How Did Hitler Survive The Holocaust

During World War II, over 60 million people lost their lives. In Germany alone, around 8 million died. Adolph Hitler was the dictator of Germany throughout World War II. When he came into power, anti-Semitism was on the rise. Hitler had enforced multiple laws where Jews were not able to attend university, forced out of civil work, and boycotts against Jewish-owned shops. Hitler described Jews as inferior, and believed that they threatened the German race, warning Germans not to marry any. Jews were ordered to wear armbands with a yellow Star of David to indicate their religion. As the anti-Semitism grew worse, what eventually brewed from this was the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a systematic genocide by Nazi Germany aimed at eliminating the
Jewish people. Jews were put in ghettos, used for scientific experiments, killed instantly or put in concentration/death camps. There were six different concentration camps, the most infamous being Auschwitz, where about 1 million Jews died. All of the six camps were located in Poland. After years of mass genocide occurring, Nazi Germany finally surrendered in 1945, and a total of about 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

After World War II ended, hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors had lost their homes, families, and were displaced. They had nowhere they could go. They were put in displacement camps by the Allied forces until they could sort out where to live, where some stayed for years. There had previously been a push for a Jewish state, known as Zionism, by many different people. The British had initially promised the British mandate of Palestine to the Jews in the Balfour Declaration but decided against it later on to keep relations well with Arabs. But during World War II, the Zionist movement grew much larger, and Zionists began attacking British soldiers in Palestine. Because of this, and the general stress of governing that area, Britain gave Palestine to the United Nations. It is believed that the Zionists wouldn’t have been able to make the British leave if it wasn’t for Germany fighting with Britain and weakening them, another way Hitler indirectly aided in helping Israel. When the world learned about the atrocities of the Holocaust, Jews gained much of the world’s sympathy and swayed much of the world’s opinion in favor of creating a Jewish nation. In 1948, two years after World War II ended, the United Nations decided to divide Palestine equally, with one half to become Israel and other to become Palestine. Israel accepted the offer, and thus gained its independence. Mass immigration to Israel swiftly followed, with many from Europe due to Holocaust survivors but also many from Arab countries where Jews faced persecution and had to flee because of the creation of Israel.

When Israel was created, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon invaded Israel in what became the Arab-Israeli War.
Israel won, but was suffering heavy financial loss, ruined infrastructure and not many resources. This combined with mass immigration with many of the immigrants living in poverty posed as a real economic and security problem for Israel. Israel was worried about future wars and attacks from Arab nations and needed to focus on security. This is where Hitler indirectly helped Israel survive, the Holocaust. In 1952, a treaty between Israel and Germany was created called The Luxembourg Agreements. With this treaty, Germany paid Israel 800 million dollars worth of services and goods over a twelve-year period because of the hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors Israel took in and all the damage Germany had caused them. This was perfect for Israel because they needed goods and supplies more than they needed money, and Germany didn’t have much money to give. Because of this treaty, Israel was able to recuperate from the war and stabilize its economy. Also, because of the trading between Israel and Germany, other countries became more open to trading with Israel. Dr. Goldmann stated that, “for Israel, particularly in those difficult financial days, the agreement was a downright salvation…” The reason this was the most significant global development is not only because of the success of Israel as a country today, but also because of Israel’s contributions to the world, such as the drip irrigation system which is used by over 100 countries
worldwide.