Holocaust and Jewish Identity

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the Holocaust has been a central event in shaping identity for survivors and their children, as well as in some ways the identities of other 20th century and 21st century Jews, creating for some at least a sense of identity that is almost ethnocentric. It compares the identity of those Jews living in the "Diaspora" with those living in the State of Israel.

From the Paper:

"Much about Jewish identity has been changed forever as a result of the Holocaust. One of these fundamental changes has been the fact that Judaism has become a non-European religion; its three major centers (which together include more than three-fourths of world Jewry) are Israel, the Slavic region of the former Soviet Union, and the United States. (Although Jews constitute only a small fraction of the population of the United States, Judaism occupies a role far surpassing its numerical importance and is regarded with Roman Catholicism and Protestantism as one of the major American faiths.) To be Jew in the post-Holocaust world is thus to have to incorporate into one's sense of identity the sense of being part of a people scattered irrevocably far from ones homeland (Hartmen, 2000, p. 38). Thus, even for those who are secular in their beliefs and who have (for example) no idea of ever living anywhere but in California, there is the abiding sense of being part of a Diaspora, of being part of a people defined by the broken apart and sent in to exile."

More papers on Holocaust and Jewish Identity:

• Cause and Effect Essay # 117083 : "The Impact of the Holocaust on Jewish Identity"
• Research Paper # 93551 : "The Holocaust in Hungary"
• Analytical Essay # 70371 : "Judaism, Christianity and Islam"

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