The Teutonic Hordes

May 21, 2015

2 min read

Jim Fletcher

One feature of the human condition is that we have fairly short attention spans. When the subject is something important, severe consequences can follow.

Witness the younger generations of Germans today, as apart from their older fellow citizens. When Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited Germany a few days ago, he was welcomed; signing the guest book, Rivlin chose to include Psalm 122:6—

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they that love thee prosper.”

But a new report indicates that German youth do not feel the same way about Israelis, and that poses a problem. From the Jerusalem Post:

“Many young Germans simply cannot internalize Israel’s self-defense wars against lethal anti-Semitic terroristic organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad.”

Stunning, but perhaps not so given the moral relativism that is choking younger generations. There, moral equivalence between Jews defending themselves and the “freedom fighters” of Hamas is the order of the day. Incredible, but where we are.

Rivlin noted that German hatred of Jews did not begin overnight, but rather emerged from centuries of anti-Semitism:

“The German people did not wake up one morning to the swastikas of the Third Reich. Anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, and frustration grew like a cancer under the surface for many years. This poisoned soil was the foundation, on which the Nazi monster acted unchallenged. Seventy years have passed since the last transport left Platform 17; yet once again, fascist and neo-Nazi movements are growing stronger and stronger on European soil. Apathy, indifference, or denial is not the answer.”

(The above report is courtesy of Brian Schrauger, writing for Bridges for Peace: https://www.bridgesforpeace.com/il/news/article/israel-and-germany-truly-amazing)

I have a young American friend (of Hispanic origin) who moved to Germany. He is fully a part of the Millennial Generation and its far left views. He is a sweet young man, but would no doubt buy into the anti-Israel views sweeping Europe.

By contrast, I have an Israeli friend, in his 60s, who refuses to even visit Germany. Like all Israelis, he has lost friends and family to Islamic terrorism, and well remembers the lessons of the Holocaust.

The Germans through history have been a war-like people, and we must realize that the gasoline poured on that fire was religious bigotry directed at Jews. Martin Luther, the same one lionized by much of Christendom today, was a vicious anti-Semite in the latter part of his life, and the religious instruction fed the German people for many years prior to World War II contained a high dose of Luther’s views.

Now, 70 years after the Holocaust, the mere fact that the generation witnessing the awful scene of the death camps is itself passing away only heightens the problem. Even showing youth a film like “Judgment at Nuremberg,” with its ferocious moral underpinnings, would no doubt elicit eye rolls.

In some ways, the relationship between Israel and Germany is remarkable and healthy. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have been strong for a half-century, and economic ties are healthy.

However, as we all know, such scenarios can change overnight. The specter of German youth having affinity for the death squads of Hamas bodes ill for the future.

We are watching dramatic events unfold from every direction, every day. It is a remarkable time to be alive. As we see the nations slowly but surely turn against Israel, we must steady ourselves, and resolve to stand with Israel, come what may.

Reprinted with author’s permission from Rapture Ready

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