Comic Book Synagogue Massacre

Yesterday, Stan Lee died at age 95. He was a major force in the comic book superhero world, creating Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, and many other characters.

In addition to fantastic stories, comic books have been used to address historic events. Many of the major creative forces in comics were Jewish, and some have speculated that the volatile and powerless position of the Jews was part of the driving force behind creating superheroes who could right wrongs.

This year, a book on comics about the Holocaust was published, called We Spoke Out: Comic Books and the Holocaust. One of the comics featured was called "Thou Shalt Not Kill", from Weird War Tales #8, drawn by Steve Harper. It tells the story of German soldiers attacking Jews in Prague and the Jews pleading with the Golem for help. The story features three panels depicting the Germans forcing Jews into a synagogue and then setting it on fire. "Drive them in and lock the doors behind them!" yells the German commander. "Set fire to the place! There are plenty of other places to stable our horses!" The Jews cry out from the flames of the synagogue: "Golem!...Golem! Help us! Help us!" But the Golem rises to late to help them and can only take revenge on the Nazis.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mas'uda Shemtov Synagogue, Iraq, 1950

Image
14 January 1951 Baghdad, Iraq After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Jews living in the Arab world were increasingly persecuted and the overwhelming majority were forced to flee. On January 14, 1951, several hundred Iraqi Jews crowded into the courtyard of the Mas'uda Shemtov synagogue. They had come to make arrangements for a flight to Israel, which was becoming urgent. Suddenly, someone threw a hand grenade toward this crowd. The grenade hit a high-tension wire above and exploded. Five people were killed and twenty were injured. (Moshe Gat, The Jewish Exodus from Iraq, 1948-1951  p.134) In wake of the bombing, the government claimed that Zionist agents had carried out the bombing to encourage emigration to Israel. Two Zionist activists were arrested and executed. However, Israeli papers reported that a Christian Iraqi officer had been arrested on suspicion of carrying out this crime, and similar bombs were uncovered in his house. In 2006, a former Mossad
Read more

Vienna, 1981

Vienna, Austria Aug. 29, 1981 In 1981, the Stadttempel of Vienna was attacked by the Abu Nidal Organization in a terrorist attack.  Many guests had come to the synagogue to celebrate a bar mitzva, something the attackers knew about and chose to exploit. ( Arutz Sheva ) Two Palestinian gunmen tried to break into the synagogue, but the gates to the compound were closed. Instead, they open-fired with machine guns and tossed four grenades into the crowd. Two people were killed: a mother, who had thrown herself on top of a friend's baby to shield him from the grenade blast, and an elderly man. ( JTA ) Another 21 people were injured. ( New York Times )  The windows of the building shattered, and the facade was riddled with bullet holes. A pool of blood formed at the front door.  The same synagogue had been attacked in 1979, but without casualties. Another attack was foiled in 2016. ( The Jewish Press )
Read more

Siedlce, 1939

During Sukkot, 1939, German soldiers forced their way into the synagogue in Siedlce, Poland. They beat the Jews who were praying inside. When people tried to escape, they were shot. Yosef Rubin was killed in this way. ( Association of Siedlcers in Israel ) A few months later, the synagogue was burned to the ground. According to some reports, homeless Jews who had been living in the synagogue died inside. ( Yizkor Book )
Read more