Anti-Semitism In Germany: Martin Luther And The Reformation Era

Robert S. Wistrich defined antisemitism as hostility and/or prejudice against the Jewish people or their religion of Judaism. Many people in today’s world instinctively associate antisemitism with Nazi Germany because of the mass genocide that took place. Hostility towards the Jewish people dates back thousands of years ago when the Roman Empire forced them away from their homeland that is now known as Israel. With the Jewish population forced from their homes they began to spread out all over the world and so did the prejudice against them. The Judaism religion was looked down upon in many parts of the world and people felt like it was their duty to treat the Jewish people with inequality. Antisemitism took a different turn when statesmen begin to use it in their campaign to gain the citizens support.

Consistent with Rossel, Germany has had a past of anti-Semitism, starting in 1542 when the great German Protestant leader Martin Luther wrote a booklet called Against the Jews and Their Lies. Even earlier the Catholic Churches had taught that the Jewish people killed Crist and should therefore be hated (10). Early teachings of anti-Semitism lead to a hating of the Jewish community, but with the German’s calling themselves the “Aryan Race” and the Jewish people calling themselves the “chosen one’s” there was bound to be competition on who was superior.

Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Walt Disney was accused of being anti-Semitic, however, was never accused of making anti-Semitic slurs by his employees. The word anti-Semite was popularized in 1879 in Germany as a scientific word for judenhass which means “Jew hatred”, which has been its common use since 1879. Antisemitism is shown in numerous ways, from discrimination against individual Jews to planned attacks by police or even military attacks on Jewish people.

Anti-Semitism has been prevalent throughout the world since the establishment of the Jewish religion and unfortunately, traces of it can still be found to this day in the United States. What exactly is anti-Semitism? It is the intense dislike for and prejudice against the Jews; it can range anywhere from simple opposition to the Jews to vicious hatred displayed through physical torment. Some examples of the more publicized cases of violence against the Jews include the attack of Irish workers and police on the funeral procession of Rabbi Jacob Joseph in New York City in 1902, the lynching of Leo Frank in 1915, the assassination of Alan Berg in 1984, as well as the Crown Heights riots of 1991. I have

At the end of WWI in 1918, Germany’s economy was in ruins. There were very few jobs, and bitterness began to take over the country. According to the text, “Hitler, a rising politician, offered Germany a scapegoat: Jewish people. Hitler said that Jewish people were to blame for Germany’s problems. He believed that Jews did not deserve to live.” (7) This was the birth of Antisemitism--prejudice against Jewish people. Europe’s Jewish people have always been persecuted due to their “different customs and beliefs that many viewed with suspicion.”(7) Hitler simply reignited the flames, and a violent hatred was born.

Antisemitism is the hostility or prejudices against Jews. Those with the intentions and actions to discriminate Jews are known as anti semitic. This began shortly after Hitler and Nazi Germany assumed power in 1933. At an annual party put on by the Nazis, they created a brand new set of rules called the “Nuremberg Laws”. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Nazis started to “make good” on their pledge to oppress German Jews (ushmm.org). Eventually, Nazi party members announced their purpose. They wanted to segregate Jews from their society. With these intentions, the actions of the Nazi party that came after were cruel and inhumane. It was at this annual party that the start of the creation of these cruel laws intending to separate Jews.

Anti-Semitism as a term to describe hatred of Jews was not used until the second half of the nineteenth century, but a bias against Jews had existed for thousands of years. This resentment of the Jews as a people can be traced back to theological roots as well as practical concerns in early Europe. The most significant and accepted origin of anti-Judaism is the death of Jesus. Jews were branded as the murderers of Christ and Jesus’ followers developed a deep hatred of them. This undertone to Christianity endured over time and became an inherent facet of the religion. Later, when Jews attempted to assimilate into European societies, they faced strong discrimination and resistance. Other citizens viewed them as economic competition. In addition, negative stereotypes evolved about the Jews in relation to their

German anti-Semitism played the main role in Holocaust and extermination of Jewish population in Europe during World War 2. There are different views on this subject among historians. Some support the fact that German society was anti-Semitic and ordinary

     Merriam-Webster OnLine defines antisemitism as "hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group"(Blah, Blah, Blah). Antisemitism is a little more

Anti-Semitism is the hatred and discrimination of those with a Jewish heritage. It is generally connected to the Holocaust, but the book by Helmut Walser Smith, The Butcher’s Tale shows the rise of anti-Semitism from a grassroots effect. Smith uses newspapers, court orders, and written accounts to write the history and growth of anti-Semitism in a small German town. The book focuses on how anti-Semitism was spread by fear mongering, the conflict between classes, and also the role of the government.

Anti-Semitism seemed to be very popular in the European countries. Anti-Semitism is the “prejudice against or hatred of Jews (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). A man named Wilhelm Marr originated the term in 1879. Violent riots against Jews were often and encouraged by the government officials and pogroms were violent attacks against the Jews by non-Jewish people (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

Luther understood that Jews had been forced into usury as their only means of survival. Above all else, Luther advises Christian charity when dealing with the Jews.

Before the nineteenth century anti-Semitism was largely religious, based on the belief that the Jews were responsible for Jesus' crucifixion. It was expressed later in the Middle Ages by persecutions and expulsions, economic restrictions and personal restrictions. After Jewish emancipation during the enlightenment, or later, religious anti-Semitism was slowly replaced in the nineteenth century by racial prejudice, stemming from the idea of Jews as a distinct race. In Germany theories of Aryan racial superiority and charges of Jewish domination in the economy and politics in addition with other anti-Jewish propaganda led to the rise of anti-Semitism. This growth in anti-Semitic belief led to Adolf Hitler's rise to power and eventual

Anti-Semitic means discrimination toward Jews just because they are Jewish. Hostility towards Jews dates back to ancient times; from the days of the bible to ancient times ,Jewish people have been criticized and pushed just because they have a different religion and did not fit in with everyone else. The rise of Christianity greatly increased the hatred towards Jews. Instead of just considered outsiders Jews were now seen as people who rejected Jesus and crucified him. By the middle ages Jew were considered to be barely human and they were called Christ killers. Jewish people were forced to live in the ghettos, they were accused of poisoning the wells and rivers in times of major disease epidemics. In the 19th century thing started to get a little easier for Jewish people as there was a decline in Christianity and a rise in the Jewish belief. But later on in World War two they became Germany's justification seeking to kill every Jew. between 1939 and 1945

The most widely known aspects of Nazi ideology are their hatred of Jewish people and their tireless efforts to exterminate the entire race during their rule. This distinctly Nazi belief of antisemitism is not one that the Nazis created. It instead had existed for several thousand years throughout Germany and all of Europe. As Stackelberg and Winkle explain, “The origins of the stereotype of Jews as immoral materialists can be traced to the unwillingness of Jews to give up their religion in favor of world-renouncing Christianity” (Stackelberg and Winkle, Anti-Semitism, p. 2). This feeling of hatred towards Jews persisted for centuries, especially in countries that had a majority of Christian citizens. There were a number of people that continually perpetuated these anti-Semitic views with the works that they published and their actions towards Jews. A great