After Liberation - Until 1948 when Israel is Formed

A lot of Holocaust research tends to be over the time period 1942 to 1945 from its apex, to the decline of Nazi power in Europe. It is interesting to see what happens after Hitler’s reign of power ends and what the Jews decide to do at this point. The Holocaust is one of the most terrible things to happen to a race of people in history, and the Jews have been reduced to a mere fraction of what they had once been in numbers. Their survival will depend on a determination to exist and overcome the most horrific campaign to destroy them since biblical times.
According to Holocaust History, the Nazi’s tried their best to eliminate all of the Jews in Europe, and almost accomplished this goal. At the conclusion to World War 2, Europe is in terrible shape. Jews and other war survivors are left with the ruin of what used to be their homes, businesses, and cities, now no more than broken down piles of rubble and painful memories. These refugees of war are known at the time as “displaced persons” or also known as “DP’s”, who surprisingly only a small number in comparison are actually Jewish. One would think, that considering the focus of Liberation was to free the Jews specifically from their horrible existence, that the majority of DP’s would be Jewish. That is simply not the case.
In adition, the number of people that needed to be resettled at the time is almost an unmanageable number. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) initially tried to accomplish this goal, but soon after taking on the responsibility it is determinedinadequate in its ability to accomplish what it had intended. With the dissemination of the UNRRA, a new organization (The International Refugee Organization) is put in charge of finding the 1,200,000 Jewish and non-Jewish people homes and a stable environment in which they could exist. With the resettlement of about a million DP’s, it is easily seen that the IRO was a better solution then the UNRRA (What Happened to the Jews?).
The need for the Jews to have their own independent state is very clear. Living among other peoples has not afforded the Jewish race any favors, there past being riddled with persecution, unfortunate occurrences, and overall a hard existence. The foundation for the birth of Israel is easily seen, more so after the Jews are liberated at the end of World War 2.
According to a lecture giving by EllyDlin, there are three primary reasons for the Jews in the establishment of Israel. The first reason is a personal, psychological standpoint. What had once been strong, flourishing Jewish communities had been turned into no more than broken down, ransacked, and hollow versions of what they had once been. The once proud and healthy establishments now the product of unbearable memories of what had been stripped from them, and no way to return them to their former glory.
Dlin continues in the second reason stating the political, sociological standpoint. Discrimination for the Jewish people did not stop at the end of the Nazi rule; on the contrary it was just as strong, if not stronger than it had been. The people who had lived with the Jews had been a part of removing them from their former places of residence and were no eager to see them return. The new residents were not about to relinquish what they had unjustly appropriated when the Jewish community was removed, and they were afraid that with the return of the former owners, they would be blamed for collaborating with the Nazi’s to have them removed in the first place so they could move in and acquire what the Jewish community left behind. If the Jews were allowed to return then they could possibly identify those responsible for some of their pain and suffering, which presented a threat to the new inhabitants.
Dlin finishes her hypothesis in the third reason, stating a national, Zionistic standpoint. Two thirds of the Jewish nation in Europe had been killed during the Nazi’s rule. The Polish and Lithuanian Jewish populace had all but been eradicated. One could be persuaded that this was in large part due to the fact that the Jews lived among all these other nationalities, and did not have a nation of their own. Considering this, the Jews were subjected to whatever laws the nations they resided in deemed appropriate, even the ones they were specifically designed to destroy them (Dlin).
According to the webpage The Creation of Israel, the Jews had nowhere to return to, no place that they could call their own and with this in mind, the seeds of Israel took root and began to grow. The time for the Jewish nation to start looking out for itself was now; no one else seemed inclined to treat them kindly and fairly. As a people they have been reduced to a mere fraction of what they once had been. If they intended on surviving as a people they had to have a steadfast determination, and they had fight every step of the way for a place that by their birthright they considered their holy land.
Consequently, the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of a plan that would partition what is at the time Palestine and give it to the Jews, thus creating the state of Israel. The current residents did not agree with this solution and war broke out between the Jew and the Arabs almost immediately after. The fighting continued on unabated for a year until concessions could be made.
After coming out of one of the worst wars in history, one cold believe that the Jews and Palestinians were ready to end hostilities and get on with normal life again, so in 1949, Israel signed separate cease-fire agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan, and Syria. This allowed Israel to draw its borders, which ended up being 70% of Palestine; way over what the UN partition plan intended them to have. These borders are now known as the “Green Line” (Creation of Israel).
Finally, the Jews have a place to call their home. The effect of the creation of the state of Israel could only be seen as a beacon of hope for the Jews in the aftermath of one of the greatest tragedies to ever befall a race in the history of our planet.
The website, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum states that as a result of the creation of their new home, The Jewish people now had their own place to exist. DP’s and other Jews from around the world started pouring into the new, independent state. Now they could be free from the persecution they were forced to endure at the hands of the Nazi’s and other nations that had so callously allowed such atrocities to befall them. By 1953, a large number of Jews and other DP’s had immigrated to Israel (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Even with the institution of Israel as its own independent state, the road for the Jewish people isn’t going to be an easy one by any stretch of the imagination. Looking to a positive note in closing, we look to a quote from Professor E. Gutman on Israel’s Declaration of independence:
We are witnessing today, thus, the continuing development of the democratic State of Israel, based on the values of freedom, justice and peace, as cited in the Declaration. Furthermore, the Declaration’s calls for ‘bonds of cooperation and mutual help’ and ‘a common effort for the advancement of the Middle East’ are being realized in the continuing peace process between Israel and her Arab neighbors. (Gutman)

Works Cited

-Gutman. E."The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of
Israel." Jewish Virtual Library.American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
-The Aftermath of the Holocaust.United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumN.p.,
n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
-“Formation of Israel”.Theocracy Watch N.p.,
n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
-Dlin, Elly."Did the State of Israel Come About Because of the Holocaust?"
N.d. Address. The Jewish Agency for Israel.The Jewish Agency.N.d.
Web. 14 Apr. 2013.
-"What Happened to the Jews After the Holocaust?" The Holocaust History Project.
N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2013.

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