Antisemitic Christians could still rescue Jews due to belief-system logic

Evidence

Another group of rescuers were committed Christians, for whom a similar role may have been played by the religious values of the Golden Rule and the sanctity of life (Fogelman, 1994; Oliner & Oliner, 1988). Ironically, many religious rescuers and resisters—including famous clergymen such as Martin Niemöller, Heinrich Grüber, and Karl Barth—evidenced strong anti-Semitic attitudes (Goldhagen, 1996). Nevertheless, such individuals may have per­ ceived that prolonging the lives of fellow human beings, even at personal risk to themselves, was demanded by their (perhaps cognitively simple) belief system, as well as affording a form of vicarious immortality—including the Christian idea of eternal life in heaven. This reaction may have served to re­ duce existential dread just as the perpetuation of the Third Reich may have appealed to Nazi supporters for similar underlying reasons. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 524

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The same existential fear can drive either violence or rescue — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 523; The case for unbroken pagan-to-Christian antisemitism is weak — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 496; Antisemitic beliefs did not predict who would refuse to participate in the Holocaust (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• The case for unbroken pagan-to-Christian antisemitism is weak #expands (0.80) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 496
• Antisemitic beliefs did not predict who would refuse to participate in the Holocaust #complicates (0.75)
• Christianity’s supersessionist claim made persistent Jewish conversion efforts necessary #expands (0.75)
• Christianity required convincing Jews of its truth, Islam did not #expands (0.72) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 324