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May 28, 1999/13 Sivan 5759, Vol. 51, No.35
Tragedies, triumphs usher in new century
MARTY LATZ
Special to Jewish News
Jews in the 20th century have "witnessed the greatest of tragedies and triumphs, (among them having) faced the very real risk of being marginalized on the ash heap of history," says Stuart E. Eizenstat, a U.S. undersecretary of state and special envoy for property claims in central and eastern Europe. Almost 60 years after losing one-third of our population, including two-thirds of European Jewry, Eizenstat reminds us we have yet to recover even our pre-Holocaust numbers.
At the same time, the last half-century has seen many Jews gain unparalleled freedom and influence worldwide, and has included the miraculous birth and success of a Jewish homeland in Israel.
This duality of good and evil in the 20th century, and its effect on Jews, formed the core of Eizenstat's recent remarks to the American Jewish Committee's 93rd Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., a gathering that included a sizable Phoenix delegation.
The starting point for almost any analysis of Jews in the 20th century must be the Holocaust, says Eizenstat. An incalculable loss for Jews and the world, many still find it hard to believe that such pure evil existed and gained support from millions in "civilized" society. Also shocking and sobering was the world's inaction in the face of such evil.
Fifty years later, Jews have experienced an unprecedented renaissance, says Eizenstat. He attributes that to four events. First was the creation of a modern Jewish state after two millennia in exile. Israel, he says, has become the "spiritual, cultural and religious core of world Jewry." Second, there were cataclysmic changes in the Jewish communities in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union after 40 years of communist repression. Democracy, and with it the freedom to practice religion, has led to a miraculous rebirth of Jewish thought and culture in places where it had all but disappeared.
Third was the emergence of Jews in America, who comprise less than 3 percent of the population, yet, according to Eizenstat, wield "influence unlike that of Jews in the Diaspora anywhere."
Finally, but no less importantly, was the coming to terms by the international communities with the lessons of the Holocaust. Some, like the Swiss, banked for the Nazis and converted gold to currency for the war effort up until the last day of the war. Others, like the Austrians, until fairly recently, simply considered themselves victims. And still others, like the French under de Gaulle, ignored their governments' collaborationist past.
Now, they're facing their past - and we're helping them so it never happens again.
Why now? The end of the Cold War has led to increased access to archival documents. There is a heightened urgency to set the historical record straight as survivors age; and a strong psychological need to address these issues before a new century dawns, what Eizenstat calls the "millennium complex." And some largely Jewish individuals simply refuse to let these issues lie.
Good and evil. Israel and the Holocaust. Heroic struggles and the price of indifference. These characterized the 20th century. I don't know what the 21st century will bring. But I do know this: We and the rest of the world should have learned some crucial lessons involving basic human rights and dignity of all peoples everywhere. Let's apply them as we enter the next century. It won't be easy or without cost. Never is. But it's worth it. Given the destructive nature of weaponry today, the alternative is simply too horrible to contemplate.
Marty Latz is a Valley attorney and negotiation consultant.
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