What Was the Impact of Zionism on Displaced Jewish Refugees in Germany in the Aftermath of the Second World War?

Abstract

This paper explores the birth of the state of Israel with particular emphasis on the role of the Zionist ideology. Zionism as an ideology can be seen not only as a singular ideological view, but as a confluence of multiple ideas that trace back to the 19th century and even earlier to the diaspora of the Jewish people. The final product of the Zionist idea is the state of Israel. Great emphasis in this paper Is given to the role of Zionism after the end of World War II, which saw the mass murder of over 6 million Jewish. Zionism posed the dilemma to the Jewish people in the following terms: the creation of a state where Jewish people could have been represented as the majority with their own rules and legislation and the complete assimilation within other countries. In other words, Zionism aimed to give the Jewish people a nationalistic identity and remains a strong factor that influenced the Jewish people within the DP camps in the aftermath of the Second World conflict. The paper begins with the analysis of Zionism as an ideology from the 19th century onward and the conditions of the Jewish people in the aftermath of World War II. These two points are then analysed to demonstrate two main points. The first is the resiliency and adaptability of the Zionist ideology as the only way forward for the Jewish people and second, the status of the Jewish people as “victims” and this idea gave them the freedom to approach the creation of a new society with a general “benevolence” from the international community.