Why didn't the Jews say that they are not Jews when Hitler was taking them to the Concentration camps?

Answer 1

Did you ever hear the expression (It is false but sounds good - closer to a proverb) that if you drop a frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if you put it in cold water, and turn the temperature up one degree at a time you can boil it alive.

Well Hitler was in charge almost 10 years before concentration camps started killing Jews. And they started with identification programs, humiliation and economic hardships. Many, many did try to escape then. But your identification classifies you as Jewish and many countries weren't letting them migrate. Some did make it out to places like Poland, France and Holland, only to be back under Nazi rule once the war started.

Answer 2

So, as you've seen, there were two answers: 1) by the time the Jews were deported it was way too late--they had been identified as Jews many years before; and 2) in Jewish law, there are three things which are not permitted even to save your own life: sexual immorality, murder and idolatry. Idolatry has been interpreted as denying one's religion. Those who died because they refused to deny their Judaism are said to have died "Sanctifying the Name", i.e. sanctifying G-d.

Having said *that*, there is also a long history of Jews who *have* converted to save their lives--the so-called Conversos and/or crypto-Jews--primarily during the Inquisition. Although under Jewish law this was not allowed, nevertheless I don't think today anyone would hold it against someone who did this under similar circumstances.

Answer 3

Before the concentration camps they made everyone have identification cards which also listed their religion. Then they made the Jews more distinguishable by having them wear the star. By the time most realized what was going on it was too late to try to hide who they were. It was already a matter of public record.

Answer 4

Jews could not escape deportation by converting out of Judaism. The Final Solution targeted anyone of Jewish *ancestry*, and one Jewish grandparent was all it took to make a person eligible for the Auschwitz special. There was no opportunity to renounce Judaism or Jewish culture, no escape by changing one's name or swearing allegiance to the Third Reich. For the Germans, Jewishness was purely a racial matter. Many people who were exterminated as Jews were actually Lutherans, Catholics, atheists, or non-practicing Jews. Edith Stein was a Catholic nun -- a NUN, for crying out loud -- and was still exterminated as a Jew pursuant to the Final Solution.

Answer 5

Because some people remain true to their beliefs even if it kills them. Many others probably did attempt to convert or say they weren't Jewish, while many others died for remaining true to themselves and their beliefs. But Hitler wasn't an idiot. If you lifed in a Jewish area you were most probably Jewish. Others knew them, turned on them, to save themselves at times. Many people were killed for merely looking like Jews, as Hitler wanted a pure people, with no Jewish ancestry either. So a guy who had Jewish characteristics could claim or deny his faith and still be sent to the camps because he got his dad's hair color, etc.

Answer 6

Were you absent when that was covered or do you not pay attention? Usually, back in the day, your religion was included on the birth certificate! For the bone head who said the males were circumcised, they didn't walk around with their pants off!!! Besides, Jews were NOT the only ones circumcised during the second world war! In addition to that, people are proud of their heritage! They were German citizens as well, whose neighbors often turned them in!!!

Answer 7

For all I know, some of them may have. In fact, many of the people who were enslaved and/or murdered for being Jewish actually weren't! Hitler was a fanatical racist, so to him, being Jewish was purely a racial matter. Anyone with so much as one Jewish grandparent on either side was subject to anti-Semitic persecution. Now, technically a Jew is someone who was either born to a Jewish mother, or who has converted to Judaism in accordance with Torah law. So, if your Dad's Jewish but your Mom is not, you're technically not a Jew by Jewish standards. But you were by Hitler's standards.

In the State of Israel, which was founded to be a safehaven for Jews, one can apply for citizenship under the Law of Return so long as they have one Jewish grandparent. Such a person may or may not actually be Jewish, but they are of sufficient Jewish ancestry that the Hitlers of the world would make no distinction. Colloquially, this aspect of the Law of Return is known as the "Jewish enough for the Nazis to gas" Clause.

Anywho, Nazi Germany's program of persecution was too thorough to escape merely by claiming to not be Jewish. People's lineage was known and documented, and before being sent off to the camps, all those of Jewish ancestry (many of whom lived in the same areas anyway) were forced into ghettos and all that. And of course, certain family names are a dead giveaway. I can all but guarantee you that if you ever meet someone named "Cohen" or "Katz" or "Levy" or "Goldberg" or "Rosenthal," that person has at least some Jewish ancestry (though they are not necessarily Jewish themselves). There were also other ways to tell - Jewish men are circumcised, and circumcision isn't as common among European non-Jews as it is here in America.

Last but not least, as others here have suggested, many Jews would rather give up their lives than deny their allegiance to the Creator. To do so is a "kiddush Hashem," a sanctification of G-d's name, and true martyrdom, not to be mistaken for the Islamist suicide-terrorism of today, where they refer to those who kill themselves in acts of mass murder as "martyrs". A martyr is one who dies for his or her beliefs - not one who murders for them, even if they die in the process.

Sorry, got a little off topic there. Anyway, I hope you find the above information useful.

Answer 8

The male Jews were circumcised.

Answer 9

I don't want to sound like i'm stereotyping but back in the day most jewish people looked similar. the hair eyes and nose. plus thier dress was similar.
But Jews also weren't aware they were being led to slaughter so they didn't see a real urgency to deny their faith.
and not to be "Funny" but it's like they say if you are one you know one. Hitler was part Jewish.

Answer 10

there are three sins that a Jew should give up his life for, idol worship is one of them, and I guess they thought that denying their religion was like idol worship.