AntiSemitism in History

1
Anti-Semitism in History
2
Anti-Semitism A Definition

• According to the American Heritage Dictionary
  (2006), Anti-Semitism is defined as hostility
  towards or prejudice against Jews or Judaism.
• It is important to realize that Judaism is a
  religion, whereas Jew was considered by most
  cultures to be a race.

3
Early Anti-Semitism

• 70 B.C.E. Jerusalem is conquered by the Romans.
  The Jewish temple was destroyed and Jews were
  ordered to begin worshipping Roman gods. Most
  Jews resisted.
• About a hundred years later, Christianity began
  to spread after the death of Jesus. Eventually,
  it became the official state religion of the
  Roman Empire.

4
Judaism vs. Christianity

• By the 4th century, Jews were disliked by
  Christians in general. Important Christian
  leaders, such as St. Augustine, called Jews a
  wicked sect and said they should be driven into
  permanent exile due to their wickedness (de
  Cruet, 1997).

5
Anti-Semitism Becomes Law

• Laws were passed in Christian nations during this
  time that forbid Christians to eat with or do
  business with Jews.
• By the 6th century, Jews were not allowed to
  employ Christians as servants, hold public
  office, or even be seen on the streets during
  Holy Week, which is the week commemorating the
  time between the Last Supper and the
  crucifixion (de Cruet, 1997).

6
Think about this

• It is clear that such laws were meant to make
  life difficult for Jews. How could these laws
  also make life difficult for the Christians they
  were meant to protect?

7
The Crusades

• In 1096, the Crusade against the Muslims began.
  Christian leaders wanted to take control of
  Palestine, since it was the birthplace of Jesus.
• On their way to the Middle East, the Crusaders
  attacked Jewish communities. Jews were given a
  choice be baptized as a Christian or be killed.
  Most chose death. Nearly 10,000 Jews died in the
  first 6 months of the First Crusade (de Cruet,
  1997).

8
Leave No Single Member Alive

• The leader of the First Crusade, Godfrey
  Bouillon, vowed to leave no single member of the
  Jewish race alive. He ordered his troops to burn
  down the synagogue in Jerusalem with the
  congregation trapped inside (de Cruet, 1997).

Painting from the Middle Ages portraying
Crusaders killing Jews.
9
Marked

• Large numbers of Jews fled to Eastern Europe and
  other places in an attempt to escape persecution.
  
• By the 13th century, Germany required all Jews to
  wear cone-shaped hats so they would not be
  mistaken for real Germans. In other countries,
  they were required to wear yellow badges on their
  clothing to identify them as Jews (de Cruet,
  1997).

10
Few Choices

• Jews had few ways of earning money, except to
  become moneylenders. The Catholic Church felt
  that it was sinful for a Christian to be a
  moneylender, and so they allowed the Jews to take
  on this position in the community. This,
  however, led to a stereotype of Jews being
  money-hungry.
• Eventually, Jews were driven out of the banking
  industry as well.

11
Rise of Ghettos

• By the end of the 15th century, Jews were almost
  totally isolated from their Christian neighbors.
  In many countries, they were forcibly confined in
  ghettos, which were sectioned off from the rest
  of the city by high walls that gave them a
  prison-like aura.

12
Think about it

• Today in the U.S., there are areas, especially in
  inner cities, that are called Ghettos. Is the
  use of this name appropriate for these areas?
  Why or why not?

13
Taking the Blame

• Jews became scapegoats for societies wrongs more
  regularly, and were portrayed as servants of the
  devil (de Cruet, 1997). The Black Plague was even
  blamed on Jews, who were accused of poisoning
  wells, among other things.

14
Mass Migration

• Over the course of a few hundred years, most Jews
  were pushed from central Europe and ended up in
  Poland and Russia. However, those countries were
  not free from danger. In 1648-1649, thousands of
  Polish Jews were killed. In the late 1800s,
  Jews in both countries were slaughtered in
  organized mass killings called pogroms (de
  Cruet, 1997).

15
Viva La France!

• One of the side effects of the French Revolution
  was a call by many French Christians for the
  emancipation of Jews. By the mid 1800s, most
  western central European Jews were enjoying new
  freedoms brought about by this emancipation (de
  Cruet, 1997).

16
Enter Hitler

• In 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of
  Germany, and quickly mounted a campaign of
  heavy-handed propaganda against Jews.
• This would culminate in the Final Solution, a
  plan to physically annihilate the Jewish race,
  along with other undesirable members of society.

17
An Example of Anti-Semitic Nazi Propaganda
A Childrens book entitled Trust No Fox on his
Green Heath And No Jew on his Oath by Elwira
Bauer This book included lines such as From
the start the Jew has beenA murderer (Calvin
College)
18
Works Cited

• anti-semitism. (n.d.). The American Heritage
  Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
  Edition. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from
  Dictionary.com website http//dictionary.referenc
  e.com/browse/anti-semitism
• De Cruet, R. H. Perez. A Brief History of
  Antisemitism. The Holocaust Project.
• Retrieved January 15, 2008, from The Holocaust
  Project Website http//humanitas-international.or
  g/holocaust/antisem.htm
• Calvin College. German Propaganda Archive.
  Retrieved January 15, 2008, from the Calvin
  College wesite http//www.calvin.edu/academic/cas
  /gpa/