History of Anti- Semitism CHC2D

Anti-Semitism  Prejudice, hatred and discrimination against Jews  Many 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 = against  Semite = 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 purpose  These myths gave ammunition for others to persecute the Jews  2) E.g. People believed that Jews were responsible for the “Black Death” ( )  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 Times  However, 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 Period  With 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 – 19 th 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 race  He 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 semitism/prejudice-and-anti- semitism/#.U315OChzTbw semitism/prejudice-and-anti- semitism/#.U315OChzTbw  United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Holocaust.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. uleId= Accessed on [May 21, 2014].