Trudy Gold
The Rise of a Movement
Summary
A critical analysis of the rise of the Nazi party, specifically examining how an overtly racist, authoritarian, extremist party seduced one of the best educated nations in the world and what lessons can be learned today.
Trudy Gold
Trudy Gold was the CEO of the London Jewish Cultural Centre and a founding member of the British delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Throughout her career she taught modern Jewish history at schools, universities, and to adult groups and ran seminars on Holocaust education in the UK, Eastern Europe, and China. She also led Jewish educational tours all over the world. Trudy was the educational director of the student resources “Understanding the Holocaust” and “Holocaust Explained” and the author of The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization.
I would not compare it to Nazism. There’s a lot of reasons why. Yes, of course antisemitism is evil and nasty. But what I believe we could, you see, I don’t think you’ll ever eradicate the disease, by the way. I think when there’s an economic upturn, it will lessen. What I do believe where we are failing is teaching Jewish history both to Jews and non-Jews. And because I think if you see the other as human, it’s like, I’m also against looking at all catastrophes within the realms of the Holocaust.
Why? Because the slave trade was appalling. The Shoah is beyond imagination. But don’t link them all together into some victimisation. We need to study, we need to look at it, we need to look at it with psychologists because we need to… Look, that’s why the people who interest me most are rescuers and those who resist.
Look, I think we’re at a time when those who prize democracy are going to have to fight for it. And that is a very, very… Look, we see it in Israel at the moment, where… I don’t want to make any political comments because what I’m talking about is way beyond politics.
What I hate about everything else is people who take away other people’s freedoms within the rule of law. And if that law doesn’t work, then you have to look at it and you have the courage to say, well, maybe we have to amend. I’m not an American lawyer, I don’t know. But I do know that from a perspective of the British, the gun lobby is something terribly frightening.
Look, this is not a product of today. And basically on the fringes of society, you always have these extraordinary extremists. And basically when society is under attack, look, I’ve said it to you so many times, it’s a mantra, but I really believe it, economic, social, and political unrest, more people are attracted to extremist solutions, and also the kind of leader who promises them the world. That’s what we haven’t learned.
People have not changed enough. One would’ve thought, I mean, this is one of the reasons I have a real problem with Holocaust education as we know it today. When I speak to some of my close friends who are survivors, they really did believe that once they told their story, people would come to their senses, or if you listen to any horror story from any survivor of calamity. But unfortunately we haven’t, and that’s what we’ve got to address.
You know, there’s a story of Einstein, who was such an extraordinary man. Someone said, “How World War III be fought?” And he lost his temper. He said, “I don’t know, but I do know how World War IV will be fought, with sticks and stones.” You see we haven’t yet learnt to harness the dark side of our emotions, have we?