The History of Antisemitism The roots of antisemitism in Germany go back a very long time. The foundation of hate the Nazis built on was formed centuries earlier. Jews rarely lived in peace for long as far back as the ancient Roman Empire (63 BC).

11 th Century- Christian knights went on crusades to convert or kill the Moslems of the Middle East;

They found easier victims closer to home German Christian Crusaders massacred thousands of Jews in German towns Jews were called “Christ killers” in the early years of Christianity; a belief that persisted through the centuries

Middle Ages- Jews were said to have poisoned wells causing years of the plague (“Black Death”) that killed millions in Europe In the years of the Plague over 200 Jewish communities were destroyed; thousands of Jews were killed Painting: The Black Plague 1349

“Blood Libel” During the Middle Ages, Jews were charged with the ritual murder of Christian children, and said to use their blood during religious ceremonies The Nazis later used this in their propaganda against the Jews

 Jewish communities were raided and destroyed  Jewish children were taken from their parents and raised as Christians  Jews were burned at the stake because they refused to give up their religion

Jews were expelled from country after country Jews were expelled from England, France, and Spain Many settled in Eastern Europe, especially Poland Massacres and pogroms directed at the Jews took place from the 5 th to the 20 th centuries

Strict limits were placed on what Jews could and could not do  Jews were forbidden to be doctors, lawyers, or teachers of non-Jews  Jews were not allowed to sell food to Christians  Jews couldn’t be cared for by Christian nurses  Jews weren’t allowed to live in the same houses as non-Jews

 Jews were forced to wear a special article of clothing or a cloth badge Jews were forced to live in separate walled areas called ghettos In the 1800’s signs began to appear that were the building blocks of Nazism Antisemitic incidents grew in number and violence

Significant Event In 1879 Wilhem Marr used the word “antisemitism” for the first time Marr, known as the father of modern antisemitism, based his ideas on what he called“racial” rather than religious characteristics of Jews This was an important change in the history of Jewish persecution

 Jews began to be thought of as a race for the first time  This belief said Jews were different by birth from everyone else This idea was the cornerstone of nazi antisemitism

Antisemitic politicians were elected to the Reichstag; Germany’s ruling body Anti-Jewish books and pamphlets appeared 1903: “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion’ appeared in Russia. It was translated into German and sold by thousands. It was supposed to be a secret plan of a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world

Antisemitic pograms continued into modern times pogroms in Russia, Poland, and the Ukraine about 100,000 Jews murdered in western Ukraine ,000 Jews killed in pogroms in Poland and Ukraine

Jews killed in pogrom in Algeria 1935 increased violence and discrimination against Jews in Poland 1936,1938 more pogroms in Poland November 9-10, 1938 Kristallnacht - Germany and Austria

KRISTALLNACHT

Laws and actions against the Jews increase  1927 Jewish cemeteries throughout Germany are desecrated by Nazis, synagogues in Romania destroyed  1933 first concentration camp is established: Dachau  1933 boycott of Jewish lawyers, doctors, and merchants, economic and employment sanctions against Jews increasing

 1933 book burning of “non German” books (mostly Jewish)  1933 Jews banned from fields of journalism, art, literature, music, broadcasting, and theater  1935 Nuremberg Laws: deprived Jews of  citizenship, took away voting and other rights  more than 1400 anti- Jewish laws are passed in Germany