50
votes
Accepted
What are the text and subtext of this 1949 Soviet cartoon?
Although the whole anti-"rootless cosmopolitan" campaign is now widely accepted as being antisemitic in nature, at the time it was framed as being directed against people who "lack patriotism and ...
- 8,782
47
votes
Accepted
What defined a Jew in the context of WW2?
The "classification" of Jews in Nazi Germany (and occupied territories) was governed by the Nuremberg laws and based on "heritage." Basically, someone with no Jewish grandparents was considered non-...
- 104k
41
votes
How to rebut Holocaust denial argument?
The right response is to laugh at it.
I don't think this can or should be directly rebutted. Arguing details of a theory that is that far from the mainstream implicitly puts it on equal logical ...
- 117k
34
votes
Accepted
Nuremberg Laws - Did they affect existing marriages between Jews and Non-Jews?
It is very rare for new laws to apply retroactively, even Hitler's Nuremberg Laws. In this case, the prohibition of mixed marriages did not apply to couples who were already married. However, as the ...
- 77.2k
27
votes
Accepted
Why was the "Cave of the Patriarchs" forbidden to Jews?
The ban occurred during Mamluk period. The specifics of why are unclear in the wiki entry but the Jewish Virtual Library helpfully suggests that it's because they turned the location into a Mosque. ...
- 23.2k
26
votes
Accepted
Did the Soviet Union hand over thousands of Jews to the Nazis in the spirit of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact?
Short Answer
No - the Soviets did not hand over thousands and thousands of Jews to the Nazis before the outbreak of World War II. The claim is inaccurate.
The pact was signed by Molotov (seated) ...
- 6,167
26
votes
Accepted
What would the Arch of Titus have looked like painted?
Last year, a team headed by Steve Fine of the Yeshiva University Center for Israeli Studies in New York which had been examining portions of the arch since 2012 announced:
High resolution three-...
- 108k
25
votes
Accepted
How to rebut Holocaust denial argument?
What are you trying to rebut, that the plaque changed, or that the number of deaths is uncertain? Maybe the plaque originally stated the estimated number killed total, but now it just refers to the ...
- 37.7k
25
votes
Accepted
Did the Jews move from Palestine to Germany?
The Jews were largely exiled from 'Judea' which Romans then renamed 'Palestina' in 132CE by the Romans, after a rebellion against Roman rule. They dispersed into the Roman Empire, and gradually spread ...
- 31k
25
votes
Accepted
Why is the Arch of Titus not considered to be anti-Semitic?
Probably because, unlike many other acts in the ancient eastern Mediterranean (perhaps dating back to the antisemitic attitudes expressed by Manetho in the 3rd century BC), the motivation behind the ...
- 77.2k
24
votes
Accepted
When was Jerusalem destroyed by the Babylonians?
Wikipedia - Siege of Jerusalem
All of the contemporary records, whether Hebrew or otherwise, rely on regnal dating systems. There are two points of confusion, particularly when dating the reigns of ...
- 1,232
21
votes
Accepted
Solzhenitsyn's History of Russian Jews
I am a Russian speaker who read the book, and many reviews of this book. Most reviews label it as anti-semitic. Its main point is to justify or acquit all Russian actions with respect to the Jews. And ...
- 38.4k
19
votes
How to rebut Holocaust denial argument?
Easy. At the Nuremberg trials the holocaust was one of the indictments. None of the defendants pretended that the holocaust had not happened, because this was not credible, and they didn't want to ...
- 14.1k
18
votes
Accepted
Did Akhenaten's religion influence early Judaism?
In general, I would be very wary of claims that Akhenaten's religion was a significant influence on early Judaism. There is, however, one very famous link that is often claimed between Akhenaten and ...
- 77.2k
18
votes
What are the text and subtext of this 1949 Soviet cartoon?
1949 was a bad year to be a communist or nomenklatura.
Apart from the Rajk trials of national development line communists in the new soviet-style societies, there was the Leningrad affair and ...
- 14.6k
18
votes
Accepted
What was the point of the Babylonian captivity?
Just like the better researchable Assyrians the Neo-Babylonians employed this as a proven tool to assert their control of the conquered lands and the remaining people there.
Once the head of the snake ...
- 80.6k
17
votes
What do we currently know about the ethnic origins of Jews?
Being awfully broad as it is, it is nevertheless an issue that might be addressable.
But the terminology needs to be clearer. "Jews", in our modern sense, sprang into existence only after 70 ...
- 80.6k
16
votes
How to rebut Holocaust denial argument?
They are using "The Auschwitz Gambit: The Four Million Variant"
The argument, "Hey, if the number of deaths on the plaque at A decreases, then the estimates of the total number of Jews killed needs ...
- 161
16
votes
After Jesus was executed what became of Pontius Pilate
The best and most accessible recent historical account I know of for the historical Pilate is Reza Aslan's Zealot*. Here's a portion of what he wrote near the beginning of Chapter 5 of Pilate's story ...
- 117k
16
votes
Participation of Jewish Red Army Soldiers in Rape/Atrocities in Germany?
You may have read this in Antony Beevor's book The Fall of Berlin 1945 where he writes:
And a wide range of anecdotal evidence indicates that Red Army
officers who were Jewish went out of their ...
- 108k
16
votes
How much were Jews allowed to take with them from Nazi Germany?
Is this indeed a discrepancy, or am I misunderstanding the article?
You are misunderstanding the situation, since the article is mixing multiple laws that changed over time.
Currency restrictions (...
- 9,490
15
votes
How did the Emperor Titus die?
SHORT ANSWER
The most widely accepted view among scholars is that Titus died a natural death. He had a fever which may have been caused by malaria (note that its relationship to mosquitos was unknown ...
- 108k
15
votes
Accepted
What was it like for German Jews after WWII?
To talk about numbers, one has to talk about the definitions first. The Nazi definition of Jews was racist drivel, but it is relevant because it guided their persecutions. Counting the members in ...
- 16.6k
15
votes
Are there non-Biblical references to collecting foreskins?
The practice of Circumcision was by no means unknown in ancient Egypt, although I'm not sure how widely it was used.
A parallel to the Israelite practice of collecting the foreskins of slain enemies ...
- 77.2k
14
votes
How to rebut Holocaust denial argument?
The exact number is unknown and will remain unknown. We're talking about social sciences numbers here.
That being said, one of the best rebuttals to the holocaust deniers are people like Oskar ...
- 16.6k
14
votes
What treatment did Allied Jewish POWs get when captured by the Germans?
British and American POW's were treated as POW's. Soviet Jewish POW's were usually treated as Jews, if their national origin could be determined. The justification was that Soviet Union did not sign ...
- 38.4k
14
votes
Why do people refuse to acknowledge the Holocaust?
One of my uncles was an intelligence officer assigned to evaluate and document the camps. He also took pictures for his private albums. He retired after 30 years as a colonel, and would offer to ...
- 6,789
14
votes
Accepted
When did Herod the Great die?
As John A. Cramer observes,
Trying to date the death of Herod the Great is attended by
considerable uncertainty
The main source for information about the death of Herod the Great is the historian ...
- 77.2k
14
votes
How many Bolsheviks were Jewish?
I understand that by "bolshevik" we're really just referring to the
majority party within the USSR (if that is correct?)
This is the original, most concrete definition of "Bolshevik", yes. Outside ...
- 18.3k
14
votes
Nuremberg Laws - Did they affect existing marriages between Jews and Non-Jews?
Yes, they did, in an "indirect" way. This was particularly true after a 1938 supplement made the Jewish partner's racial status grounds for divorce by itself.
That is, the laws were designed to allow,...
- 104k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible