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September 29, 2020 2:24 pm
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Top Australian Jewish Group Slams Major Bookstore Chain for Selling Virulently Antisemitic Book by Martin Luther

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A 1529 portrait of Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luthoe by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Photo: Wikimedia.

A top Australian Jewish group criticized a major bookstore chain for selling a violently antisemitic tome penned by Martin Luther, the founder of Protestant Christianity.

The Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) called the book On the Jews and Their Lies a “depraved” work that “dehumanizes and demonizes Jews,” and expressed astonishment that the Dymocks chain was selling it.

The book was written by Luther in 1543, after the medieval Jews’ refusal to convert to his new form of Christianity sent him into a rage.

In the book, Luther called the Jews “liars and bloodhounds,” “poisonous envenomed worms” and “our plague, our pestilence, our misfortune.”

He said that synagogues should be burned and encouraged the murder of Jews, writing, “We are at fault in not avenging all this innocent blood of our Lord. We are at fault in not slaying them.”

The book was a major inspiration for the Nazis, who saw Luther’s Jew-hatred as a precursor of their own antisemitism.

In addition, the version being sold by Dymocks contains a forward by the late antisemitic pastor, Texe Marrs, who referred to Jews as a “synagogue of Satan” and an “evil cabal” that was “responsible for virtually all wars and bloodshed on the face of the planet.”

Dr. Dvir Abramovich — chairman of the ADC — said in a statement, “This notorious antisemitic tract by a rabid and violent Jew-hater, which called for the murder of rabbis and promoted a program of extermination, served as a blueprint for Hitler’s Final Solution. It should not be sold by any bookstore.”

“Why in the world is Dymocks sanitizing, mainstreaming, and putting out the welcome mat to a disgusting manifesto, dripping with poison, that fomented genocide against the Jewish people and which inspired the Nazis?” he asked.

Abramovich added, “It’s disturbing to think that any company is profiting from the selling of this pernicious material, and I am sure that neo-Nazis and white-supremacists are rubbing their hands in glee in the knowledge that this chilling document, which dehumanizes and demonizes Jews, is gracing the website of Dymocks.”

“As we witness a surge in deadly antisemitism, to have such a depraved book conveniently available can only fan the flames of bigotry and extremism,” he noted. “Companies have to walk the walk, and we urge Dymocks to do the right thing, and to immediately stop offering this despicable sermon.”

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