”På Guds högra sida sitter en jude”. Bilden av ”judefrågan”, det judiska folket och förintelsen i Evangelii Härold 1939–45

Abstract

This essay is a descriptive study of how the Jewish people was depicted in the Swedish journal Evangelii Härold (EH) during World War II. EH was started in 1916 and published once a week by the leading Swedish pentecostal congregation, Filadelfia in Stockholm. My material consists of all the articles from EH 1939–45 which contain words like Jew, Jewish, Judaism etc. After an initial screening process I had 177 texts to examine. The content of these articles were categorized using 20 topics that attempted to capture the subjects and themes that the writers are dealing with. In the main section of the essay I am analysing the content of the texts to identify the ideas, values and theological perspectives of the writers. This analysis is mainly focused on: • The relationship to the ideas of the period, like race, people, nation • The theological relationship of Judaism– Christianity as continuity or conflict • The persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust • The eschatology and the return of the Jews to Palestine My conclusions are that the writers in EH seem to think that there is a ”Jewish question”. A problem with the Jewish people is their particularism: they are unable to fully adapt in the society and their religion is exclusive. The writers also use concepts such as race, people and nation in a manner typical of the period, but they do not argue for ideas about racial hierarchy. The relationship between Judaism and Christianity is theologically described as both continuity and conflict: Jesus was a Jew! But the Jews didn’t accept him as Messiah. Therefore, the Jewish people are placed in the expulsion box and God is using the Gentiles as his tools. But one day in the end of time He will use the Jews again. EH’s readers also get information about the persecution of Jews in Germany in single articles, and about the Holocaust. The sympathies are here explicity with the Jews, but as the Holocaust escalates, less and less are written about this subject. Instead, in the late war years, the focus is on the eschatological expectations: the end of time and the return of Jesus is near – and then the Jews will return to Palestine and confess Jesus as the Messiah.