Jew, Nomad Or Pariah Studies On Hannah Arendt's Choice

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Europe as a whole, and the Netherlands in particular, are now experiencing the aftershocks of the Second World War and, for the most part, tacit assumptions of the ideological premises of Nazism and its virulent forms of anti-Semitism. Far from dissolving in the current period of large scale Muslim migration to this nation along with the rest of Western Europe, the so-called Jewish Question continues to loom large. Not the least of concerns is how a nation with a strong liberal democratic tradition like the Netherlands was able to participate in the exile and ultimately extermination of its long-standing and productive Jewish communities. The work of Derks attempts to take up such large-scale historical considerations by a review of three major European figures: Hannah Arendt. Theodor Adorno, and Max Weber, and what light they shed on this disquieting outcome to Jewish life in Europe for the second half of the twentieth century. The great strength of Derk's book is the solid testing of broad ranging theories about Jewish life against the backdrop of Dutch history. How did it happen that a nation with a strong democratic tradition and hospitality toward Jews also revealed the highest percentage of Jews caught, captured and shipped into Germany's extermination camps. What adds to the anguish is that Dutch Jews were among the most enlightened, secular, and integrated in geographical terms at least in all of Europe. Yet, such factors did not protect them from the same end as befell Jews throughout the rest of Europe. Derks' book, with its deep appreciation for Arendt's effort, helps to at least address, if not resolve, this riddle.