This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by RUBENSTEIN, R. L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Holocaust and Holy War

The anti-Christian elements in Nazi ideology obfuscate a view of the Holocaust as a modern holy war. That view is not linked with the concept of apocalyptic messianism or the notion that holy war attempts to enforce religious beliefs. This war's objective was the elimination of those who did not share the majority's symbolic universe, an objective wherein religion played a major role—as is the case in Bosnia today. European history is replete with attempts to reduce those who do not share the common religious or cultural identity in the heart of Christendom, attempts to defame, baptize, or expel the disconfirming other. Although systematic extermination constitutes a discontinuity with the past, and although the Nazi state was hostile to Christianity, the Holocaust was a holy war that benefited those for whom the guarding of the Christian symbolic universe as the cornerstone of civilization depended on the elimination of Jews and the defeat of bolshevism.

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 548, No. 1, 23-44 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/0002716296548001003


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?