If we are truly going to learn from history we must not suppress the events that lead us to question our contemporary ideas and policies. National Socialism was primarily responsible for the evil actions of the holocaust but Internationalism and Pan-Europeanism must also shoulder some of the blame.
In 1903-1906 and after 1917 the Jewish population of the Russian Empire, principally in what is now Poland, came under pressure from pogroms and economic factors. This led to a mixed exodus of asylum seekers and economic migrants. (See Spitzer: POGROMS, NETWORKS,AND MIGRATION The Jewish Migration from the Russian Empire to the United States 1881–1914 )
The media of the time were greatly incensed by this persecution. Eventually the Jewish migrants were offered sanctuary in the USA and also Germany. During WWI the Russians expelled both Protestant Germans and Jews westwards. After the First World War the German Weimar Republic had lax border controls and allowed a fairly large scale migration into and through its territory. (See Brinkmann: Jewish Migration, which contains the understatement: "Quite a few of these people came into the clutches of the Nazi machinery of persecution after 1939 for lack of valid papers." ).
The pressure to treat the migrants fairly and with openness was intense. Organisations such as the Paris based Alliance Israelite Universelle, the New York HIAS (Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society) or the Berlin Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden all helped to expedite the flow of migrants out of Russia. The Germans under Hitler, in 1933, negotiated a deal with Zionists, "The Haavara Transfer Agreement", to attempt to divert the flow of Jewish migrants to the Middle East although this was entirely an anti-Jewish move on Hitler's part.
The German Weimar Republic came under huge tension as a result of economic difficulties and more so as a result of full scale revolution by communists who wished to join Russia and who formed the Bavarian Soviet Republic. The resentment against the migrants, who were accused of involvement in the insurrections and terrorism, was enormous.
Sadly the racists got in on the act. Those who feared any diversity founded the Pan-Europa movement which agitated for a strange sort of eugenics in which it was held that peace could only be obtained by breeding out the diversity of racial differences in Europe and this was opposed by the National Socialists. The Pan Europeans built the fire and the Nazis lit it. Modern German and Italian historians have taken to discussing this period as the "European Civil War".
Fortunately the Europeans would never be so stupid as to do the same thing again. There are widely publicised and highly active, violent groups whose avowed aim is to polarise Moslems and the West into conflict so the Europeans know exactly what they are doing this time. The only slight concern is that the EU, which is responsible for borders, is to a large extent the product of the Pan-Europa movement - are they squaring up for a re-run of the 1920s? Surely no-one would provoke racism to fuel the Internationalist-Nationalist conflict again?
This is the lesson from history: Extreme Internationalists are as dangerous as Extreme Nationalists. Beware of both. Both use migration as a political weapon to stir up the other.
(Note: this current crisis is not like the other war-time displacements of Europeans in the 20th century, most of whom returned to their country of origin and those who settled were not of a radically different religion and culture from their host countries).
Postscript: One of the mysteries of this whole story is why the history of the Russian pogroms and the refugee crisis it created has been suppressed. The answer is probably that it places a spotlight on Russian communism and many historians are sympathetic to left wing ideals and it raises questions about Pan-Europa, the victorious ideology in Europe after the war. It also distracts attention from the pure evil of National Socialism, however, if we are to avoid repeating the past we must be aware of what happened.
Check out these links:
Post-referendum: What Brexit tells us about Britain
Surprise! Surprise! The EU was invented by the USA!
The EU: Utopia or unfit for British ethnic minorities?
Search the German press for articles such as this: Russia steps into Berlin rape storm
7/9/15
In 1903-1906 and after 1917 the Jewish population of the Russian Empire, principally in what is now Poland, came under pressure from pogroms and economic factors. This led to a mixed exodus of asylum seekers and economic migrants. (See Spitzer: POGROMS, NETWORKS,AND MIGRATION The Jewish Migration from the Russian Empire to the United States 1881–1914 )
The media of the time were greatly incensed by this persecution. Eventually the Jewish migrants were offered sanctuary in the USA and also Germany. During WWI the Russians expelled both Protestant Germans and Jews westwards. After the First World War the German Weimar Republic had lax border controls and allowed a fairly large scale migration into and through its territory. (See Brinkmann: Jewish Migration, which contains the understatement: "Quite a few of these people came into the clutches of the Nazi machinery of persecution after 1939 for lack of valid papers." ).
The pressure to treat the migrants fairly and with openness was intense. Organisations such as the Paris based Alliance Israelite Universelle, the New York HIAS (Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society) or the Berlin Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden all helped to expedite the flow of migrants out of Russia. The Germans under Hitler, in 1933, negotiated a deal with Zionists, "The Haavara Transfer Agreement", to attempt to divert the flow of Jewish migrants to the Middle East although this was entirely an anti-Jewish move on Hitler's part.
The German Weimar Republic came under huge tension as a result of economic difficulties and more so as a result of full scale revolution by communists who wished to join Russia and who formed the Bavarian Soviet Republic. The resentment against the migrants, who were accused of involvement in the insurrections and terrorism, was enormous.
Sadly the racists got in on the act. Those who feared any diversity founded the Pan-Europa movement which agitated for a strange sort of eugenics in which it was held that peace could only be obtained by breeding out the diversity of racial differences in Europe and this was opposed by the National Socialists. The Pan Europeans built the fire and the Nazis lit it. Modern German and Italian historians have taken to discussing this period as the "European Civil War".
Fortunately the Europeans would never be so stupid as to do the same thing again. There are widely publicised and highly active, violent groups whose avowed aim is to polarise Moslems and the West into conflict so the Europeans know exactly what they are doing this time. The only slight concern is that the EU, which is responsible for borders, is to a large extent the product of the Pan-Europa movement - are they squaring up for a re-run of the 1920s? Surely no-one would provoke racism to fuel the Internationalist-Nationalist conflict again?
This is the lesson from history: Extreme Internationalists are as dangerous as Extreme Nationalists. Beware of both. Both use migration as a political weapon to stir up the other.
(Note: this current crisis is not like the other war-time displacements of Europeans in the 20th century, most of whom returned to their country of origin and those who settled were not of a radically different religion and culture from their host countries).
Postscript: One of the mysteries of this whole story is why the history of the Russian pogroms and the refugee crisis it created has been suppressed. The answer is probably that it places a spotlight on Russian communism and many historians are sympathetic to left wing ideals and it raises questions about Pan-Europa, the victorious ideology in Europe after the war. It also distracts attention from the pure evil of National Socialism, however, if we are to avoid repeating the past we must be aware of what happened.
Check out these links:
Post-referendum: What Brexit tells us about Britain
Surprise! Surprise! The EU was invented by the USA!
The EU: Utopia or unfit for British ethnic minorities?
Search the German press for articles such as this: Russia steps into Berlin rape storm
7/9/15
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