Christianity and the Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry [Paperback]

Moshe Herczl (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1995

The complicity of the Hungarian Christian church in the mass extermination of Hungarian Jews by the Nazis is a largely forgotten episode in the history of the Holocaust. Using previously unknown correspondence and other primary source materials, Moshe Y. Herczl recreates the church's actions and its disposition toward Hungarian Jewry. Herczl provides a scathing indictment of the church's lack of compassion toward—and even active persecution of—Hungary's Jews during World War II.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Shocks by its very frankness. . . . Absorbing and excellently translated, it is a valuable contribution to Holocaust scholarship."

-Association of Jewish Libraries,

"A most valuable addition to our knowledge of a most painful chapter in the histories of both Hungary and the Jewish people."

-Yehuda Bauer,Jona M. Machover Professor of Holocaust Studies, Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

"A valuable contribution . . . Its publication will fill a long-felt need."

-Nathaniel Katzburg,Professor Emeritus in Jewish History, Bar-Ilan University

"Demonstrates the crucial nexus between the long held antipathy of the Catholic and Protestant churches in Hungary toward Hungarian Jewry and the deportation of more than 500,000 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz in 1944."

-Religious Studies Review,

"Based on rich documentation, it contains within it a great deal of information unknown to scholars to date. . . . A real contribution to our understanding of anti-Semitism in Hungary."

-Yisrael Gutman,Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, Jerusalem

About the Author

Moshe Y. Herczl was born in Hungary in 1924. He studied in Yeshiva until the German invasion in 1944, when he was imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp. After his release, Herczl joined the partisans and in 1948 emigrated to Palestine, where he fought for Israel's independence. Author of several books, a former Deputy Director of the Education Department of Netanya Municipality in Israel and a former Director of the Cape Board of Jewish Education in Cape Town, Moshe Herczl died in Jerusalem in 1990.

Product Details

• Paperback: 309 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814735207
• ISBN-13: 978-0814735206
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,333,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The christian roots of modern antisemitism, September 7, 1998

By 

Bill Stouffer (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christianity and the Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry (Paperback)

The author, a Hungarian Jew who survived the holocaust, provides a well written and well documented account of Christian anti-Semitism in Hungary, focusing on the years from 1880 to 1944. He traces the roots of modern Hungarian anti-Semitism to a widely believed accusation of Jewish ritual murder made in 1882. The anti-Semitic sentiment which crystallized around this incident soon became a powerful force in politics and an explicit organizing theme for Hungarian Christians. The book goes on to show how religious arguments played a crucial role in the passing of increasingly harsh anti-Semitic legislation in the years leading up to the war. Herczl builds his case using extensive quotes from church members from all of the major Christian denominations involved in this debate and provides evidence showing that their actions were sanctioned by those at the highest levels of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. These quotes amply support the author's contention that for the Hungarian churches, anti-Semitism remained "a matter of principle, not opportunism." The most extreme result of this racist-Christian milieu before the German takeover was the formation of the clero-fascist Arrow Cross party. The final chapter of the book is devoted to the year 1944 and deals with the Nazi's takeover of the government and the final deportation of the Jewish population, events for which Christianity had paved the way.