Question
How did the Jewish people retain their religious beliefs under Nazi rule?
Answer
Your question is a very powerful one. I think that religious beliefs and faith are often stronger than physical bodies and minds. In fact Victor Frankl wrote a book called ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ in which he claims that it is only because of faith that people were able to survive the horrors of the concentration camps. So the question you ask is perhaps its own answer – they retained their beliefs because it was those beliefs that kept them alive. I highly recommend Frankl’s book to you.
Yours,
Rabbi David Sedley