The Roots of Anti-Semitism ‘Was there any form of filth or crime without at least one Jew involved in it? If you cut into such a sore, you find, like a maggot in a rotting body, often dazzled by the sudden light- a Jew’ Adolf Hitler 1925

Task What does the quote on the previous slide tell you about Hitler’s beliefs about the Jews? What actions does this suggest he might take if he gets into power?

The earlier slide illustrates the radical Anti-Semitism of Hitler. These ideas did not however start with Hitler. In Germany and Europe as a whole there was a long history of Anti-Semitism.

Religious Anti-Semitism Jews were discriminated against because of their religion As far back as the first century A.D. the Jews clashed with the Roman Emperor Caligula because they wouldn’t worship him as a God. He also questioned their refusal to eat pork.

Religious Anti-Semitism During the Middle-Ages in Europe Anti-Semitism was linked to Religion Jews were seen as ‘Christ Killers’ There was animosity towards them for refusing to ‘accept Christ’ Jews were unpopular as money lenders at a time when the Christian Church had banned interest on loans (Shylock in Merchant of Venice)

Religious Anti-Semitism In Medieval Europe, Jews were likely to be segregated into ghettos They were driven out of countries e.g. England in 1290 having been blamed for spreading the Plague. They were also blamed for the fire of London in 1666 Riotous violence against Jews, known as Pogroms were not uncommon

Greater Acceptance In the late 18th and 19th Centuries Western Europe started to accept Jews as citizens with the same rights as everyone else. Most Jews started to adopt national customs and integrated into society In 1871 the new German state extended total civil equality to Jews.

In Eastern Europe Anti-Semitism remained and may Jews moved to more accepting countries such as Germany and Austria The Jews in Germany benefited from industrialisation and urbanisation (Most worked and lived in the major towns and cities). In the 1870’ two-thirds of German Jews were in the middle and upper taxation levels

A disproportional number of Jews became doctors, lawyers and academics. In Germany most Jews saw themselves as loyal Germans and no longer part of a separate Jewish community. Jews became active a visible contributors to German cultural life e.g. music and painting There were inter-marriages between Jews and other Germans and Jews who converted to Christianity

Racial Anti-Semitism In the Nineteenth Century new racial theories emerged. From these theories developed a new form of Anti-Semitism not based on religion.

Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau A Frenchman who published ‘Essay on the Inequality of Human Races’ in the mid 1850’s He argued that races were physically and psychologically different. He claimed that ‘Aryan’ race were the founders of all High Civilisation

He argued that these civilisations fell when the ‘Aryans’ interbred with ‘racially less valuable’ lower orders

Charles Darwin Published ‘Origin of Species’ in 1859 This didn’t comment on race but Social Darwinists such as Herbert Spencer adapted it. These Social Darwinist claimed a nation needed ‘pure blood’ to survive. Eliminating all those who were not racially strong and useful.

‘Aryan’ German Nationalism 19th Century writers in Germany wrote of the racial superiority of ‘Aryan Germans. The German Volk they claimed inherited the warrior virtues of honour, duty, courage and loyalty. These Volkisch writers loathed Jews, liberalism, socialism, pacifism and modernism all of which they saw as un_German.

Eugen Duhring A German economist. In 1881 he argued Jews were ‘scarcely human’ and the enemies of all nations especially Germany. He believed that all human traits were racially determined.

Paul de Lagarde A philosopher who described Jews as ‘vermin’. He declared that there was a need for a ‘surgical incision’ to ‘remove the source of the infection’

Richard Wagner The famous composer was very nationalistic and Anti-semitic.

Houston Stewart Chamberlain Son in law of Wagner In 1899 he published ‘Foundations of the Nineteenth Century’ In this book he argued that Jews were a degenerate, evil race, conspiring to gain world domination and destroy Germany. He argued history was the story of the struggle of the Germans and the Jews.

Task Produce a who’s who of Racial Anti-Semitism Write a paragraph summarising what Anti-Semites believed