The comparison in a recent New Yorker article was viewed as controversial in Germany, where government authorities strongly support Israel as a form of remorse and responsibility after Adolf Hitler’s Germany murdered up to 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.
Gessen, who was born Jewish in the Soviet Union, is critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
In Gessen’s article, titled “In the Shadow of the Holocaust,” the author explores German Holocaust memory, arguing that Germany today stifles free and open debate on Israel.
Gessen also is critical of Israel’s relationship with Palestinians, writing that Gaza is “like a Jewish ghetto in an Eastern European country occupied by Nazi Germany.”
“The ghetto is being liquidated,” the article added.
(Here’s a non-paywall link to the article.) It is profound.
German here. It’s weird, isn’t it? Israel did not exist when Hitler had the power and millions of Jews were killed. On the other hand, a Russian Jew would have been a prime target for the Nazis. Strange that the German government still feels like it has to be more supportive of the state Israel than of Jews themselves.