Holocaust and Holy War

Richard L. Rubenstein

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1996, vol. 548, issue 1, 23-44

Abstract: The anti-Christian elements in Nazi ideology obfuscate a view of the Holocaust as a modern holy war. That view is not linked with the concept of apocalyptic messianism or the notion that holy war attempts to enforce religious beliefs. This war's objective was the elimination of those who did not share the majority's symbolic universe, an objective wherein religion played a major role—as is the case in Bosnia today. European history is replete with attempts to reduce those who do not share the common religious or cultural identity in the heart of Christendom, attempts to defame, baptize, or expel the disconfirming other. Although systematic extermination constitutes a discontinuity with the past, and although the Nazi state was hostile to Christianity, the Holocaust was a holy war that benefited those for whom the guarding of the Christian symbolic universe as the cornerstone of civilization depended on the elimination of Jews and the defeat of bolshevism.

Date: 1996
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:548:y:1996:i:1:p:23-44

DOI: 10.1177/0002716296548001003

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