A Jewish Story. Sheldon Cohen

a world either where Jews have no power, or where there are no Jews. I’m not sure which.”

      “I have a hard time understanding why Hitler thinks that Jews are so bad. What did we ever do that makes him think like that?”

      “That’s my son alright; he asks, asks, and asks. Never stop, David. That’s how we learn. That’s how we get answers, and we put those answers we get into our brain and we see if it makes any sense to us. I asked the same question myself, and even when I read his reasons, I couldn’t come up with an answer, but I did come up with some thoughts that are mine that I believe in. I tried to peek into his head and I’ll share my thoughts with you, but whether anyone, including me will have the true answers, I can’t tell you. This was a fascinating study to me. I sure gave my brain a workout, and I got it all written down in my notebook, so here’s what I think. He starts by comparing Jews in a good light to Aryans. In his mind, Aryans are the greatest people, and their descendants were the German people. None other. I thought that was interesting, because that to him is a compliment toward the Jews. He goes on to say that the Jews keep going and stay together and keep the religion alive for the last two thousand years in spite of the fact that, and I quote, ‘What people, finally, has gone through greater upheavals than this one—and nevertheless issued from the mightiest catastrophes of mankind unchanged? What an infinitely tough will to live and preserve the species speaks from these facts?’

      “I never thought of that,” said David. “He’s right. What’s funny to me is the way he calls Jews a species, like we’re some kind of animal or something.”

      “Yes, he says crazy things, alright, but he doesn’t discuss the reasons why the Jews have remained a single people,” said Ben.

      David stared at his father. “Do you know the reasons?”

      “I think I do. First, Jews were the first to promote the idea of one God. We kept that concept alive for thousands of years from the days of Abraham to Moses and right up to now. We were one people then, in one location and when we lived in the area on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean about two thousand years ago, we built a great Temple in Jerusalem, a house of God. In that Temple was a Priest and the Ten Commandments that Moses received on Mount Sinai. We developed a Torah, the book of laws. With the Temple destruction, the Jews spread throughout the world. How would they stay alive? How would they remain a single people if they spread all over?”

      “Let me think, dad. Hmmm…well, we’re still Jews…we have a synagogue…we have a Rabbi…”

      “You’ve got it, David. We took the Temple with us wherever we went by building little houses of worship...synagogues. We kept the Ten Commandments and our rules, we kept our teaching over the centuries and we carried the Torah with us and always had a rabbi to guide us who replaced the one priest. We survived, but you’ll never read any of this in Mein Kampf. Hitler will tell his people that we survived because our goal was to take over the entire earth; a Jewish plot. I can’t get over the idea of his paranoia.

      “Anyhow, he also says we’re a smart people, but he says that’s because, as he puts it, ‘But his intelligence is not the result of his own development, but of visual instruction through foreigners.’ I’m not going to say that Jews are any smarter than anyone else, but, to me, this was Hitler’s way of saying that we’re not—and there I’m not going to disagree with him. But if he’s trying to give others credit for the fact that we aren’t so dumb, that’s fine with me because everybody learns that way. Again, rather than give the Jew credit, he will credit others for whatever brains the Jew has.

      “From here on, you’ll see that there’s very little good he has to say about Jews. For instance, he says that the Jews have no culture, no art, architecture or music. He calls Jews parasites on other peoples.”

      “I guess now he’s getting into it, isn’t he?” said David.

      “Yes, he is and he starts with a lie. Do you know what The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is, David?”

      “No, what is it?”

      “This was a bunch of documents that was written by the Ochrana, the Czar’s Russian Secret Police. They wrote it just to get the minds of the peasants away from any thoughts of revolution against the Czar. I think they wrote it in the late eighteen hundreds. It was a proven forgery. The Russians wrote this, but said that secret Jewish world leaders wrote it and it said that the Jews were planning to overthrow world governments, including the Russian government. In other words, it was a Jewish plot to take over the world—and all the brainchild of the Ochrana, blaming the Jews. The Jews would install an anti-Christ form of dictatorship. This got the people worked up against the Jews, turned their minds away from the Czar and was one of the reasons for the pogroms against the Jews. That’s how your grandfather, my father died. You can understand how important words can be in the lives of some people.”

      “Yeah, I remember what you and mom told me,” said David. “But who were these Jewish world leaders?”

      “There are no such animals. Jews don’t have anything like that. Catholics have a Pope, but Jews don’t have a single leader. We have famous Jews just like all other religions have famous members, and we have a rabbi, but there is no single Jew or group of Jews that control all Jews and want to take over the world. How stupid can anyone get? We’re a fraction of one percent of the world. I remember my grandfather telling me that there were pamphlets spread all over Russia, saying that the Jews were out to destroy the country. It was a firestorm for Jews. That’s when plenty of them were killed. Now do you know why I worry, David?”

      “I guess so, Dad, as he drummed his fingers on the kitchen table.”

      Ben noted the drumming. “Anyhow, Hitler mentions the Protocols, but only in a short paragraph. He even says that a Frankfurt newspaper often says it is a forgery, but he uses that as proof that the Protocols are true, because he says…hold on…let me read his quote, ‘The Frankfurter newspaper moans and screams once every week: the best proof that the Protocols are authentic.’

      “I found this to be almost funny, because you remember when I said that the best ways to hide one’s intentions are to publicize them for the entire world to see? Well that’s what his book is all about; he’s publicizing and therefore hiding his intentions. I can’t help but think we are in great danger. This maniac has worked out his complete plan for how the Jews will take over the world. It’s insane.”

      In an effort to throw some humor into the conversation, David said, “Tell me how we’ll do it, Dad. When I’m older, I’ll be ready to be the boss.”

      Ben‘s expression changed. He stared at his son without saying a word for ten seconds. Then, with a calm voice, he said, “David…you find this funny, do you?”

      “Uhh…no dad.” He looked at his father’s stern expression, realized that his effort at humor had failed, and said, “I’m sorry, dad.”

      In a louder voice, Ben said, “You’re doing what I told you the people I try to speak with about this subject do; they make fun of it. It stops me cold. Damn, David, I’m dead serious. You’re my son and I love you. I believe we’re in danger, but I have no idea what the future will hold, so I’m trying to prepare you and I want to give you options. This is serious. Do you want me to go on?”

      With head bowed David said, “I’m very sorry, dad, please go on.”

      Ben sighed. “Ok, I love you and I accept your apology and understand that you were just trying to make a joke.” He paused and then said, “Now where was I?”

      “You were going to tell Hitler’s theory about how the Jews will take over the world.”

      “Oh yes. It’s a story that made no sense to me, but here’s what he says. It goes on for pages and pages with all kinds of detail, but I’ll make it short. He starts with a single Jewish peddler who comes into a small town and the people accept him. This is a handy guy to have around. He’s harmless and you can buy some nice stuff from him. Then the Jew becomes successful and other Jews join him. They settle in a separate section of the town, build a pretty