Hitler’s solution to the problems with the Jews was to round up all the Jews and have them placed in concentration camps around the countries. The most famous of these is Auschwitz. By the end of the Holocaust over six million Jews had been killed! The results of the Holocaust are still with us today.
The success and wealth of many Jews causes Jealousy among non-Jews. In addition to this Jews usually keep to themselves and tend not to help wit non-Jewish causes. This then adds to the misconception and the feeling between non-Jews that the Jews are mean. So this in a way prevents the Jews from helping in non-Jewish communities and so this is a problem with being able to practice Religion freely.
Some may argue that the separation that the Jews tend to have from the community in general is caused by during their persecution they have often been forced to live in ghettos. This in turn provokes the feeling of suspicion toward Jews. This segregation caused by the ghettos made the Jews far more unlikely to help others that are non-Jews. One more problems faced by Jews and all immigrants is the problems with people blaming them for jobs which they believe should rightfully be theirs.
Jews may also seem to regard themselves as superior in some ways to other people. They call themselves “the chosen people”. As well they believe that they have been given a homeland by God and so worship the one true God. This then separates them more from every one else as well, although some say that Jews are meant to separate and special e.g. the Kashrut.
Jews have a very different way of life to others. For instance their views on marriage and children has sometimes led to over population which would be considered a major problem for a country such as ours with an already high population. Some would say that the way the Jews live their lives according to their religion might have many drawbacks. The over population of a country caused the Egyptian pharaoh to order the deaths of all Jewish baby boys. Also now in Israel both the Arabs and the Jews are trying to over-populate the land adding to the already high-tension levels. A result of this over-population is the use of a large quantity of the country resources and so the host country resents this because after all they are foreigners.
All of the above reasons have added to the building of prejudice against the Jews. The Anti-Semitism has been the longest standing cause of persecution for the Jews; this causes the main amount of distrust and suspicion against the Jews. With all the suffering that they have suffered it is hardly suprising that they are deeply distrustful of others. Most Jews that have lost friends of family in the Holocaust find it hard to forgive the Germans for what they did.
The freedom to believe is considered a basic human right. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:
“Everyone has the right of freedom of thought conscience and religion, and the right to express their opinion both privately and publicly”.
The atmosphere of distrust caused by the persecution of others in this case the Jews can often lead to conflicts and even civil war. Some people of certain faiths have little respect for other faiths and believe that there faith is the only “one true” religion. This is a dangerous attitude to take and can lead to open conflicts such as between the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in India. You can not stop anyone from believing and so when religious groups are persecuted they often go underground. Underground beliefs can be more dangerous and cause a greater risk. In the Jews Case it is hard for them to practice their religion freely as they may be called to go to work or school on the Shabbat, this could affect deadlines and cause other workers a great deal of stress. With the religious festivals the Jews would usually have to take the day off however they could be forced to stay in work by the government if they were a doctor or nurse. This restricts them from practising their beliefs. Sikhs for instance will not wear a crash helmet when riding a motorbike because of there turban, this could be argued to be a danger to the person and so it is in the well being of the person to obey the law. It shouldn’t matter that someone’s beliefs are different we should all have equal rights and show each other a certain level of tolerance. Not being prejudice towards someone just because their views are different to yours, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and religious beliefs. Even though some countries will not allow the people to have the freedom to practice whatever religion they believe in I think that hear in Britain we should always be tolerant and in the end I think that it would make the world a better place.
