History of Anti-Semitism

History of Anti-Semitism CHC2D

Anti-Semitism Prejudice, hatred and discrimination against

JewsMany ways of expressing hatred and rage

against Jews through violence and words Jews are targeted as an individual and as a

group Jews consider being Jewish an ethnic group (race)

and a religion

Term was created in 1879 by German journalist Wilhelm Marr

Anti = againstSemite = Jewish people

THINK. PAIR. SHARE.Do you think that the Holocaust was a

result of:A) extremist Nazis?OR

B) years of resentment towards Jews (anti-semitism)?

Why do you say so?

Origins This form of prejudice and discrimination

towards the Jews is known as “scape-goating”

Scape-goating : the practice of singling out another group as the reasons for failure in a particular situation

Done to place blame on another group when something is not right/gone wrong

Eg. American cotton economy

Scape-goating deals with power! Who has power, and the reinforcement

of powelessness on another group

Anti-semitism has always existed, but...the Holocaust is its most extreme example

Myths

Myths and false ideas were spread about the Jews 1) E.g. Blood Libel MYTH that Jews used the blood of

Christian children for ritual purposeThese myths gave ammunition for others to persecute the

Jews2) E.g. People believed that Jews were responsible for the

“Black Death” (1348-1354) A plague spread by rats and killed 1/3 of Europe’s population Jews were the easy target to blame = more violence and

expulsions

Biblical Times Jews have been under persecution for over 2000

years (going back to Biblical times) In the Old Testament (Bible), there have been many

records of persecution towards the Jews Eg. Being casted as slaves in Egypt Eg. Individuals were placed in jail Eg. Individuals were sought after to be hung due to

their refusal of worshipping the “King” of the time

Jews were passionate and faithful to their belief: Refused to worship other gods and idols Stubborn and resented the rulers of the time Did not follow kingdom’s values and beliefs (much

different to theirs) They were thought to be a threat to the ruler and the

ruling class (deviant)

Biblical TimesHowever, there was a split among religious

beliefs With the belief over Jesus Christ and his purpose, a

new form of religion was formed (Christianity)

Christians believed that Jesus was the Saviour of the world, where Jews believed that he was a prophet This caused divide between the two religions Animosity (resentment occurred)

Christians believed that their Saviour was killed at the hands of the Jews (Scape-goating)

The Jews did not believe that Jesus was their saviour and didn’t protest against his crucifixion

Later, Christianity became the main religion throughout Europe, Jews are still not converting – they stay true to their beliefs

Christianity and Judaism

Catholic leaders taught its congregation that the Jews were at fault, making the hatred more wide spread. Examples of anti-semitism by Christians in historical times:

• Destruction of their temples • Forcing Migration• Forms of punishment for their past wrongdoings and any future wrongdoings that they were going to commit

Reason for anti-semitism was that Jews were not accepting Christianity as their faith (when? Year) Jews were a threat…

Medieval PeriodWith the dominant religion being Christianity,

Jews often found themselves isolated as outsiders Banned from owning land Forced into “ghettos” Could not earn money in the normal ways of the

time Forced into money-lending and tax collecting by

rulers = UNPOPULAR amongst society (more hate)

1215 – Jews were forced to wear a badge or hat that marked them as different Resulted in Jews being identified which allowed for

attacks to be easier

Pogroms were a “popular” act of Anti-semitism “Hate crime”

Expulsion of Jews Jews were expelled from their countries:

1290 – England 1306 – France 1492 – Spain

Change of life?! JEWS GIVEN RIGHTS – 19th century

Due to the rise of science and technology, previous held beliefs were being challenged

Asking questions and challenging ideas (which the Jews had done before) became normal in this period

Jews were able to live a “normal” life However, people held on to their beliefs of blame

towards the Jews E.g. Just like today with racism

Resentment towards Jews who became successful was growing

Wilhelm Marr (creator) still believed that Jews were unworthy of being a part of European society – believed in Aryan race

Hitler & Anti-Semitism Hitler believed in pure-Aryan raceHe believed that Jews were the “reason” for

Germany’s problems Jews at this time owned private banks, worked

in the stock exchange, and ran nation’s newspapers This is due to the removal of banishments against

the Jews formally but still were present informally in the minds of citizens and rulers

This allowed for Hitler to easily place the blame on the Jewish (easy target)

Hitler’s Solution? = banish/remove Jews from society

Revival of Anti-Semitism Certain aspects of anti-semitism were brought

back: Jews were marked Forced to live in ghettos (isolation of one race) Unable to work and associate with “Germans”

THINK. PAIR. SHARE.Do you think that the Holocaust was a

result of:A) extremist Nazis?OR

B) years of resentment towards Jews (anti-semitism)?

Why do you think so?

Citations: Prejudice and Anti-semitism. (2011, January

1). . Retrieved May 21, 2014, from http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/anti-semitism/prejudice-and-anti-semitism/#.U315OChzTbw

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Holocaust.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143. Accessed on [May 21, 2014].