Jewish Antisemitism

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.

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.

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

     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 discrimination against Jewish people as individuals and as a group. (A Brief History of Anti-Semitism) People may think that anti-Semitism began with Adolf Hitler but they are mistaken. There is so much evidence of anti-Semitism as far back as the ancient world. (History.com, n.d.) There are three examples of anti-Semitism in Europe prior to World War One that I will discuss.

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).

"It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The sealed cattle car. The fiery altar upon which the history of our people an the future of mankind were meant to be sacrificed."-Elie Weisel. Imagine you wake up one morning and everyone around you was being beaten, killed, put in jail, all because they are Jewish, Gypsies, Handicapped, Slavic people, Homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and many others. So many people suffered during the holocaust, and it all started when the Anti-Semitism Nazi leader Adolf Hitler decided that they were an "Inferior race" and a threat to German racial purity and community. It effects today by giving us remembrance of the sinister things that happened during Hitler's reign of power.

Jews have been hated for a long time ever since the holocaust. The holocaust had a big impact on many people especially jews. The holocaust created so many issues that everyone didn’t like. The people who were involved in the holocaust went through very traumatic experiences. Jews just were hated. They were hated before the holocaust too. What people are affected by anti semitism? Anti semitism hurts a lot of other people beside jews. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, anti semitism is hostility or discrimination against jews as a religious or ethnic group. There are two kinds of anti semitism, classical anti semitism and modern anti semitism. Classical anti semitism is hatred and intolerance towards jews. Modern anti semitism was

Jews were targeted by hatred by other religious groups because of their religion. Traditional Anti-Semitism, started nearly two thousand years ago. Traditional Anti-Semitism was rooted in religion. Judaism, a monotheistic religion, led to a lifetime of exclusion for many of its followers. In the beginning, when Judaism was first developing, believing in a religion which only had one God was out of the ordinary. The other religions were all polytheistic, which made the Jewish people a target. The people of this time period didn’t like the idea of this new belief.

Anti-Semitism – Discrimination against or hostility and hatred towards Jewish people, whether they be religiously or ethnically defined.

Anti-Semitism, or the hatred of the Jewish people, has been prominent throughout history, even long before the Holocaust during World War II. Stemming from biblical times, the Jews were often ridiculed for wanting to remain a separate religion, refusing to adopt the belief system of the non-Jewish community (ADL.org). Not only that, the early Christians, both Catholic and Protestant believed that the Jews were single-handedly responsible for the death of Jesus Christ (“Anti-Semitism: The Longest Hatred”).

Anti-semitism is the prejudice against jews. Anti- semitism is also associated with race discrimination, race prejudice, race snobbery, hostility towards Jews, and racism. When Hitler came to power in Germany, he made anti-semitism an official government policy. Anti-semitism still exists in many countries today (Levanon).

The term anti-semitism was invented in the 19th Century by people who loathed European Jews and

Jews were hated and only treated as scapegoat from Adolf Hitler. If Jews weren’t protected under law or either have their citizens right, they were only call “Christ Killer” which in meaning of that the Jews were the fault of the death of Christ. In Europe Jews did not have the right to own lands so they mostly became peddlers to make a living out of it. The anti-semitism was the wrong doing of the hate towards the Jews but it also came with the myth from people who are christian to the reason to why Christ died was because of the Jews was part of the myth but mostly the main part of it and mostly Hitler’s hate towards things he didn’t like.

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