews Did Not Know! Anecdote.
4. Personal Note of Yair Davidiy
The mother of Yair Davidiy was born in England. Her father was English but had been born in Denmark. He bore a German-Jewish name (Jacoby). So too, her mother (my grandmother) was a Jewess from Alsace which is in France but German speaking and she had relatives in Germany.
On my father's side my grandmother was reportedly somehow [distantly?] related to the Hanoverian monarchs of Britain who were originally from Germany, so who knows?
In 1898 the Kaiser visited Palestine. The Kaiser himself is representative of the German problem. He could show himself sympathetic of Jews and at one stage seemed in favor of Zionism. His mother and father had always been pro-Jewish. He himself however seems to have privately harbored sentiments that at bottom were not much different from those later advocated by the Nazis.
See:
BHR-91. #1. The Nazis Foreshadowed.The Kaiser and his Court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany by John Rohl
Who and Where is Amalek Today? by Yossi Katz
Quote:
When Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany visited Jerusalem during his journey to the Holy Land almost all the religious leaders of Jerusalem came to the city gates to greet him. Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (d.1932), the spiritual leader of Ashkenazic Jewry in Israel at that time, did not go. When asked about his refusal he answered that although the Kaiser himself was deserving of the honor bestowed upon him, "I have a tradition that Germany is Amalek." End Quote.
Note: Other (probably more reliable) versions of this incident say that Rabbi Sonnenfel (also spelt Zonnenfeld) did not say Germany but rather the Rulers of Germany and that he referred to Eliyahu of Vilna (The Vilna Gaon) as a source.
Amalek was a descendant of Esau but is considered the arch-enemy of Israel and much more virulent and incorrigible in his hatred of the Jewish Religion and of the Israelite Peoples. Haman (in the Book of Esther) who planned the extermination of the Jews is described as an Agagite. This means he was descended from Agag king of Amalek. Whereas the Edomites in general will not necessarily always be against Israel the Amalekites nearly always will be though, even here, there may be exceptions.
Hechler was born in India (then ruled by Britain) of German parents. He moved to England and became an Anglican priest and married an English woman. Hechler was a scholar and fluent in many languages including Hebrew and Arabic.
Main Source: William Hechler From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
# Reverend William Henry Hechler, (1845 - 1931) was a Restorationist Anglican clergyman, eschatological writer, crusader against anti-Semitism, promoter of Zionism, aide, counselor, friend and legitimizer of Theodor Herzl the founder of the modern Zionism.#
# In 1854, Dietrich Hechler returned to London because of health reasons and took a position with the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. His father's Philo-Semitism deeply influenced William. The family relocated to Karlsruhe, Germany in 1866. William's interest in Jewish studies and Palestine evolved under the influence of developing European Evangelical Restorationist theology. #
# An Anglophile as well as a Germanophile, Hechler enlisted in the German army during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. He served as a clergyman and medical aide. He was wounded and was twice decorated with distinction. #
Hechler was horrified by the attacks against Jews and the pogroms in Europe. Humanitarian feelings as well as theological convictions led him to adopt Restorationism i.e. Zionism.
# In 1884 Hechler wrote his own treatise, "The Restoration of the Jews to Palestine." He called for the Jews to return to Palestine as a pre-condition for the return of Jesus. Hechler wrote,"It is the duty of every Christian to love the Jews." Hechler did not believe that conversion of the Jews to Christianity was a pre-condition of their return to Palestine or for the advent of the Second Coming. #
Hechler was appointed as the Chaplain of the British Embassy in Vienna. Hechler remained Chaplain from 1885 to 1910.
Hechler read "Der Judenstaadt" (The Jewish State, 1896), by Theodor Herzl". He then met up with Herzl and worked with him on behalf of Zionism and the Jewish People.
Hechler had contacts with German Royalty. The Grand Duke of Baden (an uncle of the Kaiser) became a lifelong adherent of Zionism. A meeting with the Kaiser (Emperor) of germany was arranged.
Herzl tried to get the Kaiser to persuade the Sultan of the Turkish Ottoman Empire to grant a Charter over Palestine for Jewish settlement under German patronage.
#The Kaiser brought the subject up twice with the Sultan. The Sultan refused to consider granting the Jews a charter to Palestine even in return for the Jews assuming the Turkish foreign debt.#
During his visit to Palestine (1898) the Kaiser accorded some recognition to Herzl but after that lost interest in Zionism altogether.
Herzl became disillusioned with Germany and turn his attention to Britain correctly predicting that Britain would provide an answer.
Hechler was by the side of Herzl when he died in 1904. In 1910 Hechler retired and went to live in Britain.
# Hechler was actively against World War I, which put an end to his romantic dream of unity between the British and German peoples. .. In 1918, Hechler warned the Jewish world that a terrible calamity was coming, one that was of horrific dimensions if the Jews did not return to Palestine.
# Beginning in the late 1920s the Zionist Executive provided a small monthly pension of 10 pounds to Hechler. He worked for Mildmay Hospital, in a minor clerical position, until shortly before his death in 1931. He died alone, impoverished and was buried in an unmarked grave... #
7. The Germans Saved the Jews of Palestine in Wordl War 1!
During WW1 and after it the Turks massacred most of the Armenians under their rule possibly to the number of a million and a half. They did the same to the Assyrian Christians (Nestorians) and other minorities. The Germans were allied to the Turks. German generals were attached to Turkish armies and German officers served in Turkish ranks. The Turks had always been against the Jews but prior to the war they had come under a de-facto (and semi-official) aegis of the British. Now, due to the war, British Protection had been removed. Conditions in Palestine were hard. Up to two-thirds of the Jewish population left Palestine for the War's duration. Those who remained suffered and often died from hunger and privation. The Turks suspected the Jews of favoring the British. At one stage they planned to deal with them as they had done with the Armenians. German officers intervened and the Jews were spared.