Book contents
- Good Jews
- Good Jews
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 “Philosemitic Europe”
- 2 From Antisemitism to Tactical Philosemitism (1945–1960)
- 3 Genesis of a Struggle
- 4 From Humanism to Israelophilia (1945–1967)
- 5 Birth Pangs
- 6 “The Long 1960s” and the Jews (1960–1980)
- 7 Archetypal Friends
- Epilogue
- Select Bibliography
- Index
5 - Birth Pangs
“Judeo-Christian Europe” (1945–1965)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 September 2025
Book contents
- Good Jews
- Good Jews
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 “Philosemitic Europe”
- 2 From Antisemitism to Tactical Philosemitism (1945–1960)
- 3 Genesis of a Struggle
- 4 From Humanism to Israelophilia (1945–1967)
- 5 Birth Pangs
- 6 “The Long 1960s” and the Jews (1960–1980)
- 7 Archetypal Friends
- Epilogue
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The chapter reconstructs the tortuous path of “Judeo-Christian Europe” from 1945 to the Vatican’s Nostra Aetate declaration of 1965. Contrary to Cold War America, where Judeo-Christian affinities accelerated the mutation of Jews into “white folks,” the concept was met with fierce resistance in postwar Europe. The founding fathers of European integration, for their part, did not invoke “Judeo-Christian values” to advocate unity: The phrase only gained popularity with the rise of post-1989 anti-immigrant populism. Yet for a network of Catholic and Protestant churchmen, the tragedy of the Holocaust required epochal rapprochement with Judaism. In French catholic intellectual circles, “Judeo-Christian Europe” also meant the Judeo-Christianization of the Holocaust: an appropriation of the crime which also elevated the Jew to the rank of proximate friend.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Good JewsPhilosemitism in Europe since the Holocaust, pp. 135 - 170Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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