The Seventh Million

"This book tells the story of the great interruption in European history – the Holocaust . It’s no accident that the Jewish reaction after the Holocaust was to return to Jerusalem. Zionism had been ambivalent about Jerusalem, but, after the Holocaust, that was no longer the case. Tom Segev’s book explains why. The title refers to the six million who died in the Holocaust; the seventh million are the Israelis who were traumatised by what happened. He gives us a clear look at how Jerusalem in Israel was redefined and rediscovered. The climax of the Israeli reckoning with the Holocaust comes with the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. The Jewish reckoning with the Holocaust really took place in Jerusalem, so this solidifies the Jewish attachment to Jerusalem, setting the ground for the present tragedy. Muslims, Jews and Christians are all absolutely defined by their relationship to this city. Is it possible to imagine that they can each be in Jerusalem, at peace one with the other?"