Antisemitism Archives - The New Antisemitism

May 23, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

The Myth of the Greedy Jew Exposed!

The ritual murder of Christian babies for blood to make Passover matzoh and the killing of Christ are two of the most enduring accusations against the Jewish people. Both are easy to debunk if one is interested in historical truth instead of accepting unfounded antisemitic tropes. Not far behind, and still benefitting from immense popularity around the globe, is the false accusation that Jews are very greedy, and as a result, they control most of the financial institutions of the world.
Painting the Jewish people as greedy lovers of money continues to be a pervasive accusation. Most of the time this is accepted at face value without any desire to check the facts. Statements describing Jewish people, such as “It’s all about the Benjamins!” or “The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous.” are very damaging.

Another damaging way to paint the Jewish people as greedy is in jokes that people tell, linking Jewish people with greed, extreme wealth and bank control. These jokes represent the perfect illustration for what I describe in my new book as “desensitization“–one of the ten criteria defining the normalization of antisemitism. I have heard these jokes for over fifty years in multiple countries and social settings. People truly believe that they are funny when they are indeed very damaging. Just as retelling a racist “joke” promotes more racism, so retelling these “jokes” promotes more antisemitism.

Are there Jewish people who are greedy and love to control money? Of course, there are; but it is not because they are Jewish, but rather, because they are flawed people with selfish, self-serving agendas. Greed can also be found in non-Jews, but nobody is going around telling the world that Gentiles want to control the financial world and have a lot of money in their pockets, and yet, Gentiles constitute 99.08% of the world population. Is it possible that there is more than meets the eye when Jews are accused of greed and bank control?

In all honesty, there are a lot of Jewish people in the financial world and many of them are or have been extremely successful and as a result, have amassed large fortunes. This is based on what is known as shrewdness. Jewish people are shrewd. They are good at business transactions which helps them make good profits, and again, this is not exclusive to Jewish people. There are plenty of successful Gentiles in the world, but shrewdness might be more prevalent among Jewish people, for which they really shouldn’t have to apologize. Additionally, Jewish philanthropy is one of the highest in the world. Jewish people can actually be very generous with their money. This is based on two traditions: tzedakah (charitable giving) and Tikkun Olam (repairing the world).The question remains, “how did we get to where most people believe Jews love money?” For an answer, we must travel back to the Middle Ages, when it became increasingly difficult for Jews to be part of a guild, own their own business and even own slaves making agriculture almost impossible. Not necessarily by choice, the Jewish community became deeply involved in money lending. The process took a while, but the results are at the core of this very old diatribe.

Christians were not allowed to borrow money from other Christians, but ONLY from Jews, who in turn would collect the money back with interest. This was pretty much the only way that the Jewish people could earn a living when all other fields of labor were forbidden to them or made very difficult to enter. Kings of Europe started taxing the Jewish moneylenders on their profit. Taxes kept increasing, so the Jewish moneylenders had to keep pace and increase their interest rates. The process went on for a while and gave birth to the myth of the “greedy Jew.” Some Jewish moneylenders did raise their rates too high, trying to take advantage of needy Christians, but they were not in the majority and ended up with a poor reputation in both the Christian and Jewish communities. Again, these happened to be greedy first and Jewish second.

As moneylending increased, antisemitism amongst the masses became more of a reality. Poor peasants, always in need of money and often borrowing from Jewish moneylenders, ended up building resentment as they were borrowing from “unbelievers”. It almost always led to physical abuse and killings of Jewish people. Princes and nobles would protect the Jewish moneylenders as long as they could benefit from them, but if the borrowers and/or mobs attacked the Jewish community, the princes and nobles would easily abandon “their Jews”. By the end of the thirteenth century, Jews had been expelled from France, England and most of Germany, mostly because of issues in money lending.

We need to refrain from telling jokes about Jewish people liking money. If and when we hear such a joke, we ought not to laugh but immediately correct the person, privately if at all possible and in love. This is not based on facts but on a myth borne out of financial hardship and tension during the Middle Ages. Some might argue that all ethnic jokes are told in poor taste, and I tend to agree with that statement. Unfortunately, as poor taste as it is to paint the Irish as lucky or the French as obnoxious, these false accusations have never led to the killing of Irish or French people. In the case of the Jewish people, it is a different story. Human nature mixed with unfounded jealousy and misinformation has always led to antisemitism, and antisemitism, too often, has also led to the murders of innocent Jewish people.

May 10, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 2 Comments

The Six Stages of Antisemitism: It’s About to Get a Lot Worse!

Antisemitism, also known as the longest hatred, didn’t happen in a vacuum. It progressively grew, morphed and reinvented itself. It has been creatively adapted to fit the times. As one surveys the history of the Jewish people, it quickly becomes evident that it has been and continues to be punctuated by acts of antisemitism.

Forced baptisms and conversions, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Pogroms, the Holocaust and the Middle East crisis are just a few of Satan’s creative ways to turn the world against the Jews. He succeeded in millions of casualties even though God promised never to forsake Israel completely(Jeremiah 31:35-37.)

He has been busy on two fronts toward the same goal: the destruction of the Jews. First, he works hard at turning the Jewish people against Yeshua by erroneously making them believe that following Him is antithetical to remaining a Jew. Second, he has turned many within the Church against the Jews throughout history and even today with the growth and influence of Replacement Theology.

Some believe that antisemitism was at its apex stage during the Holocaust and stopped after that. If history stopped, I could agree with such a statement. Still, almost eighty years have passed, and outside of maybe slowing down a bit for two decades after the Holocaust, antisemitism is alive and well. It has been on an uninterrupted continuum since biblical days.

We can also look at antisemitism as existing on a spectrum throughout the history of the Jewish people. To understand the gravity of the current situation, we must study that spectrum. This will allow us to determine where normalization sits on the spectrum and what it means to us today.

As we study the spectrum of antisemitism, one thing will become evident: Antisemitism doesn’t vacillate through history, going back and forth on the spectrum from non-existent to full force. Instead, it keeps moving in the same direction, never looking back. It might slow down a bit when a particular historical figure appears on the world scene and sees Jewish people with favor, such as–within reason–Charlemagne (747-814) or Napoleon (1769-1821). Still, it never completely ceases, even with their favorable treatment.

So, the spectrum moves only in one direction at various speeds but never reverses direction. It is driven by Satan from one end to the other, without exception.

The starting point of antisemitism is found in the biblical record of the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament.) Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph (Exodus 1), Haman in the book of Esther, the Amalekites (Exodus 17) or even the list of people groups provided by Asaph in Psalm 83. Those are obvious examples of the enemies of Israel. Still, the animosity goes back to Genesis 3:15, when the seed of the serpent (Satan) fights the seed of the woman (Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah).

At the origin, it was nothing more than biblical pagan jealousy. The people around Israel were jealous of the “chosen people” status of Israel declared by God (Deuteronomy 7:6-8; 14:2; 26:17-19; 2 Samuel 7:23-24, Psalm 105:8-15; 135:4; Isaiah 41:8). The Jewish people have been set aside by the God of Israel for His purpose, and that makes many people jealous, For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord God.” (1 Kings 8:53).

Moving into the Greek Scriptures (New Testament), we find many passages that paint part of the Jewish leadership as antagonistic to Yeshua and His followers. This doesn’t validate the antisemitic tone that many have tried to attribute to the Greek Scriptures. That part of the Bible is not antisemitic, but it is not within the scope of this article to address that issue.

After the closing of the Canon of Scripture, from the late 1^st century forward, many of the ante-Nicaean Church Fathers contributed to the building of an early anti-Jewish sentiment. The following generations of Church Fathers continued the diatribes. This section of the spectrum could be called theological anti-Judaism. It continued throughout history with various degrees of intensity, peaking at times such as the Crusades or the Inquisition and specific recurring times on the calendar such as Holy Week as it became Classical Antisemitism.

Unbeknownst to him, Martin Luther set the stage for the Holocaust in his pamphlet “On the Jews and their lies.” He never intended for the Jews to be mass-murdered, but his words carried much weight, which led to tragic consequences. Martin Luther couldn’t look forward to the future or Adolf Hitler, but Hitler most definitely looked back at Luther and chose to act upon the theologian’s every word and beyond. There was another shift, and Classical Antisemitism became Racial Antisemitism. Hitler described the Jews as vermin and sub-humans to be eradicated for the betterment of mankind. He tried to support his lethal agenda against a backdrop of science by promoting Eugenics (debunked soon after, but seeing a bizarre comeback in the 21^st century).

Then came the interlude—two decades of relative respite for the Jews. The words “antisemitic” or “antisemitism” became taboo after the Holocaust. To be sure, while the words were avoided, the thoughts and actions continued. Yet, it was time for Satan to reinvent the oldest hatred. So, he repackaged it in the form of anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism so that an antisemite could continue their nefarious agenda without being called an antisemite. Most scholars now agree that this period, which continues to this day, is known as the New Antisemitism. It has benefited quite a bit from the advent of the Internet and social networks. People feel good about being social justice advocates while they demonize Israel and the Jews.

Yet, the spectrum is even broader. In 2012, in Toulouse, France, a man killed seven Jewish people total, including a rabbi and two young children at a day school. In my opinion, this attack marks when Jewish people started getting killed again for being Jewish. In 2015, during the “I am Charlie” days, a man entered a kosher supermarket on the east side of Paris, took Jewish people hostages, and ended up killing four of them. Keep in mind that killing four or more people in one event constitutes a “mass killing.” The carnage continues to this day all over the world. This is what I have called End-Times Antisemitism. It is part of the new antisemitism but is a hybrid of classical antisemitism (biblical days to Holocaust) and the new antisemitism (1948 to today).

I believe that there is one more brand of antisemitism coming, and I call it Tribulation Antisemitism. It will be a time of great turmoil and destruction for the Jewish people left behind. According to Zechariah 13:8-9, two-thirds of the Jewish people living at that time will perish, and one-third will survive and become followers of Yeshua the Messiah. As difficult as it is to say and comprehend, it will be a time far worse than the Holocaust for the Jews.

While, again, this is not within the scope of this work, I believe in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial Rapture of the Church. Believers will be taken up in the air by Yeshua before the start of the Tribulation, also known as the Time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7).

The reason why I need to clarify my eschatological position is to avoid being accused of escapism. Some who do not adhere to a pre-Tribulation Rapture feel that those who do are simply buying into a doctrine of escapism to avoid the terrible days ahead. Believing in a pre-Tribulation Rapture should encourage believers to share with the lost before we are all gone. That includes sharing with our Jewish friends who will suffer the most during the Tribulation. I truly cannot wait for Yeshua to call us home, and yet, I can wait for Him to do so, as long as I can be used to lead more people to Him. Time is of the essence as the stage is being finalized for the antichrist and the Tribulation a little more each day.

This is where the normalization of antisemitism comes on the spectrum. While antisemitism has existed since biblical days, there always were people to defend the Jews against the libels and the diatribes. Israel’s advocates continue to be as vocal as they can today, but they are a dying breed.

What will happen when antisemitism becomes normalized and goes mainstream? This shift must occur for the Tribulation events to occur with such intensity. When normalization occurs, it will be open season for the Jews and those who defend them. We are not quite there, but we are very close. In other words, the stage is set for the final iteration of antisemitism… The incentive to share Yeshua with our Jewish friends has never been so palpable!

May 1, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

Do Biblical Zionists Love Palestinians?

Whenever one puts “Biblical,” “Zionist,” and “Palestinian” in the same sentence, definitions are in order. Unity might never be fully achieved, but it should never be because of a lack of clarity. First, what I mean by Biblical is “in accordance with the Biblical record,” which, as far as I understand, includes the sixty-six books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. As far as a fair definition of Zionism, lest I be accused of any bias as a Jew, I prefer to give a plain dictionary definition of the word as, “a movement for (originally) the re-establishment and (now) the development and protection of a Jewish nation in what is now Israel. It was established as a political organization in 1897 under Theodor Herzl and was later led by Chaim Weizmann.”

Now, for the definition of who is a Palestinian, it gets a little tricky. Again, for the sake of clarity, I will say, “any physical descendant of the various Arab inhabitants of the Land of Israel known as Palestine before 1948.” While I do not believe that tracing the Palestinian people historically is possible, we must recognize that Arabs born in the Land of Israel when it was still known as Palestine are real people, not responsible for the conflict they or their children were catapulted into. We must not forget that Palestine as a word was introduced by the Roman emperor Hadrian at the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt in AD 132-135 (A failed Jewish revolt against Rome). To humiliate the Jewish people, Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina and Israel became known as Palaestina.

Unfortunately, the word stuck and until 1948, “Palestine” was the word used to describe the geographical area that had always been known as Israel before. Eventually, under the leadership of Yassir Arafat and subsequent “Palestinian” leaders, the word’s etymology was expanded to mean both a land AND a people, a political claim that cannot be proven historically, archeologically, culturally or biblically. Today’s “Palestinians” have an Arab culture, eat Arab foods, speak Arabic and have Arab ancestors. “Palestinians” as a people group do not exist, but “Palestinians” as Arabs do. This is in no way meant to belittle their right to self-determination and their right to exist, but not at the expense of or to replace native Jews. Here is a question: Why do pre-1948 ‘Palestinian’ coins, bills, postage stamps and other items with a country of origin written on it all include the two initials in Hebrew for ‘Eretz Yisrael’ meaning ‘Land of Israel’?

Logically, we now need to look at what defines a “Biblical Zionist.” We often hear the words “Christian” and “Zionist” put together to describe someone who would consider himself a follower of Yeshua (Jesus) and a supporter of Israel and the Jewish people’s right to the land. I prefer the term “Biblical” to “Christian” as it pertains to those who love and support Israel. Unfortunately, in the last few years, many people who call themselves Christians have displayed quite a bit of antisemitism and have supported faulty views like Replacement Theology or Christian Palestinianism. We must also mention the recent upsurge in support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement from several mainline Christian denominations.

The Biblical Zionist position is usually taken because of one’s eschatological (End-Times) perspective and/or theological approach. Many evangelical Christians have supported Israel over the years, seeing that God is not finished with the Jewish people and has never completely fulfilled His promise given to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis 12:1-3. That same promise was ratified as a covenant known as the Abrahamic Covenant with a promise of a seed, a land and a blessing. At the ratification of the covenant made between God and Abram (Genesis 15:7-19), no conditions were made. However, specific land boundaries were given which, incidentally, are much larger than current Eretz Yisrael. When God specifically gave Abram the boundaries of the land He was giving him, He simply stated, “To your descendants, I have given this land.” When Abraham’s son Isaac settles in Gerar instead of moving to Egypt God repeats the promises of the Covenant He made with Abraham (Gen 26:1-4), “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”

Furthermore, in Genesis 28:13-15, the Abrahamic Covenant is reconfirmed through Isaac’s son Jacob where the same land (vv. 13, 15) spoken of prior, is promised to Jacob and his descendants as it was promised to Isaac before. It continues to be unconditionally given as we know through the Biblical record that Jacob lied to his father about his birthright. It was in God’s plan to have Jacob and not Esau inherit the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant from Isaac. So biblically speaking, the descendants of Abraham, through Isaac and through Jacob are the Jewish people.

The Biblical Zionist’s love for Israel and the Jewish people is a result of his understanding of the eternal, unconditional and unilateral Abrahamic Covenant and its three promises made that were later amplified in three other unconditional covenants known as the Land Covenant (Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20; Ezekiel 16:53-63), the Davidic Covenant (II Samuel 7:11-16), and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

But the great love that Biblical Zionists display for Israel and the Jewish people should not be exclusive, and it should extend to all, even those who have been indoctrinated to hate and destroy Israel. In the words of Yeshua in Matthew 5:44, we read, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This doesn’t imply that all Palestinians today hate the Jews, as we should never paint with broad strokes. Yet, as difficult as it might be to fulfill that command, for those who take the Bible seriously, it is a command, nonetheless.

At the end of the day, Jews and Arabs have the same need of a redeemer to pay the price for their sins, just like anybody else in the world. There is only one way to God, and that is through the atoning death of Yeshua the Messiah for our sins. God doesn’t view people as Jews, Palestinians or Gentiles, but as sinners needing redemption. Once saved, we retain our ethnic identities, so a Jew remains a Jew and an Arab remains an Arab. It is only in Messiah that Jews and Arabs can truly get along and love and respect each other.

A Biblical Zionist not only can – but should – love the Palestinians. Over the years, I have found that to love Israel and the Jewish people and to love the “Palestinians” is not mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, when we reverse this equation, love, too often, disappears, and those who support a Palestinian cause almost always show animosity toward the Jews and Israel.

April 21, 2023 By Olivier Melnick 6 Comments

Israel at 75: A Rich Past, A Challenging Present and A Glorious Future!

Against all human expectations and according to God’s promises, Israel is still standing. We celebrate the 75^th birthday of the modern Jewish State on Yom Ha’azmaut, also known as Israel’s Independence Day. Here are seven reasons to join the celebration.

We celebrate because of Israel’s survival.
In her entire history, Israel has been the epitome of survival. From the moment God created a people and gave them land and a law, Israel became a prime target in the world. From Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph, to Haman to the Amalekites, the Bible is already replete with Israel’s foes. Post-biblical history continues to trace the lineage of the Jewish people as it is punctuated by acts of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism, going from verbal to violent to lethal, peaking with the Holocaust. In spite of all the anti-Semitic hatred, Israel has survived. In spite of all the wars against her from 1948 to today, and miraculously, Israel has survived. In spite of the current waves of terrorism, Israel will survive because Israel’s complete annihilation would make God a liar and covenant breaker (Jeremiah 31:35-37.)

We celebrate because of Israel’s innovative spirit
When the Jewish people started to organize under the leadership of Theodor Herzl and Chaim Weizmann in the late 1890s, survival was of the essence, but creativity went hand in hand with the spirit of survival. Zionism was the catalyst for a mass migration to the land of our ancestors. From a place of swamps, rocks, desert and almost no vegetation, Israel has become one of the world’s foremost providers of fresh produce. Drip irrigation was an Israeli invention out of necessity. Much more has come to our modern world from Israeli ingenuity. It makes the job of the proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) very complicated if they choose to be ethically consistent, but they seldom do!

We celebrate because Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East
This little sliver of land the size of New Jersey almost becomes a drop of water as one places it within the whole ocean of Arab countries surrounding her. Muslim governments vary from somewhat moderate to fully Sharia-compliant. Women, homosexuals and even people of other faiths are often abused verbally AND physically, with their rights taken away from them. The one country in the Middle East where Arabs and Jews can actually coexist (at least from an Israeli perspective) is Israel. There are even Arabs as members of the Knesset (Israel Parliament.)

We celebrate because Israel is a safe haven for the Jewish people.
Jewish people have been in the Diaspora (Dispersion), since the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. We can be found just about anywhere in the world, even though there are only 15 million of us. Yet, it is becoming increasingly evident that the only safe haven for Jewish people worldwide is Eretz Yisrael. Anti-Semitism is on the rise everywhere. Jews are being killed in Europe, the Middle East and even America, simply for being Jewish. Nevertheless, God promised that the Jews would return to the Land of Israel (Ezekiel 37), and we see that very prophecy being fulfilled in our lifetime.

We celebrate because the re-birth of Israel set the stage for much of the Bible to be fulfilled.
Unfortunately, today when it comes to Israel and the Jewish people, fact-finding is the last thing people are interested in! In 1948, when Israel was reborn, the stage was set for many prophecies to be fulfilled. The rebirth of Israel might not be specifically prophesied in the Bible, but without its rebirth, much of the end times events would not have become a reality.

Jacob’s descendants would regain control of Israel – Amos 9:14-15
Israel would be brought back to life – Ezekiel 37:10-14
Isaiah spoke of Israel being reborn in one day after the Tribulation – Isaiah 66:7-8
Israel would be re-established as a united nation – Ezekiel 37:21-22
Israel would be more impressive the second time – Jeremiah 16:14-15
Ezekiel predicted when Israel would be re-established – Ezekiel 4:3-6
The people of Israel would return to “their own land” – Ezekiel 34:13
God would watch over the people of Israel – Jeremiah 31:10
Israel’s army would be disproportionately powerful – Leviticus 26:3, 7-8
The fortunes of the people of Israel would be restored – Deuteronomy 30:3-5

We celebrate because of God’s promises to Israel
Some people believe in God, while others don’t, but that doesn’t prevent God from keeping his promises for Israel, and they are numerous:
• God made a covenant with Abraham: Genesis 12:1-3
• God gave specific boundaries: Genesis 15:18-21
• God’s covenant was reconfirmed through Isaac, Jacob (Israel) and his 12 sons: Genesis 26:2-4, 28:13, 50:24
• Israel will never be destroyed because of God’s promise of eternal protection: Jeremiah 31:35-37

We celebrate because of Israel’s glorious future promised by God.
As bleak as the present looks, especially from a human perspective, Israel has a guaranteed glorious future, and that is indeed a cause for celebration.
• God promised Israel a New Covenant when He will remember their sins no more: Jeremiah 31:31-34
• Israel’s glorious future includes a final restoration to the land: Ezekiel 39:25-29
• Israel’s glorious future is secure because of God’s character: Ezekiel 36:22-28

Happy Independence Day, Happy 75th Birthday and Am Yisrael Chai!

Remembering Some Unexpected Heroes of the Holocaust!

Every year around this time, Israel commemorates Yom Ha Shoah, or “The Day of the Catastrophe”. It was first commemorated in 1951, and a law was later passed by the Knesset in 1959 to make it an official holiday. It was known as the Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day Law. The official day is the 27th of Nisan, which falls a week after Passover and eight days before Yom Ha’azmaut (Israel’s Independence Day). In Israel, at 10:00 AM, a siren sounds and almost everybody stops what they are doing, including motorists on highways getting out of their vehicles, to observe two minutes of silent reflection for the victims and heroes of the Holocaust. It is one of the most solemn moments on the Jewish calendar, observed by religious and secular Jews alike.

As the Law passed by the Knesset is called Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day Law, each year, we remember the six-million innocent victims of Hitler and his Nazi regime, helped by co-perpetrators across Europe. Remembering the victims is critical if we want to keep history intact and learn from it. Incidentally, if we were to keep a brief moment of silence for the six-million victims, it would require us to be completely silent for 11.5 years non-stop. But what about the heroes of the Shoah? What about the people who risked their lives to help Jewish people? Better yet, what about all the unknown heroes of the Shoah, without whom the world would have lost much more than six million Jews? Without forgetting the six million–one of them being my maternal grandfather, Maurice Weinzveig who perished at Auschwitz–we need to pay tribute to some incredible unsung heroes of the Shoah. Let’s also keep in mind that those who hid Anne Frank were breaking the law and those who killed her were following it!

We have all heard about Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg and Corrie Ten Boom. They are some of the most known heroes of the Holocaust, and rightfully so, but this year let me introduce you to a few other heroes that have been in the shadow of history for too long.

Ho-Feng-Shan (1901-1997): Ho-Feng-Shan was born in China at the turn of the 20th century. He started out as a writer and diplomat for the Republic of China before he was appointed Consul-General of China in Vienna, Austria in 1937. Not long after his move to Vienna and against his government and the German authorities, Ho-Feng-Shan started to issue visas, especially after Kristallnacht in November 1938. He had issued 2,000 visas to Jews in the first six months of his tenure as Consul-General, which leads many historians to believe that by the time he was called back to China in 1940, he had issued many thousands of transit visas to Shanghai. No visas were required to enter Shanghai, but the papers helped Jews cross the border towards Italy and Switzerland with Chinese visas. Later, when asked why he did it, he answered, “It was just natural to feel compassion for those persecuted and help them. It was what had to be done” In 2001, he received the Yad Vashem Medal of Righteous Among the Nations posthumously.

Dr. Hans-Georg Calmeyer (1901-1972): Born in Osnabrück, Germany, Calmeyer was stationed in the Netherlands during WWII. He was put in charge of the Interior Administration which also handled “Jewish Affairs”. While Jews in Germany had no recourse to try proving they were not Jewish, in the Netherlands, they could provide papers to document their ancestry and find loopholes in the system to escape certain death. Calmeyer saw an opportunity to disobey his superiors and started to accept false papers from Jewish people. He was credited for having saved at least 4,000 Jews, even though he received some serious complaints from the Nazi party. After the war, he rarely spoke of his actions. In 1992, he received the Yad Vashem Medal of Righteous Among the Nations posthumously.

Wladyslaw Bartoszewski (1922-2015): He was a Polish politician and social activist. He participated in the defense of Warsaw against the Nazi forces and as a result, was sent to Auschwitz. After Auschwitz, he met Catholic Priest Jan Zieja, with whom he had this dialogue:
– How could all this be God’s will?
– Don’t think about why God allows evil. Think about why God saved you. It was for a reason, wasn’t it? It was for a purpose. Bear witness to the truth. You saw how people are suffering. Help them!– Help who?
– Help those who need it.
– But who needs it?
– Those who are suffering the most.
– But I’m a student, Father. I have no resources with which I can do anything great.
– So do something small, but don’t turn your face away. People in the ghetto are suffering. Help them.
He joined the Polish Underground in 1941 after his release and became a leader of Zegota (The Council for the Aid of Jews). Zegota was responsible for saving several thousand Jews and, according to one estimate, 40,000 to 50,000 Jews benefited in some way from its activities. He also fought during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. In 1965, he received the Yad Vashem Medal of Righteous Among the Nations.

Eduardo Propper De Callejon (1895-1972): He was the Secretary of the Spanish Embassy in Paris during the Holocaust years. In July of 1940 alone, he issued 30,000 visas to Jews of France and Spain to allow them to get into Portugal. After a while, he was exposed and transferred to Rabat, Morocco. He is credited for having facilitated the escape of more than 30,000 Jews. He never received any recognition in his lifetime. In 2007, he received the Yad Vashem Medal of Righteous Among the Nations posthumously.

Vesel and Fatima Veseli (1895-1972): Vesel and Fatima Veseli were a Muslim couple who lived in a small village in Albania during WW2. Albania was predominantly Muslim and was one of the first countries invaded by Italy which was Germany’s ally at the time. The Veselis took in the Mandil family who were Jews in dire need of protection. The whole village was friendly to Jewish people during the occupation. In the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an, it says, “Whoever saves one life, saves all of mankind” (Al-Ma’idah 5:32), which is very similar to the Talmudic quote saying, “Anyone who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world.” (Sanhedrin 4:5). The Veselis went out of their way to hide, protect and feed the Mandils, going as far as dressing them like Muslims to move them around more freely. In 1987, they received the Yad Vashem Medal of Righteous Among the Nations posthumously.

These unknown people from around the world are a few unsung heroes of the Holocaust. Without their unconditional and compassionate involvement, many more Jews would have become the innocent casualties of the evil of Hitler and his regime. They had much in common, as they became heroes of this great human catastrophe. They acted as good Samaritans (Luke 10:29-37). They were breaking the Law. They knew the risk they were taking (Esther 4:15-16). They were creative with what was at their disposal (Joshua 2:4-7). They never worried about how many or how few people they helped. Yet today, many believers are in a place where we are soon going to have to decide how we can help Jewish people in dire need of protection and provision again. Surely, many believers will display the same qualities that these earlier heroes had, but as disciples of Yeshua, we have much more:

1. WE UNDERSTAND GOD’S PROMISES
• To bless those who bless the Jews (Gen. 12:3)
• To curse those who curse the Jews (Gen.12:3)
• To never forsake Israel (Jeremiah 31:35-27)
• To go after the enemies of Israel (Zech. 12:9)
• To watch over Israel 24/7 (Psalm 121:4)
• To never change (Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6)
• To have Yeshua return BECAUSE of the Jews calling on Him (Zechariah 12:10)

2. WE UNDERSTAND GOD’S POWER
• The Gospel is the power of God (Romans 1:16)
• The Word of the cross is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18)
• The whole universe is His (1 Chronicles 29:11)
• His greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3)
• Nothing is too hard for Him (Jeremiah 32:27)

3. WE UNDERSTAND GOD’S PROVISION
• We are valuable to God (Luke 12:24)
• God will meet all our NEEDS (Philippians 4:19)
• God provides for those who seek Him (Psalm 34:10)
• There are no limits to God’s provision (Luke 9:1—17)

Heroes are rarely if ever, self-proclaimed. They are usually recognized after the fact, but sometimes they remain in the shadows of history. As we commemorate Yom HaShoah, let us never forget the six million, but let us also recognize and express our gratitude to the many who selflessly reached out to Jewish people in dire need. They are some of the people God used to continue to keep His promise that He will never forsake Israel. May their memory be a blessing and may they become models for what’s to come!

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