At the beginning of the war there were many who ascribed the world conflagration to a conflict of races. At present there are many who would either belittle the rÔle of race as a factor in history or eliminate it altogether. These people describe the theories of race as "race mythology" and consider them the invention of scholars rather than facts of objective reality. Among a certain section of the Jewish people this negation of race theories is very popular. If there are not races in this world, then assimilation is the easiest and best way to solve the Jewish question. It may or may not be true that race is a biological category, but it is true beyond a doubt that the consciousness of race among all peoples always was and will be an historic factor of prime importance. Therefore, it matters little whether or not race is a biological fact. History and its interpretation are concerned only with consciousness of race. If the energies radiating from the co-existence would comprise and express the will of the individuals only, the culture of the ethnic group would necessarily consist of equal portions and exhibit a proportionate amount of logic, aesthetics and ethics. But we see that every great culture gravitates in a certain direction. Hellenism tends towards the artistic-philosophical, Judaism towards the religious-ethical, and Romanism towards the political-legal. We thus see that the manifestation of the mind of the race being one-sided is more than the sum total of the expression of all the individual members of the race, and as soon as we recognize a certain psychological or psychical unity, of a certain group of people, we must also recognize that this unity is modeled and shaped by time. In course of time this psychological or psychical unit becomes enveloped in traditions and experiences which make it stronger from day to day. As in biology many think that the function in time creates an organ, so the new energies radiating from the co-existence of a group of people be Of all the ancient peoples none had more marked race consciousness and racial feeling than the Jews and Greeks. It is very characteristic of Greek race consciousness that Greek philosophers, when discussing ethical or political subjects, have only the Hellenic people in mind. Their notions of justice and peace were applied only to the Hellenic people. The ancient Jews were not so one-sided. Yet they, too, had a well developed race consciousness which showed not merely in the religious idea that they were the chosen people, but in a very general acceptance of the belief that they were a distinct unit. Even the call to righteousness uttered by the prophet is colored by racial motives: "Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness; ye that seek the Lord. Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn and to the In theological periods of history the fight against Judaism was perhaps a conflict of theologies only. Today, however, a fight against Judaism is inevitably a fight against Race consciousness is not a myth invented by the professors, but a fact of life. |