So I was reading the Wiki entry for Gandhi a while ago, and I noticed the article started to talk about Gandhi's position on the Holocaust. I assume many of you are aware of his position on WW2. I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions...If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them. And the fact that he wanted Britian to essentially fight their own fight and bring Indian Troops home (I would have loved to see what India view on Gandhi would have been after meeting General Tojo and the Imperial Army first hand had they pulled out). And regarding the Holocaust: "The Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs." The source for the excerpt is a book called Non-violence in peace and war. Anyone else hear of this before? Is their any credibility to this? Whats your take?
Here’s George Orwell's debatable charicature of Mahatma Ghandi: “…Gandhi’s view was that the German Jews ought to commit collective suicide, which would have aroused the world and the people of Germany to Hitler’s violence. After the war he justified himself: The Jews had been killed anyway, and might as well have died significantly.” Some Jews call(ed) Ghandi an anti-Jewish Nazi sympathizer. Orwell just thought him stupidly naïve. We can trace some few anti-Jewish views in Ghandi’s famous letter from 1938 (His “Prophetic words” forwarded by Ghassan F. Nimry) http://www.alshindagah.com/jan2001/9a.html
Elven6, interesting stuff, never heard of it before . Usualy thought Ghandi was all-positive person but it seems that no public person can be 100% positive...
Hmmm, I had never heard about this before. Apparently, he wanted another Masada. Masada? I assume you mean the mass suicide part and not the palace/fortification. In the southern part of India their are still anti Jewish movements, I didn't even know their was a big enough Jewish population for such rivalries until a few years ago! It was either his son or grandson who essentially came out and attacked Israel's foreign policy and then claimed Jews were "exploiting" the Holocaust. Gandhi also played a big role in the democratic system put in place, which depending on your point of view is either a good thing or a bad thing. The alternative was Communism, their is still a huge Communist following in India because of this.
Interesting. I never knew Gandhi was like that. Infact, I didn't even know he was still around during WW2. Cheers, marcus
Masada? I assume you mean the mass suicide part and not the palace/fortification. Yes, that's the correct assumption. I was talking about the mass suicide. I should have clarified.
Would Ghandi's comments been made on the Holocaust or before the Concentration Camps had been discovered? Reason I ask is. Although the world was well aware of the persection of the Jews by the Nazi's, the world didn't really know of the attrocities commited until the Concentration Camps were liberated. Maybe at the time Ghandi made some parallels of the Jews struggle against Nazism with Indias struggle against the British Empire? Which of course were two different kettles of fish. Had it been the latter it wouldn't have made a difference either way. Because by that point in time people in Europe were dying at such a rate in battle that the State run German media would've no doubt manipulated the situation to there advantage . Great forum by the way
Would Ghandi's comments been made on the Holocaust or before the Concentration Camps had been discovered? Reason I ask is. Although the world was well aware of the persection of the Jews by the Nazi's, the world didn't really know of the attrocities commited until the Concentration Camps were liberated. Maybe at the time Ghandi made some parallels of the Jews struggle against Nazism with Indias struggle against the British Empire? Which of course were two different kettles of fish. Had it been the latter it wouldn't have made a difference either way. Because by that point in time people in Europe were dying at such a rate in battle that the State run German media would've no doubt manipulated the situation to there advantage . Great forum by the way He had made comments both before and after the war.
