Trudy Gold
Germany and Jewish Identity 1750’s – 1933, Part 4
Summary
Trudy Gold continues a conversations on what it means to be a Jew in the modern world and explores some of the history that shapes the answer. Part 4 of 5.
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.
That is a very, very good question, David. It depends which rabbi is where. In Eastern Europe, the majority of rabboni were absolutely horrified by it. In Germany, you had those who were trying to stay true to orthodoxy, but the rise of reform tried to embrace modernity. You see, reform Judaism in its infancy was not about theology. It was trying to prove to the outside world that Jews could be modern.
Well, the ones I’m talking about, they were all long dead and their children converted. Now what happened with Hitler? It was blood. And you know what happened to the category. If you were half Jewish, it was very scientific. The Nazis were so pseudo-scientific.