Upon further review, he deserves less.

First, as to what he knew: the laws barring Jews from the Civil Service and from the professions were not secrets. Nobody could say of those laws as they did of the concentration camps: “I had no idea what was going on in that camp in the woods just a few kilometers from my lovely Bavarian village, full of gemütlichkeit and lovely Mädchen in Dirndl.” Pres. Budge implies that he knew. What else could he have meant when he cited the law’s requirement that a person prove his “pedigree” in order to retain his position? Were the Nazis a bunch of Young Earth Creationists trying to bar those recently descended from apes from working for Deutsche Post?

While he was describing the fulfillment of prophecy in “Reborn Germany” he spoke of the influence that the words of Malachi had on the Third Reich. Really? The Nazis weren’t persecuting the Jews–they were just turning the hearts of the children to their fathers? [Insert appropriate barnyard epithet here.]

And, as long as he was describing the fulfillment of prophecy, why didn’t he go for the whole enchilada and cite I Nephi 19:13-14, and point out the glorious fulfillment of that prophecy too? Because if any nation hated the Jews, Nazi Germany did, and with gusto. How better to show that the Church in German was filled with loyal citizens.

The 20th century Church seemed to put a premium on getting along–it’s a good thing that a majority of the Continental Congress weren’t 20th century Mormons, or we’d still be singing “God Save the Queen” and curtseying when she came near. But getting along–not stirring things up–does not require that we cite with approval the horrid things being done by the government. The problem with Pres. Budge is that he crossed that line.

If we don’t make that (or at least some) judgment, then why bother studying the past?

A good example of how to do that while at the same time being charitable toward those who lived in those difficult times was shown by Churchill upon the death, in November 1940, of Neville Chamberlain. One key excerpt:

Whatever else history may or may not say about these terrible, tremendous years, we can be sure that Neville Chamberlain acted with perfect sincerity according to his lights and strove to the utmost of his capacity and authority, which were powerful, to save the world from the awful, devastating struggle in which we are now engaged. This alone will stand him in good stead as far as what is called the verdict of history is concerned.

Read the whole thing–it’s simply amazing.

Surely it would be unfair to blame Pres. Budge with foreknowledge of the horrors that were to visited upon the Jews by the Nazis during the next 11 years. I don’t think anybody could have imagined them in 1934–I’m not even sure that the Nazis themselves could have–and when stories leaked out of occupied Europe about what was happening in the extermination camps, those stories were dismissed by many as outlandish propaganda–surely a civilized European people like the Germans would never sink to such barbarism.

But Pres. Budge must have known that the laws in Germany in 1934 specifically barred Jews from the civil service and from the professions. No amount of economic revival or renewed national pride (or even advances of genealogical research!) can hide such unjust discrimination against an entire people. I should have hoped that something would have rung out loudly and clearly: That’s not right. But, sadly, he either didn’t hear that ringing, or he decided that the economic discrimination against the Jews was an acceptable price to pay for those other “good” things.

And we can still be charitable towards him while concluding that that was just wrong.

Just think of this hypothetical situation (I don’t think that this will happen, but it is a possibility). How many people have cheered the recent changes in the Middle East with the Arab Spring? There have been many people, including Church leaders who have spoken positively of the changes happening there and have noted that the people seem to be looking for greater freedom. What if in a few years these recently democratized countries felt pressured by outside forces and decided to band together to form an alliance.

After some internal wrangling the countries involved declare a new Caliphate. The European Union over reacts to the creation of a new Caliphate and through a series of unfortunate events we end up in the middle of World War III. Atrocities are committed all around and afterwards we look back and say “You know some people actually supported what was going on there.” and will bring out a statement by Elder So and So post it on a blog and everyone will gasp and wonder how they could have been so blind. And people will comment and say, “Oh well they were trying to see the good in a bad situation.” And others will say, “Well he only made that statement in July 2012 or January 2013, and it wasn’t until December 2012 when ________ did ________, which obviously was the start of the atrocities that happened in 2021. They must have seen what was happening in 2012. I wonder why they didn’t speak out about it and condemn it?”

Perhaps we all should strive to have more charity towards those who are caught up in the ebb and flow of history as opposed to those of us who have the luxury of reading about it in a book with clearer vision. If we do this then perhaps those in the future will do the same to us.

Sorry Ardis, I’ll get off my soap box now.

I wonder if the church had a part in that. With the information I have found through the Jewish genealogical organization often comes from Salt Laje, but doesn’t say how it got there.