Who should read *The Seventh Million*?

This book is essential for historians, students of Israeli society, and readers interested in Holocaust studies. It appeals to those exploring how trauma influences national identity, policymakers analyzing historical memory, and anyone seeking a critical perspective on Zionism’s intersection with Holocaust narratives.

Is *The Seventh Million* worth reading?

Yes—it’s praised for its rigorous research, nuanced analysis, and accessibility. Awarded a National Jewish Book Award and lauded by Elie Wiesel, it offers a groundbreaking critique of Israel’s Holocaust discourse while humanizing survivor experiences. Critics note its unflinching examination of political exploitation of trauma.

What are the main arguments in *The Seventh Million*?

Segev argues that Israel’s early leadership marginalized Holocaust survivors, viewing them as passive victims, until the Eichmann trial reframed their stories as resistance. He critiques how postwar politics weaponized Holocaust memory to justify military actions and national policies, such as sidelining survivor testimonies until the 1960s.

How does *The Seventh Million* address the Eichmann trial?

The trial is depicted as a turning point that forced Israel to confront survivor narratives publicly. Segev shows how it shifted perceptions from shame to valorization of resistance, catalyzing national debates about accountability and Jewish agency during the Holocaust.

What does *The Seventh Million* reveal about Holocaust survivors in Israel?

Survivors faced pressure to assimilate silently, with children encouraged to “forget” their trauma. Many were stigmatized as symbols of weakness until the Eichmann trial reshaped their status. Segev highlights the psychological toll of this erasure and later attempts at reparations.

How does Segev critique Israel’s use of Holocaust memory?

He documents how politicians in the 1970s–1980s co-opted Holocaust imagery to justify military actions and settlement policies. This manipulation, Segev argues, distorted historical lessons and deepened societal divisions.

What role did German reparations play in Israeli society?

Reparations sparked fierce debates, with critics likening acceptance to “blood money.” Segev details how negotiations exposed tensions between economic pragmatism and moral objections, ultimately reshaping Israel’s relationship with postwar Germany.

The seventh million

Q: What is *The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust* about?

*The Seventh Million* by Tom Segev examines how the Holocaust shaped Israel’s national identity, politics, and societal attitudes. It traces the Jewish leadership’s struggles during the British Mandate to rescue European Jews, postwar perceptions of survivors as “lambs led to slaughter,” and the political instrumentalization of Holocaust memory in later decades. The book highlights pivotal moments like the Eichmann trial and German reparations negotiations.

the Israelis and the Holocaust

Tom Segev

4.26(299 Reviews)

Overview of The seventh million

Tom Segev's controversial masterpiece reveals how the Holocaust shaped Israel's identity through newly declassified documents. First to expose secret Nazi reparation negotiations and survivor treatment, it challenges conventional narratives, sparking fierce debate among historians. How does trauma become national identity?

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Chapter 1

The Holocaust's Long Shadow: Israel's Defining Trauma

In early 1987, author Tom Segev telephoned Yehiel De-Nur, known by his pen name Ka-Tzetnik, about the Demjanjuk trial. De-Nur's hushed voice immediately evoked his dramatic testimony at the Eichmann trial years earlier, when he spoke of Auschwitz as "another planet" before collapsing on the witness stand. Despite his literary fame, De-Nur was a recluse who shunned publicity. After several conversations, he invited Segev to his Tel Aviv apartment, where he shared his manuscript about radical therapy he'd undergone with Professor Jan Bastiaans in Holland. Using LSD treatment, De-Nur had confronted his Auschwitz traumas-witnessing comrades beaten to death, seeing his sister among camp prostitutes, and his mother in line for the crematorium. His most profound revelation was recognizing his shared humanity with the SS guards-that "Auschwitz was not on another planet but in this world; it was the work of man." This breakthrough allowed him to integrate his dual identities as Ka-Tzetnik and De-Nur. Like De-Nur's emblematic journey, Israel's painful confrontation with the Holocaust has shaped its collective identity and influenced its most fateful decisions-from mass immigration in the 1950s to the Six-Day War and Israel's nuclear project. As the Holocaust recedes into history, its lessons remain central to fierce struggles over politics, ideology, and morality in present-day Israel. Just as the Holocaust imposed a posthumous collective identity on its six million victims, it formed the collective identity of Israel-not just for survivors but for all Israelis, whom Segev calls "the seventh million."

Chapter 2

The Fateful Bargain: Nazi Germany and Zionist Palestine

The rise of Hitler presented both catastrophe and opportunity for Zionist leaders. While Palestine's Hebrew press extensively covered Hitler's ascension, interpretations varied across the political spectrum. Some papers like Haaretz initially hoped Hitler would moderate his positions, while the labor paper Davar immediately recognized the existential threat. Zionist leaders quickly grasped the danger-Jabotinsky declared in 1933 that Hitler's plans were "likely to try to carry them out," while Ben-Gurion, after reading Mein Kampf, stated "Hitler's policy puts the entire Jewish people in danger." Yet they also saw opportunity-Nazi persecution would drive immigration to Palestine. As Mapai activist Moshe Beilinson reported, "The streets are paved with more money than we have ever dreamed of." This opportunity led to the haavara ("transfer") agreement negotiated with Nazi officials in 1933, allowing Jews emigrating to Palestine to transfer some capital and merchandise. The agreement met mutual interests: the Nazi regime removed Jews while the Zionist movement brought Jews to Palestine. The agreement sparked fierce disputes within Jewish politics-pragmatists versus idealists, rescue versus boycott, national honor versus practical necessity. Ben-Gurion noted nothing divided Jews more sharply. The debate reflected deeper ideological divisions. The Zionist left viewed Nazism as a threat to democracy, while some on the Revisionist right initially showed sympathy for fascist movements (except their anti-Semitism). When the agreement became public, Revisionists denounced it as "ignoble" and "contemptible," calling its supporters "Hitler's allies." The pragmatic Mapai leadership struggled to justify their approach, offering practical rather than moral justifications. Ben-Gurion framed the debate as one between rescue and boycott, prioritizing Jewish immigration to Palestine over fighting anti-Semitism. This stance provoked fierce reactions, with some leaders arguing that Jews should fight Nazism regardless of consequences. The debate forced Jews to confront fundamental questions of identity: "Who are we-humans, Jews, or Zionists?"

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Chapter 3

Cultural Clash: German Jews Transform Palestine

The German Jewish immigrants-known as "yekkes"-transformed Palestine beyond recognition. Their demanding individualism changed city landscapes with Bauhaus architecture, while yekke businessmen founded Tel Aviv's stock exchange and introduced European-style shops with display windows, department stores, and cafes. Arturo Toscanini himself conducted the refugee orchestra that became the Israeli Philharmonic. Ironically, Nazi persecution dramatically improved Palestine's quality of life, turning provincial Tel Aviv into a cosmopolitan city. However, the yishuv establishment viewed the yekkes as problematic despite recognizing their contributions. Berl Katznelson questioned how to integrate these "burned and rootless Jews" lacking "Hebrew culture" into the nation. The yekkes faced stereotyping as conservative, humorless, and alienated from Judaism. While veterans expected immigrants to adopt local ways, many yekkes refused, maintaining their German culture and sparking resentment. Critics like Azriel Karlebach accused them of constructing "a thick wall between them and us," while others attacked their perceived elitism, formal education values, and higher living standards that clashed with the yishuv's ideology glorifying manual labor and austerity. The deepest conflict arose from the yekkes' continued use of German. Tel Aviv's municipality rejected German-language letters, returning them with demands to use "the official language of Tel Aviv." When Gimnasia Haivrit students attacked a cafe whose owners didn't speak Hebrew, Mayor Dizengoff promised to support the war against "the new Germanism." The Central Council for the Supremacy of Hebrew fought against German-language newspapers, with Haaretz condemning them as "an assault on the yishuv's soul." As years passed, the yekkes developed resilience against criticism, viewing the hostility as products of envy similar to what they'd experienced in Nazi Germany. Gustav Krojanker accused critics of using language resembling anti-Semites', while others warned that Palestine's nationalism resembled Germany's "gone mad." The yekkes gradually embraced their identity as cultural ambassadors, promoting "Hebrew humanism" that balanced individual dignity with community responsibility. They sought to elevate quality of life, fighting for better wursts, orderly neighborhoods, and professional standards, eventually declaring, "There is no question whether we belong to the yishuv. To a large extent we are the yishuv."

Chapter 4

Distant Catastrophe: Palestine During the Holocaust

As the Holocaust unfolded, the yishuv continued daily life amid the horror. Newspapers juxtaposed reports of murdered Jewish children with advertisements for operas and films. While public mourning was observed-with cinema intermission music halted and celebrations limited-many businesses resisted disruptions to commerce. Books about the Holocaust sold poorly compared to war accounts from other fronts. The political establishment faced accusations of deliberately moderating public emotion and concealing information about the extermination. The Jewish Agency's first Holocaust announcement notably omitted mention of gas chambers, sparking controversy. Ben-Gurion defended his leadership, claiming the public already knew Hitler's intentions from Mein Kampf, while criticizing Jews' "sadistic nature" of looking for someone to blame rather than focusing on future action. Illegal immigration to Palestine faced tremendous challenges during this period. Refugees traveled on dilapidated vessels in terrible conditions-overcrowded, with shortages of food, water and sanitation. While some boats reached Palestine successfully, others were intercepted by British forces, with passengers either deported or sent to detention camps in Cyprus. The British war against refugees claimed many lives, including nearly 300 people killed when the Haganah sabotaged the Patria to prevent deportations, and over 750 passengers who perished when the Struma sank near Istanbul. Of the approximately 16,000 illegal immigrants who reached Palestine during the Holocaust, slightly less than half came on boats organized by the Haganah's special arm, the Mossad L'Aliya Bet. Notably, between March 1941 and March 1944-the height of the extermination-the Haganah brought in no refugee boats at all. This reflected both technical wartime difficulties and the Jewish Agency leadership's reluctance to engage in illegal activities that might jeopardize legal immigration quotas. Throughout the war, the Jewish Agency attempted various rescue efforts with limited success. Rabbi Weissmandel's Europa Plan negotiations with the Nazis involved a fake authorization letter requesting millions of dollars to halt Jewish deportations. Despite Nazi officials including Eichmann and possibly Himmler taking the proposal seriously, the rescue effort became entangled in bureaucratic delays. The Jewish Agency hesitated for six months before agreeing to smuggle $150,000 to Bratislava, but by then the Nazis had suspended negotiations. The infamous Trucks-for-Blood proposal in 1944 offered to spare a million Jews in exchange for 10,000 trucks and commodities. Joel Brand, a naive but courageous messenger, brought this offer from Budapest to Istanbul, where instead of finding Weizmann waiting, he encountered British agents who eventually arrested him. Ben-Gurion considered the plan serious despite its fantastical nature, but insisted on informing British authorities, who saw it as an attempt to sabotage their alliance with the Soviet Union.

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Chapter 5

Vengeance and Statehood: The Birth of Israel

After the war, Abba Kovner-a twenty-seven-year-old ghetto defender, partisan fighter, poet and Hashomer Hatsair activist-arrived in Palestine with a shocking plan: to poison the drinking water of major West German cities with the goal of murdering six million Germans. Though seemingly insane, his plan reflected the overwhelming desire for vengeance that dominated Holocaust survivors' emotions. Studies confirmed vengeance was the most widespread emotion among young survivors-more common than agony, anxiety, happiness or hope. Tzivia Lubetkin, a Warsaw ghetto uprising leader, declared: "We did not then feel the urge to build; rather we felt the desire to destroy, to destroy all we could, as much as we could!" The idea for mass revenge was born among young Jews serving with Ukrainian partisans. In Lublin, they met Abba Kovner, who had been a Vilna ghetto uprising leader. During a drinking session, someone proposed mass murder of Germans using poison. Thus the Nakam (Revenge) organization was born with a command of five members who recruited others. Kovner described their mental state: "The destruction was not around us. It was within us... We did not imagine that we could return to life... as if accounts with the Germans had been settled." The group established two revenge plans: Plan A aimed "to poison as many Germans as possible"-specifically six million, to match the dimensions of the Holocaust. Plan B targeted several thousand former SS men in American POW camps. Kovner claimed he received help from Chaim Weizmann, who reportedly said: "Were I younger and in your place, I might do the very same thing." According to Kovner, Weizmann connected him with scientist Ernst David Bergman (later a father of Israel's nuclear project) who prepared the poison. In December 1945, Kovner disguised himself as a Jewish Brigade soldier and sailed for Europe with British forces. Just before reaching port in Toulon, France, he was mysteriously paged over the ship's loudspeaker. Sensing danger, he threw half the poison overboard before being arrested and imprisoned in Cairo for four months. Without Kovner and the poison, his team proceeded with Plan B. On April 13, 1946, they spread arsenic on thousands of bread loaves destined for Stalag 13 POW camp near Nuremberg. Reports indicated that nearly two thousand prisoners suffered food poisoning, though none died. Some members, devastated by this failure, refused to give up their revenge mission, participating in "Plan C"-individual attacks on identified Nazi war criminals, carried out with Haganah's knowledge and Jewish Brigade participation.

Chapter 6

Strangers in Their Homeland: Holocaust Survivors in Israel

By the end of 1949, nearly 350,000 Holocaust survivors lived in Israel-almost one-third of the population. For many, telling their stories seemed both a patriotic duty and personal necessity-they felt obligated to preserve the memory of their communities while needing to share their emotional burden. Yet they discovered people often didn't want to listen or simply didn't believe them. Michael Goldman, who survived eighty lashes at a Nazi labor camp, later said his relatives' disbelief "was the eighty-first blow"-a phrase that became symbolic of survivors' first difficulty in their new country. Despite immense trauma, thousands of Holocaust survivors settled throughout Israel, learned trades, served in the army, married, had children, and adopted Hebrew-all testifying to their will to live. Many eagerly embraced Israeli identity, with thousands Hebraizing their names. Their encounter with Israel represented an amazing triumph of life over death, exemplified by stories like Rivka Waxman's chance reunion with her son Haim on a Haifa street after believing him dead for eight years. Despite outward recovery, survivors carried profound psychological wounds. Many suffered from anxiety, nightmares, depression, difficulty concentrating, suspicion of strangers, and overwhelming concerns about security. Some became ambitious and resilient, while others struggled with even minor setbacks. Survivor guilt was pervasive-even though most owed their survival to chance, they tortured themselves with the feeling they had somehow chosen to live while others died. The entire country faced an emotional crisis alongside the survivors. Many pre-war immigrants had lost relatives and shared similar guilt feelings. While some felt obligated to help survivors as surrogates for their lost loved ones, others unconsciously blamed survivors, as if they had survived at the expense of others. Construction of immigrant housing couldn't keep pace with demand, with shortages of jobs, schools and clinics growing worse monthly. The War of Independence created what Shaul Avigur called "the Arab miracle"-hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled or were expelled, leaving entire cities and villages that were quickly repopulated with 100,000 immigrants, mostly Holocaust survivors. This dramatic moment was also disturbingly banal-Jews who had been destitute refugees took possession of homes complete with furniture, dishes, clothes and personal belongings. Despite occupying Arab homes, many immigrants still faced deplorable conditions in transit camps. Giora Yoseftal, chief of absorption, noted that conditions were worse than in Bergen-Belsen, with Israeli camps severely overcrowded. Survivors endured humiliating mass DDT disinfections, cramped quarters, meager food, and inadequate sanitation facilities.

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Chapter 7

Blood Money: German Reparations and Israeli Politics

Jerusalem meticulously edited Adenauer's declaration, weighing every word for political impact. When Adenauer refused to acknowledge collective German guilt, Israeli officials accepted compromise language about crimes "committed in their name." They rejected phrases suggesting most Germans "had not wanted any part" in Nazi crimes, and insisted on stronger language throughout the document. The declaration became a diplomatic chess match-Jerusalem wanted compensation specified for "general injury done to the Jewish people," while Bonn resisted certain phrasings. In December 1951, Nahum Goldmann met Adenauer as president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany. Adenauer provided a letter expressing Germany's willingness to negotiate with both the Claims Conference and Israel based on the $1.5 billion demand. For Adenauer, a devout Catholic who hadn't been a Nazi, reparations aligned his moral conscience with Germany's political interests in rejoining the international community. The Mapai central committee debated the issue on December 13. Despite emotional opposition, particularly from Holocaust survivors like Meir Dworzecki and Arieh Sheftel who viewed accepting German money as blood money, Ben-Gurion responded bluntly. He dismissed their "ghetto mentality," arguing that sovereign states prioritize security and economic strength over symbolic gestures. "I see national honor in the existence of the State of Israel," he declared, adding that if Israel could militarily seize German property without negotiation, he would do so. The compensation process created profound dilemmas for kibbutz members. Those eligible had to give their kibbutzim power of attorney to pursue claims collectively. This forced members to consciously choose communal living rather than remaining by habit or necessity. The Hakibbutz Hameuhad assembly ruled in 1956 that hiding compensation payments nullified kibbutz membership-all funds belonged to the collective. The payments exposed social tensions, particularly between yekkes (German Jews) and Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe. Yekkes typically received more money yet surrendered it without hesitation, while survivors who had suffered more received less compensation and often harbored doubts about giving it all to the kibbutz. Many kibbutzim proved inflexible-Givat Brenner rejected a member's request to purchase the Hebrew Encyclopedia, while others denied requests for hobbies, studies or travel. The reparations process ultimately forced Israel into numerous concessions. Despite Sharett's claim in the Knesset that Israel represented "the rights of the millions who were slaughtered," the agreement explicitly paid only for absorbing survivors, not for representing murdered Jews. Germans paid relatively little-about 40 marks ($10) per German citizen annually for fifteen years, amounting to roughly 20,000 marks per Holocaust victim, with Israel's reparations totaling only 15% of this sum.

Chapter 8

The Eichmann Trial: Confronting the Past

The Eichmann trial became a watershed moment in Israel's confrontation with Holocaust memory. In April 1961, Eichmann pleaded "not guilty in the spirit of the charges" from within a specially built glass booth. Though Attorney General Gideon Hausner would later describe Eichmann as having "disconcerting eyes" and "hands like talons," most saw only a bland, balding man nervously arranging documents. Hausner's opening speech, which Ben-Gurion had personally edited to protect West Germany's image, set the emotional tone: "As I stand before you, judges of Israel, to lead the prosecution of Adolf Eichmann, I am not standing alone. With me are six million accusers." Hausner presented over a hundred "background witnesses," despite the judges' discomfort with testimony often only tangentially related to Eichmann himself. These witnesses represented various countries, communities, ghettos, camps, and political factions. Unlike Begin's earlier framing of the Holocaust as collective national experience, Hausner emphasized individual survivors' stories, creating what amounted to national group therapy. Hausner instructed witnesses to recount every horrifying detail of Nazi atrocities, creating an atmosphere so intense that audience members occasionally fainted. Rivka Joselewska's testimony about surviving execution was particularly powerful-shot and thrown into a mass grave after watching her daughter murdered, she managed to climb out from under the dying bodies. Hausner deliberately included testimonies about the abuse of children to help young Israelis identify with victims their own age. Defense attorney Robert Servatius conducted minimal cross-examination of witnesses since their testimony rarely addressed his client's direct actions. Most potential German defense witnesses declined to testify without immunity. Eichmann himself proved a poor witness, speaking in convoluted Nazi bureaucratese that translators struggled to interpret. He portrayed himself as "a small cog in a big machine" who had merely followed orders, denying any fanaticism and insisting "there is no blood on my hands." Eichmann was sentenced to death, with the judge rejecting claims that his actions stemmed merely from ideological education. A group of intellectuals led by philosopher Shmuel Hugo Bergmann and Martin Buber opposed Eichmann's execution. Nineteen people signed their petition, including professors, poet Leah Goldberg, and Auschwitz survivor Yehuda Bacon. Bergmann saw Bacon's signature as symbolic proof that "Judaism of love and compassion still lived even after the Holocaust," contrasting it with "the Judaism of Amalek and revenge" that ultimately prevailed. The cabinet voted to proceed with the execution, and Eichmann was hanged on May 31, 1962, his ashes scattered at sea outside Israeli territorial waters.

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Chapter 9

From Auschwitz to Dimona: Holocaust and Nuclear Deterrence

In December 1960, Time magazine revealed that Israel was building a nuclear reactor near Dimona in the Negev desert. Ben-Gurion confirmed the project's existence while insisting it was for peaceful purposes only, comparing it to a Canadian-built plant in India. The project reflected Ben-Gurion's interest in scientific research for both civilian and military purposes, which he viewed as connected to biblical prophecies and Israel's spiritual destiny. Israel began seeking uranium immediately after statehood, with the Weizmann Institute refining uranium from phosphates by the early 1950s. When small groups of intellectuals led by Yeshayahu Leibowitz tried to advocate for a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East, they faced resistance from Holocaust survivors who asked, "Who did anything to help us during the war?" Deputy Defense Minister Shimon Peres, deeply involved in the nuclear project, opposed declaring a nuclear-free zone before peace agreements were signed, citing Germany's disarmament after World War I as a cautionary example that failed to prevent Hitler's rise. Israel's nuclear project emerged from scientific ambition, strategic considerations, and the Holocaust experience. Ben-Gurion's public optimism about Israel's future was counterbalanced by deep anxiety: "They could slaughter us tomorrow in this country... We don't want the Arab Nazis to come and slaughter us." Moshe Dayan similarly argued that preventing another Holocaust was "the historical imperative" left by the six million victims. Ernst David Bergman, the founding father of Israel's nuclear program and Ben-Gurion's trusted adviser on nuclear policy, explicitly linked his pessimistic worldview to Holocaust lessons, writing: "I cannot forget that the Holocaust came on the Jewish people as a surprise. The Jewish people cannot allow themselves such an illusion for a second time." In July 1962, Egypt displayed twenty ground-to-ground missiles during a military parade, reportedly capable of hitting "any point south of Beirut." When Israeli intelligence discovered these weapons were built with German scientists' guidance, some with Nazi backgrounds, Ben-Gurion's diplomatic approach failed. The Mossad then took direct action-kidnapping scientists, sending booby-trapped packages, and making threats. The scandal revealed intrigues within Israeli intelligence services. Newspapers devoted extensive coverage, emphasizing the Nazi backgrounds of scientists in Egypt and their alleged work on chemical and bacteriological weapons. Isser Harel, head of the Mossad, portrayed these activities as a direct continuation of the Holocaust, even sending Israeli reporters to Europe with intelligence information to publish as investigative journalism.

Chapter 10

The Seventh Million: Holocaust Memory in Modern Israel

By early 1967, a profound depression had settled over Israel, with the heroic Zionist enterprise seemingly having run its course. The crisis deepened in May 1967 when President Nasser ousted UN forces from Gaza, closed the Strait of Tiran, and signed defense agreements with Jordan and Syria, effectively surrounding Israel. During this "waiting period," citizens volunteered to replace reservists, prepared bomb shelters, and stocked supplies while the press fostered an atmosphere of "their finest hour." Throughout the country, religious authorities sanctified parks and vacant lots as emergency cemeteries, expecting tens of thousands of casualties. As one soldier later recalled, "People believed we would be exterminated if we lost the war. We got this idea-or inherited it-from the concentration camps." The newspapers continually identified Nasser with Hitler, and proposals for diplomatic solutions were compared to the Munich agreement before World War II. After the Yom Kippur War, Israel no longer felt invulnerable. The blow to national identity was severe, cracking what Colonel Ehud Praver called "the whole monolithic system" of anti-Semitism-Zionism-security. The myth of Israeli invincibility collapsed, revealing the limitations of heroism and forcing a new understanding of the Holocaust. Menahem Begin, the first prime minister who survived the Holocaust, politicized Holocaust memory more than anyone. He used it to justify policies from accepting Vietnamese refugees to bombing Iraq's nuclear facility. During the Lebanon War, he told his cabinet, "The alternative is Treblinka," and compared Arafat to Hitler. This prompted writer Amos Oz's famous rebuke: "Hitler is already dead, Mr. Prime Minister." Up Jerusalem's Theodor Herzl Road, which leads to Herzl's grave, lies the central military cemetery where Israel's fallen soldiers rest beneath pine trees. Among these graves stands a monument to 200,000 Jewish soldiers who died fighting in the Red Army during World War II-effectively appropriating them into Israel's national narrative as if they died defending not the Soviet Union but the Jewish people and the future state. The Holocaust memorial occupies a less prominent position on the mountain slopes. The memorial complex includes a stone building housing offices, an extensive 100,000-volume library, and archives. The museum's entrance path leads visitors through the Avenue of the Righteous Gentiles, lined with carob trees honoring non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews. Before encountering the actual history of the Holocaust, visitors first meet these exceptions along with the Warsaw ghetto fighters memorialized in Natan Rappaport's heroic bronze sculpture-muscular figures with weapons gazing defiantly into the future. The Holocaust has become central to Israeli identity, especially since the 1980s. Israelis, obsessed with history, have embraced "moreshet hashoah" (Holocaust heritage) after decades of silence and denial. This shift from contempt toward Holocaust survivors to intense preoccupation represents a dramatic cultural change. The Holocaust serves as justification for Israel's existence, comparable only to biblical divine promise. It supports the Zionist argument that Jews need their own sovereign state, though it also represents Zionism's failure to convince most Jews to emigrate to Palestine before the war. However, this Holocaust consciousness often fosters insular chauvinism and justifies questionable security measures, including oppression in occupied territories. It can promote fatalism and overreliance on military power, undermining peace efforts. Rather than forgetting the Holocaust, Israelis need to draw different conclusions from it-preserving democracy, fighting racism, and defending human rights. This humanist interpretation of Holocaust lessons remains essential despite ongoing security challenges-it is "the task of the seventh million."

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Key Themes in The seventh million

israeli national identity
holocaust collective memory
zionist political pragmatism
german jewish immigration
post-war social integration

Quotes from The seventh million

Auschwitz was not on another planet but in this world; it was the work of man.
Hitler's policy puts the entire Jewish people in danger.
The streets are paved with more money than we have ever dreamed of.
To a large extent we are the yishuv.

Characters in The seventh million

Tom SegevAuthor and historian exploring Israeli identity
Yehiel De-NurHolocaust survivor and writer known as Ka-Tzetnik
David Ben-GurionZionist leader who prioritized rescue and immigration
Jan BastiaansProfessor who treated survivors with LSD therapy
Berl KatznelsonLabor Zionist leader who questioned integration

About the Author

Tom Segev, acclaimed Israeli historian and author of The Seventh Million: The Israelis and the Holocaust, is a leading figure among Israel’s New Historians, known for his critical yet nuanced examinations of the nation’s complex past.

Born in Jerusalem in 1945 to German-Jewish refugees, Segev combines rigorous archival research with journalistic clarity, honed through decades as a columnist for Haaretz.

His works, including One Palestine, Complete (winner of the National Jewish Book Award) and 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year That Transformed the Middle East, explore themes of identity, conflict, and memory. The Seventh Million, praised by Elie Wiesel as a seminal exploration of the Holocaust’s impact on Israeli society, established Segev’s reputation for challenging historical narratives.

His biography A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion further solidified his authority in modern Middle Eastern history. Segev’s books, translated into 14 languages, are celebrated for bridging academic scholarship and public discourse, offering fresh perspectives on Israel’s formative struggles and contradictions.

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"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

See more on how BeFreed is discussed

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Chapter 10

The seventh million

OverviewOverview of The seventh million

One book. Many ways to hear it.

The Holocaust's Long Shadow: Israel's Defining Trauma

The Fateful Bargain: Nazi Germany and Zionist Palestine

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Cultural Clash: German Jews Transform Palestine

Distant Catastrophe: Palestine During the Holocaust

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Vengeance and Statehood: The Birth of Israel

Strangers in Their Homeland: Holocaust Survivors in Israel

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Blood Money: German Reparations and Israeli Politics

The Eichmann Trial: Confronting the Past

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From Auschwitz to Dimona: Holocaust and Nuclear Deterrence

The Seventh Million: Holocaust Memory in Modern Israel

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Key Themes in The seventh million

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About the Author

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1,000,000+ curious minds.

1,000,000+ curious minds.

One book. Many ways to hear it.

The Holocaust's Long Shadow: Israel's Defining Trauma

The Fateful Bargain: Nazi Germany and Zionist Palestine

See every word as you hear it

Cultural Clash: German Jews Transform Palestine

Distant Catastrophe: Palestine During the Holocaust

Get more out of The seventh million

Vengeance and Statehood: The Birth of Israel

Strangers in Their Homeland: Holocaust Survivors in Israel

See every word as you hear it

Blood Money: German Reparations and Israeli Politics

The Eichmann Trial: Confronting the Past

Get more out of The seventh million

From Auschwitz to Dimona: Holocaust and Nuclear Deterrence

The Seventh Million: Holocaust Memory in Modern Israel

You made it to the end of The seventh million

Users also liked

Discover more

Overview of The seventh million