Archive:Controversies surrounding Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi, known for employing nonviolent resistance to lead the Indian independence movement,[1] held a range of views that have drawn historical criticism.Template:Source needed His writings and public statements—many drawn from the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, published by the Indian government—document his positions on race, caste, gender, and colonialism that have been the topic of controversy.Template:Source needed
Response to Nazi persecution
Gandhi's prescribed response to Nazi persecution was non-violent submission.[2][3] In 1938 he wrote that Jews "who claim to be the chosen race" should "prove their title by choosing the way of non-violence for vindicating their position on earth."[4][5] Following the Holocaust, Gandhi stated in a 1947 interview with Louis Fischer: "Hitler killed five million Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves in the sea from cliffs... It would have aroused the world and the people of Germany... As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions."[5][6]
Gandhi's position drew rebukes from prominent Jewish thinkers.[5] Martin Buber responded in 1939: "An effective stand in the form of non-violence may be taken against unfeeling human beings in the hope of gradually bringing them to their senses; but a diabolic universal steamroller cannot thus be withstood."[5][7] Rabbi Judah Magnes similarly challenged Gandhi directly: "How can Jews in Germany offer civil resistance? The slightest sign of resistance means killing or concentration camps."[8][5]
References
- ↑ "Mahatma Gandhi's life and legacy of peaceful protest". National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/mahatma-gandhi-changed-political-protest.
- ↑ "In Defense of a Just Society: Buber Contra Gandhi on Jewish Migration to Palestine". Religions 14 (4). 2023. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/4/470. Retrieved on 2026-05-26.
- ↑ "Gandhi wished Jews 'era of peace' on day WWII began, newly released letter shows". The Times of Israel. 2019-09-24. https://www.timesofisrael.com/gandhi-wished-jews-era-of-peace-on-day-wwii-began-newly-released-letter-shows/.
- ↑ "Mahatma Gandhi on Palestine: The Jews in Palestine". Countercurrents. 1938-11-26. https://countercurrents.org/2025/05/mahatma-gandhi-on-palestine-the-jews-in-palestine/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Mahatma Gandhi on Zionism and the Holocaust". Jewish Currents. https://jewishcurrents.org/mahatma-gandhi-on-zionism-and-the-holocaust.
- ↑ "Just after Kristallnacht, Gandhi said Jews should die with joy. What would he say now?". The Times of Israel. 16 November 2024. https://www.timesofisrael.com/just-after-kristallnacht-gandhi-said-jews-should-die-with-joy-what-would-he-say-now/.
- ↑ "Gandhi, Jewish Philosopher Martin Buber, and Hitler". We Are One Humanity. https://www.weareonehumanity.org/writings/gandhi-jewish-philosopher-martin-buber-amp-hitlersdiabolical-universal-bulldozer.
- ↑ "Letter from Judah L. Magnes to Gandhi (February 1939)". Jewish Virtual Library. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/letter-from-judah-l-magnes-to-gandhi-february-1939.