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March
10, 1940
The
gigantic catastrophe which has descended on Polish Jewry has
no parallel, even in the darkest periods of Jewish history.
Firstly the depth of the hatred. This is not hatred whose
source is simply in a party platform, invented for political
purposes. It is a hatred of emotion, whose source is some
psychopathic disease. In its outward manifestation it appears
as physiological hatred, which sees the object of its hatred
as tainted in body, as lepers who have no place in society.
The
masses have accepted this sort of objective hatred. Their
limited understanding does not grasp ideological hatred;
psychology is beyond them, and they are incapable of
understanding it. They have absorbed their masters teaching in
a concretely bodily form. The Jew is filthy; the Jew is a
swindler and evil; the Jew is the enemy of Germany and
undermines its existence; the Jew was the prime mover in the
Versailles Treaty, which reduced Germany to a shambles; the
Jew is Satan, who sows dissension between the nations,
arousing them to bloodshed in order to profit from their
destruction. These are easily understood concepts whose effect
on day-to-day life can be felt immediately.
But
the founders of Nazism and the party leaders created a
theoretical ideology with deeper foundations. They have a
complete doctrine which represents the Jewish spirit inside
and out. Judaism and Nazism are two attitudes to the world
that are incompatible, and for this reason they cannot coexist
side by side. For 2,000 years Judaism has left its imprint,
culturally and spiritually, on the nations of the world. It
stood fast, blocking the spread of German paganism, whose
teaching was different and whose culture was drawn from a
different source. Two kings cannot wear one crown. Either
humanity would be Judaic, or it would be pagan-German. Up
until now it was Judaic. Even Catholicism is a child of
Judaism, and the fruit of its spirit, and thus afflicted by
all the shortcomings inherited from its mother. The new world
which Nazism would fashion would be pagan, primordial, in all
its attitudes. It is therefore ready to fight Judaism to the
finish....
It
is our good fortune that the conquerors failed to understand
the nature and strength of Polish Jewry. Logically, we are
obliged to die. According to the laws of nature, our end is
destruction and total annihilation. How can an entire
community feed itself when it has no grip on life? For there
is no occupation, no trade which is not limited and
circumscribed for us.
But
even this time we did not comply with the laws of nature.
There is within us some hidden power, mysterious and secret,
which keeps us going, keeps us alive, despite the natural law.
If we cannot live on what is permitted, we live on what is
forbidden. That is no disgrace for us. What is permitted is no
more than an agreement, and what is forbidden derives from the
same agreement. If we do not accept the agreement, it is not
binding on us. And particularly where this forbidden and
permitted comes from a barbarous conqueror, who limits life to
one made in his image, his murderous and larcenous views.
...The
Jews of Poland oppressed and broken, shamed and debased, still
love life, and do not wish to leave this world before their
time. Say what you like, the will to live amidst terrible
suffering is the manifestation of some hidden power whose
nature we do not yet know. It is a marvelous, life-preserving
power that only the most firmly established and strongest of
the communities of our people have received as a blessing.
The
fact that we have hardly any suicides is worthy of special
emphasis.
We
have remained naked. But as long as that secret power is
concealed within us, we shall not yield to despair. The
strength of this power lies in the very nature of the Polish
Jew, which is rooted in our eternal tradition that commands us
to live....
October
2, 1940
Eve
of the New Year, 5701
We
have no public prayers even on the High Holy Days....
Even
for the High Holy Days permission was not received for public
prayers, although I do not know whether the Community
[Council] tried to get it. And if it did not try that is only
because it knew that its request would be refused. Even in the
darkest days of our exile we did not suffer this trial....
The
wonder is that despite all this we go on living. Our life may
be one of scorn and debasement as it is seen from outside, but
our human emotions have become so numbed that we no longer
feel, and the awareness of insult that is concealed within
every human being no longer rises up in protest against even
the most barbarous and cruel of such insults.
To
what can this matter be compared? To a vicious dog who does
not treat you with respect; would you, then, be insulted? Is
not that why he is a dog?
Again:
everything is forbidden to us; and yet we do everything! We
make our "living" in ways that are forbidden, and
not by permission.
It
is the same with community prayers: secret minyanim* in
their hundreds all over Warsaw hold prayers together and do
not leave out even the most difficult hymns. Neither preachers
nor sermons are missing; everything is in accordance with the
ancient traditions of Israel. Where there is no informer the
enemy does not know what is going on. And surely no member of
the Community of Israel, even if he was born in Poland, will
go to lay information against Jews standing before their
Maker.
Near
the main synagogue some side room is chosen with windows
facing the courtyard, and there hearts are poured out to the
God of Israel in whispered supplications. This time it is
without cantors and without choirs; there are only whispered
prayers, but the prayer comes from the heart; even tears may
be wept secretly, and the gates of the tears cannot be
locked....
C.A.
Kaplan, Megilat Yissurin Yoman Getto Varsha ("Scroll
of Agony Warsaw Ghetto Diary"), September 1, 1939
August 4, 1942, Tel Aviv-Jerusalem, 1966, pp. 201-202,
350.
*
The group of ten adult males making a quorum for Jewish
community prayers. |
