Six Million Crucifixions: How Christian Teachings About Jews Paved the Road to the Holocaust [Hardcover]

Gabriel Wilensky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2010

"Six Million Crucifixions: How Christian Antisemitism Paved the Road to the Holocaust" examines the root causes of antisemitism in Christianity and how that prepared the soil for the modern/racial antisemitism that culminated in the Holocaust. The book briefly covers the last two thousand years of history, from the origins of antisemitism all the way to the advent of modern antisemitism. The book also covers the role of the Churches during the Third Reich, and the role of the Vatican in setting up escape routes for wanted war criminals after WWII. At the end the book makes the point that back in 1945-6 the Allies should have set up a third international trial and put any and all clergymen who may have had a role in the defamation of and incitement against the Jewish people, as well as those who helped wanted Nazis escape Justice (and a number of other charges), on the dock.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Antisemitism is on the rise again. Never since the end of the Second World War have there been so many antisemitic incidents worldwide. The world suffers from amnesia and often disregards the lessons from the past. Film director Mel Gibson released The Passion of the Christ, a passion play watched by more people than all the previous passion play productions put together, and equally if not more damning of the Jewish people. A senior Vatican cardinal compared the Gaza Strip with a big concentration camp. Holocaust denial has become more common, and no amount of lawsuits and debunking seem to make it disappear. Even a shunned, excommunicated Catholic bishop who Pope Benedict XVI brought back into the Catholic fold continues to openly deny the extent of the Holocaust. And this is the same pope who seems to be interested in eroding the progress made by the Second Vatican Council and reverting to a more traditional version of Catholicism, a version that taught for almost two millennia that Jews were Christ-killers and the enemies of Christianity.

Clearly, most if not all the people involved in the crimes discussed in Six Million Crucifixions are now dead so an indictment and trial as discussed here could not happen today. This fact only makes the injustice even worse, as the clergy who were part of the crimes committed back then got away with impunity. What we are seeing now are the consequences of what happens when crimes go unpunished and the record is not properly established. The objective of this book is to present the historical background to explain how the Holocaust could have happened, and raise awareness of where antisemitism comes from and why it has not yet disappeared. Ultimately, it is up to courageous and good-hearted Christians to take a hard look at the past of their religion--as unsavory as it may be--and take what will surely be painful measures to redress the wrongs from the past.

From the Back Cover

A powerful and passionate indictment of the Vatican for acts of omission and acts of commission, made all the more important by Wilensky's understanding that individual prelates and Roman Catholic officials did far better than Church leadership. He does not spare Protestant Churches in this indictment, but clearly the full force of his work is directed toward examining once again the role of Roman Catholic Church before, during and after the Holocaust; a topic worthy of analysis and an analyst worthy of the topic.
--Michael Berenbaum, Director, Sigi Ziering Institute

As Abraham Joshua Heschel once said, the Holocaust did not begin with Auschwitz. The Holocaust began with words. And too many of those hate-filled words had their origin in the Christian Scriptures and were uttered by Christian preachers and teachers, by Christians generally, for nearly two millennia. . . . I recommend Six Million Crucifixions: How Christian Antisemitism Paved the Road to the Holocaust because all of us Christians - Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox - must think again, or think for the first time, about how to teach and preach the Christian Scriptures - the "New Testament" writings - in such a way that the words we utter, the attitudes we encourage, do not demean, disrespect, or disregard our Jewish brothers and sisters.
--Dr. Carol Rittner, Distinguished Professor of Holocaust & Genocide Studies, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

How was it possible for one group of people to hate another group virulently enough to slaughter six million of them? Gabriel Wilensky's answer is disturbing and will evoke controversy. The origins of that hatred, antisemitism, he places squarely in the lap of Christianity, beginning with its earliest teachings about Jews. He examines how during the centuries to come those teachings came to be solidified into doctrines justifying prejudices and persecutions that eventually bore their bitter fruit in the Holocaust. Here is an indictment that catalogs a long history of hateful preachments and practices directed against Jews. This is an indictment that must be confronted. It cannot be ignored or wished away.
--Karl A. Schleunes, History Professor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Christians have often employed semantics to achieve distance from the Holocaust. Centuries of Christian "anti-Judaism" may have been bad, according to this view, but it was "racial antisemitism" which led to the German murder of six million Jews. Gabriel Wilensky walks us through two thousand years of history to reveal the flaws in such a claim. Christian complicity was substantial. By the early twentieth century, too many Christians viewed the persecution of Jews with equanimity, or even with enthusiasm. This is a sobering but important book.
--Robert P. Ericksen, Professor of History, Pacific Lutheran University Author of "Theologians Under Hitler"

A clearly written and passionately argued indictment of centuries of antisemitism that contributed to Nazi extermination of the Jews. Wilensky has read widely, thought deeply, and writes persuasively in placing the Holocaust into the larger context of the history of Western Christianity. What he concludes is deeply disturbing and must be confronted seriously by scholars and public alike.
--Dr. Geoffrey Cocks, Professor of History, Albion College

Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: QWERTY Publishers; 1st edition (April 11, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984334645
• ISBN-13: 978-0984334643
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gabriel Wilensky is a San Diego-based veteran of the computer software industry. He was one of the founders of a software company that developed very popular consumer software programs that sold millions of copies worldwide. His work was covered and showcased by the media around the world. His company was the recipient of numerous awards, including two Software & Information Industry Association Codie Awards, the BYTE Magazine Award of Excellence, the UCSD Connect Most Innovative New Product Award, the third place prize in Pixar's Renderama Contest, the Bronze Award in New Media Magazine's InVision Contest, and was finalist on two MacUser Magazine Editor's Choice Awards and a DISCOVER Magazine Award for Technological Innovation.

As a result of a life-long fascination and years of study into the question of why the Holocaust happened, Wilensky used his technical background to methodically research and write "Six Million Crucifixions." The final result is a well-structured and hard-hitting book that presents historical information with polemical conclusions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Read his secondary sources instead, May 20, 2011

By 

Barbara Kellam-Scott "bkswrites" (northwest NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Six Million Crucifixions: How Christian Teachings About Jews Paved the Road to the Holocaust (Hardcover)

"Six Million Crucifixions" is an unfortunate example of working backward into history to justify a presumptive and simplistic conclusion. And maybe the most unfortunate part of it is that it gathers in one place a terrible collection of antisemitic imagery and verbiage. Wilensky's "Last Thoughts, beginning on page 307, conclude with the "would have" results of the attack on "The Church" by unidentified civil and ecclesiastical "authorities" that Wilensky, who is neither a historian nor a writer, believes could have set things right. He offers no actual practical steps that we might take, in the absence of such proceedings, to create a better atmosphere today.

11 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Six Million Crucifixions: How Christian Teachings About Jews Paved the Way for the Holocaust, May 14, 2010

By 

Cheryl Stillwell ""enyl's library reviews... (Cin,Oh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Six Million Crucifixions: How Christian Teachings About Jews Paved the Road to the Holocaust (Hardcover)

Six Million Crucifixions is a scholarly work written for a lay audience--in particular a Christian audience. Wilensky promises to inform his readers why Christians are responsible for the Holocaust. Wilensky promises to name prominent Christians who could have opposed the plight of the Jews and acted to assist the Jews, but who failed to take action. Wilensky promises to name prominent Christians who acted to the detriment of the Jews. Wilensky promises to reveal the theological and systemic Christian doctrines and traditions that created the mindset of the Nazis and their collaborators.

Through out the book Wilensky makes bold assertions and allegations that many Christians may initially find offensive. Wilensky's controversial position that the early Christians got it wrong, that Jesus was not the Messiah foretold in Scripture, that Jesus was not resurrected, and that the grief stricken followers of Jesus forced prophesies to fit Jesus' life, will undoubtedly cause an uproar in the Christian community providing his detractors with a thesis to concentrate their attacks on.

However, Wilensky supports his main thesis through the presentation and analysis of primary sources: contemporary Church traditions, records from various Church Councils, the various Christian Creeds, treaties, illustrations, photographs, newspaper reports, official government documents, speeches, correspondence, sermons, judicial transcripts, radio broadcasts, and interviews. Notably missing from Wilensky's analysis are the Vatican papers from the WWII years.

Wilensky's historical analysis begins with the first Christians or the Jews who followed Jesus who he credits as the creators of Anti-Semitism. Wilensky examines the acts, laws, treaties, catechisms, theology, philosophies and motivations of men in government and the clergy as they made decisions to act or refrain from acting in ways that affected the welfare of the Jews around them.

Wilensky makes good on his promises. He names high ranking Church officials both Catholic and Protestant who propagated Anti-Semitic theology, tradition and rumor through their sermons, writings, speeches, and teachings. Among the many named are St. Jerome, Origen, Martin Luther, St. Augustine, St. Paul, Constantine, Godfrey of Bouillon, Pope Innocent III, Pope Clement VI, Pope Gregory IX, James of Aragon, Pope Paul III, Pope Innocent IV; Voltaire, Karl Marx, Pope Pius IX after the French revolution, Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII, Bishop Hudal, Walter Rauff, Father Krunoslav Draganovic, Monsignor Karl Bayer. Wilensky enumerates their acts or omissions that shaped Anti-Semitism over the centuries.

Wilensky also acknowledges the political leaders and members of the Church who stand out because they attempted and sometimes succeeded in protecting the Jews in their community. Among such clergymen and political leaders as Pope Nicholas III, King Phillip of Spain, Napoleon, Pope Pius IX before the French Revolution, Dutch Catholic Society of the Friends of Israel, Pope Alexander VI, Pope Callixtus II, Cardinal Augstyn Hlond, Bishop Clement August von Galen, Norwegian Protestant Church, Danish Lutheran Church, Greek Orthodox Bishop of Athens, Orthodox Bulgarian Synod of Bishops, German Bishop Konrad von Preysing, Bernhard Lichtenberg Provost of St.Hedwig Cathedral, Vatican legate Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Bishop of Montaubon Monsignor F.W. Theas, Archbishop of Toulouse Jules-Gerard Saliege, Cardinal Tisserant, Bishop Joseph P Hurley, The 1942Archbishop of York, the 1942 Archbishop of Canterbury.

After tying together the actions, creeds, treaties, theology, traditions, and myths directed against the Jews and perpetuated by the Christian Church over the centuries: Wilensky paints a picture of a hostile and intolerant Anti-Jewish environment through out the world wide Christian community. Since it is not Wilensky's purpose to identify the purveyors of Anti-Semitism for the purpose of casting blame, he offers advice on stemming Anti-Semitism and preventing future Holocausts. Wilensky advocates that the Vatican can break diplomatic ties with a nation that commits grave human rights violations. Wilensky suggests that the Vatican excommunicate Catholics who commit grievous human rights violations. Wilensky recommends that in the future the Vatican speak out against heinous human rights violations in clear and unambiguous language identifying the victim and those responsible for human rights violations. Wilensky proposes the revision of Christian theology so that ". . . every doctrinal and theological statement and teaching medium that deals with Jewish matter should declare in the plainest and most direct language that the Jews are not responsible for the death of Jesus, who was killed by the Roman authorities of Judea." It is Wilensky's hope that the adoption of this proposal will remove future stigmatism of the Jewish community as Christ killers.

. Wilensky presents sufficient extant historical evidence to support many of his allegations concerning the historical role of the Christian Church as purveyors of Anti-Semitism through out many centuries. Wilensky acknowledges that with the future release of the Vatican papers covering the Holocaust years, that some of his analysis may be subject to revision. Wilensky's interpretation of Scripture remains interpretation in the absence of contemporaneous documentary evidence provided by those who knew, fellowshipped with, interacted with, or otherwise had the opportunity to observe and report on the actions, words, and thoughts of the earliest Christians.

I highly recommend Six Million Crucifixions for those interested in Jewish studies in general and the Holocaust era in particular.

14 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money, July 17, 2010

By 

Alan J. Droste (Laguna Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Six Million Crucifixions: How Christian Teachings About Jews Paved the Road to the Holocaust (Hardcover)

on this "hit piece," which presents no new scholarship. It is unfortunate that the writer chose polemics over bridge building, but I suppose he will profit more by his selected approach.

If you want to get past the anger and understand the truth about Pius XII, a far better book is "Hitler, the War, and the Pope" by Ronald J. Rychlak.

"Let those who doubt but read Rychlak, follow his exquisitely organized courtroom-like arguments. What Professor Rychlak brings to the forum are facts, not rhetoric; dates, not conjecture; evidence, not slander.... The world owes Ronald Rychlak a debt for bringing the truth to light." -- Rabbi Eric A. Silver

"I have read many books on Pius XII, and this [by Rychlak] is by far the most dispassionate in laying out the context, relevant facts, accusations, and evidence pro and con. The book is highly engaging because it is filled with so many little-known facts. The research has been prodigious. Yet the presentation is as down-to-earth as it would have to be in a courtroom.... This is a wonderfully realistic book." -- Michael Novak, George Frederick Jewett Scholar in Religion, Philosophy, and Public Policy, American Enterprise Institute