Trudy Gold
France: A Nation Divided
Summary
The lecture delves into the divided nature of France between 1789 and 1914, oscillating between republicanism and monarchy. France embodies the Enlightenment ideals, republicanism, liberalism, and toleration, yet simultaneously grapples with the influence of the Catholic Church, authoritarianism, and a strong military. The 19th century witnesses France as two nations, with the Jew caught in the middle. Despite being a small minority, the Jewish community experiences significant success and modernization, contributing to the nation’s cultural and economic landscape.
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.
They disappeared. French Jewry was disappearing of its own volition before the war. Today it’s one of the largest communities in the world, but the majority of Jews are Sephardi Jews from the the old French Empire.
No, he didn’t murder. He was an incendiary antisemite because during the Dreyfus affair, there were 55 different anti-Jewish demonstrations and put pogroms in France around the time of the second trial in 1898. When Dreyfus was publicly dishonoured, it was La Libre Parole that had whipped up the mob against the Jew.
Brains has got nothing to do with prejudice. The most extraordinary example would be the Anzacs group and the SS murder squads. The majority of them had PhDs from top German universities and one of the leaders was a pastor. So education has got nothing, and intellectuality has got very little to do with decency.
Most people are interested in their own families, but most of these bankers were incredible philanthropists and they did an awful lot of good. They had their castles, their chateaus. They emulated the French aristocracy.