Foreword
I would like to make clear that any personal opinion in the writing is not meant to insult anyone and does not have any sort of bad intention. They are merely thoughts of me alone and this writing is a sharing of that peculiar thought that I once had. I am proud to acknowledge that the writing is based on meticulous research and is written in a very unique form of my own.
Adolf Hitler and the Modern society
It has been centuries since I had time to enjoy my own peculiar way of killing time and charging myself. I guess I can say that it’s a hobby: browsing through various websites on the internet about one subject and getting myself to gain some useful knowledge about it. My mom liked to this ‘the digging project’, which made sense, for I tended to ‘dig’ deeply into one subject, gathering pieces of information here and there and synthesizing them with my knowledge and ending up with a brand new idea. The topic was on various subjects; I remember that once, I researched about how many hours at most a humankind can hold back urine (found out that there exists a woman who held back for 9 hours), and the most memorable one was the research (properly described as secret investigation) on my mysterious Korean language teacher.
Thanks god that the final exams were finally over, I decided that this was the perfect chance to freshen my brain for a change. Grabbing my lime colored laptop pouch from the laptop stand, I strolled to the study room which is the only internet zone in the dormitory, waving bright hellos here and there, not stopping by for gossips, for I was too excited and thrilled. Throwing back my old pair of Converse I settled down in my usual seat by the window, unzipped the pouch with a loud ‘zzuuiippp!’, took my laptop out like an experienced pizza baker, through it lightly into the summer air mixed with the lingering scent of all the exams and our hard work, and caught it gently in my palm. A big stretch signed the beginning of my long lost hobby, and I got right into ‘digging’ one of the most interesting mankind in the world- the Jews. In the process I was shocked, which lead to my envy, and I ended up getting a weird idea…
Last year, me and a few of my friends were going over The Diary of Anne Frank in literature class when someone said that Judaism is a religion, which was rebutted right away that it is a kind of race, and the whole debate began which was stopped by a rational girl saying that we went too far and that sort of question will not be on the midterm. However such words did not make me to let go of my curiosity; I found out that people who are born to a Jewish family regardless of whether or not they follow the religion, those who have some Jewish ancestral background or lineage (including those who do not have strictly matrilineal descent), and people without any Jewish ancestral background or lineage who have formally converted to Judaism and therefore are followers of the religion are all counted as Jewish. So if I wanted, I can become a Jew as long as I promise myself that I will follow the Hanukkah tradition and the candles and the poems and everything else.
Even with that broad categorization of who is Jew, Jews comprised a mere 1/4 of 1% (13 million) of the world’s population (6 billion), which meant that more than 99% of the world was non-Jewish. And given that fact, accomplishments by Jews were quite impressive. First off, between 1901 and 2012, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to approximately 850 laureates; at least 177 of them have been Jewish, while Korea, a nation 4 times larger in population has produced only 1 prize winner. As a Korean, I felt shameful for a moment, but later decided that it was an obvious outcome considering all the wars, coups, and economic crises.
That one fact was ample to persuade me; gee these people are good. An hour of extra googling taught me more than enough, overly exceeding the amount that I could take in: the largest population of Jews outside Israel is in the United States, and here too, Jews have done well- In 1908 the percentages of Jews in all colleges and at Harvard were 7% and 6% respectively, and by 1919 this had increased to 20% of the students at Harvard and about the same figure at Yale, Brown and Pennsylvania, while at Columbia, 40% of the students were Jewish. On top of that, Jewish garment industries, with household names like Levis, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and more, changed the US from a country in which garments were made one at a time by hand, into the world’s leader in ready- to- wear and high fashion. These charming Jews contributed to oiling Korean students’ confidence in wearing casual clothes instead of school uniforms. Not only that, many of the most important US newspapers and book publishers came from or were shaped largely by Jews- notably The New York Times, the Washington Post, and Random house. In winning 51% of the Pulitzer Prizes for non-fiction, the importance of Jews in news reporting was confirmed. Lastly, although the technology for making movies was invented by non Jewish Thomas Edison and the Lumiere brothers, but it were Jewish entrepreneurs who actually saw the potential in creating an industry, making feature-length films, distributing them internationally, and building and sustaining the studios. From that arose the vital role played by Jewish movie producers, directors and actors (Steven Spielberg, Aaron Spelling, Harrison Ford, Natalie Portman, Mark Frankel, Sarah Jessica Parker, and more).
From experience I knew very well that sometimes images tell more than paragraphs of complex sentences; I encountered an interesting collage of myriads of logos of the Jewish corporations, which called that game was over. I concluded that more than 70% of my life was created and fulfilled by the accomplishments of global population of less than 1%. As far as I realized, waves of succeeding Jews helped build American industries and culture, which even dominated the modern society and the way people live. No wonder that a Jewish American Heritage Month is celebrated in May to honor the Jewish countrymen in the US; I bravely say that the Jews have largely contributed in enriching America.
My class had a short lecture on the Hebrews in history class, which was very ironically repeated in more detail and drama during religion class on the same day. Because the history itself was so dramatic, and also because it was repeated, I remember it very clearly: the descendants of Abraham ‘the Hebrews’, were slaves in Egypt for 400 years, but was freed by Moses who lead them to Canaan in a journey called the Exodus. After fighting the people living there to gain control, they finally settled down and became known as the Israelites. The Israelites lived in small groups until they faced a threat and had no choice but to choose a new leader, Saul. After Saul’s death, followed David, then came King Solomon, and after the death of King Solomon the Israelites were divided into 2- Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah, and before long both were taken over by the Assyrians. Unlike Kingdom of Israel which fell immediately after the conquest of the Assyrians, Judah lasted longer as the people had iron will to stay alive and protect their country. The Assyrian dominance over Judah declined as Chaldeans came to power, and the Chaldeans marched thousands of Jews to their capital, Babylon, to work as slaves, which did not last long due to the Persian domination over Chaldeans. The Persians let the Jews return to their homeland, but most Jews scattered to other parts of the Persian Empire. Later the Jews ruled their own kingdom for a short period but were conquered again this time by the Romans, who made the Jews to worship them. However, only worshiping their own god, the Jews revolted, but never succeeded, and when the Romans tried to make them become slaves, they took on their own lives. Many of the remaining population were killed by the Romans as a punishment for their rebellion. Some Jews who survived began another revolt, which was defeated by the Roman army, and as a result, the Jews were banned from anywhere near the city of Jerusalem. Since then started the Jews wandered for places to live in, but whenever they settled, they were forced to move by other religious groups who discriminated against them or were unfair to them; surprisingly, there was even a term for this historical exile and dispersion: Jewish Diaspora
20th century in America, as the road to the New World widened, came the hope for the Jews; they could finally settle down soundly. Since then the Jews migrated to America in small numbers, but it was only 50 years ago during and after World War II when the Jews of Eastern Europe started to migrate in great numbers, due to the Holocaust and the Nazis. The treatment towards Jews was not so much different in America. One example is the signs that banned dogs and Jews from buildings; the Jews were again isolated and discriminated. However, it was the tight family band that the Jewish had between themselves which lead them to success, unlike other minority groups who gave way to oppression. Gradually the American Jews assimilated into the mainstream society, but they always lived as Jews before Americans, and they kept with their own culture and tradition.
The Jews has been persecuted numerous times in history; discriminated for having a special culture, hated for being smart. They were forced to leave their cities and find new places to live. It was a surprise that one such successful group possessed heart tearing past memories, and I concluded that the Jews did not simply walk to their accomplishments, like most of the successful people in the modern society, who are born in a good family to end up finding themselves high social status. All that history made me look upon the Jews with great respect.
That was when it hit me; so in a way it was due to Adolf Hitler that America became such a powerful nation. If he never had to hate the Jews for whatever reasons he had, if he never had to commit genocide of approximately six million Jews during World War II, if he was didn’t have to be a threat to the Jews, then the Jews wouldn’t have had to flee to America and undergo a replay of persecution. Before Hitler came to authority, the Jews had a secure life in Eastern Europe and a lot of them occupied high places in terms of social status. If the Jews had stayed in Europe, then perhaps the Jews flourished the Eastern Europe culture instead of the American culture, and by now Europe would be the center of the modern society. I would be wearing some sort of European designed jeans and would be speaking in British accent. The evening news would flash photos of Angela Markel oftener than Barack Obama and the world would be more interested in the British royal family.
That was enough, no, more than enough. My eyes hurt from the nonstop 4 hours of computer screen and my neck ached from the improper posture I was posing in. I shut my laptop, gently placed it back inside my notebook pouch, put on my shoes, and walked back to my room.
It was warm; my roommate had gone off somewhere, and it was silent except for the distinct laughter of freshmen girls. I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes and let the evening sky set before me. I took a deep breath and felt the sweet orange colored air surrounded me. I let all the blood take their path from my heart to every end of my body and leave swiftly from my fingertips. I felt all the agonies and complicated thoughts disappear as they slowly flowed out along with the blood; now that I was free from thoughts and feelings I deserved rest…
Life in CSIA? 