It’s hard to believe that we have seen anything in modern history more demonic and Satanically driven than the Nazi regime. In 1933, when Adolph Hitler rose to power, he appointed his good friend and trusted confidant, Joseph Goebbels, to the position of minister for public enlightenment and propaganda. His job was essentially to make Hitler look good to the people of Germany as well as throughout the world. He was also responsible for “regulating the content of all German media and fomenting anti-Semitism. Goebbels forced Jewish artists, musicians, actors, directors and newspaper and magazine editors into unemployment, and staged a public burning of books that were considered ”un-German.” He also spearheaded the production of Nazi propaganda films and other projects.”1
On this day in 1942 while the world is engaged in WW2, Goebbels ordered all Jews in occupied Paris to wear a gold Star of David on the left side of their coats. This would make them easily identifiable in the event that Goebbels was able to round some up for deportation or extermination. In his diary, Goebbels’ hatred of the Jews was reflected in statements like, “They are no longer people but beasts,” and “[T]he Jews… are now being evacuated eastward. The procedure is pretty barbaric and is not to be described here more definitely. Not much will remain of the Jews.”2
This identification wasn’t just in France. Other places occupied by Nazis required the Jews to wear a star and those caught without the star were severely punished.
Throughout history, marking of the Jewish people has been a standard. “In lands under Muslim rule, non-Muslims had been required to wear identifying marks since the Pact of Umar, a ruling attributed to a seventh-century caliph, though scholars believe it originated later. For Jews, these were usually a yellow belt called zunnar or a yellow turban.
“In Europe, forced markings for Jews and Muslims were introduced by Pope Innocent III at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. The pope explained that the markings were a means to prevent Christians from having sex with Jews and Muslims…
“Ways to make Jews visible in the cities and towns of medieval Europe abounded, from yellow wheels in France to blue stripes in Sicily to yellow pointed hats in Germany to red capes in Hungary to white badges shaped like the Ten Commandments tablets in England. Since there were no large Muslim communities in Europe at the time, aside from in Spain, the regulation applied only to Jews in practice.
“In northern Italy, Jews had to wear a round yellow badge in the 15th century and a yellow hat in the 16th century. The reason typically given was they were otherwise undistinguishable from the rest of the population. For Christian authorities, unmarked Jews were like gambling, drinking and prostitution: All represented the moral failings of Renaissance society and needed to be fixed.”3
When you read things like this, you can’t help but ask: why are Jews hated by so many? I think the only answer that makes sense is because they are loved by God so much. Think through these verses that explain how God set His love upon them.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. (7) The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: (8) But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 14:1-2 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. (2) For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
Again, this reminds us that Satan is behind the hatred of the Jews because Satan hates God, therefore, Satan hates all that God loves.
Christians, love that which God loves. Hate that which God hates. Persecution will follow.
By the way…just to reinforce how Satan was behind all this hatred, we know that Satan is the one who wants to destroy lives. Hitler took his own life on April 30, 1945. “On May 1, 1945, the day after Hitler committed suicide, Goebbels and his wife poisoned their six children and then killed themselves.”4
1https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/joseph-goebbels
2https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jews-in-paris-are-forced-to-sew-a-yellow-star-on-their-coats
3https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-long-history-of-forcing-jews-to-wear-anti-semitic-badges-180981829/
4https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/joseph-goebbels
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