...accuses of extermination a people who were exterminated in the millions by Christians.
This is typical anti-Christian bigotry. The past and present day plight of the Jews is well known and Jews and Israel have no bigger supporters than conservative Christians. For the author to claim "Christians" were the ones who exterminated the Jews in WWII is a lie. Such exagerations to the point of a lie is dishonest, and does nothing to further sympathy for the Jews, it actually elicits the opposite.
The claim that Hitler and his Nazi cronies were "Christians" belies anyone who has bothered to read the life of Christ to see what a real Christian must be. It also in the case of Hitler is false, he was not a bonafide practicing "Christian" when he committed his attrocities. Their WERE Christians who looked the other way, who walked away from Christ, and supported Nazi Germany, both internally and externally. And guess what, as a nation, both Christians and Jews have watched geonicidal massacres in many other countries....and done little to nothing.
And finally, it was the United States of America who fought with our allies to DEFEAT Hitler and Nazi Germany, and release the Jews from the camps. And MOST of these soldiers were - Christians.
I don't think Oriana Falachi is trying to be anti-Christian just for the sake of it. She's from a heavily Catholic country, and isn't saying "Christian" to mean "Protestant", but rather anyone believing in Christ, any Christian faith. And, while I heartily agree that Hitler and his henchmen weren't in any sense Christian, they came from a Christian country/background/part of the world.
Do not forget this famous quote:
First They Came for the Jews
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemöller
So I think it is in this sense that Oriana lays some of the blame for the Holocaust on European Christiandom, for not standing up and stopping the monster Hitler and his friends.
That's how they defined themselves. But I'm wondering if anyone else thinks there is a link between the fact that the Protestant church in Germany in the 30's was in the vanguard of "liberal" theology.
Germany was the hothouse of "Higher Criticism." (which presupposes that the Bible is inaccurate and that the miraculous is fiction). With this theology, it is easier to invent your own morality because there is no foundational "truth."
In my opinion, christian anti-semitism comes about because of the combination of 2 things: christians, like everyone else, are sinners, and thus prone to be prejudiced and hateful. Add this to a habit of reading the Bible out of context and you have trouble. People forget that the New Testament was written by Jews and primarily written to Jews. Comprehending this context restores a correct understanding of what was going on---an intra-family argument (a Mediterannean family), rather than a cursing of "those people."