The Historical Context of Night

Anti-Semitism Definition: Hostility or discrimination toward Jews Did not start with Hitler! Anti-Semitism can be traced back thousands of years

A Brief History of Anti-Semitism Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew who was persecuted by the Romans. The Romans insisted that Jews observe their customs and were labeled as “stubborn” or “hostile” when they refused to comply This is the birth of a stereotype Followers of Christ’s teachings eventually separated themselves becoming Christians From this the Judeo-Christian conflict was born

History of Anti-Semitism (cont.) 1700s-1800s After being confined to ghettoes for hundreds of years, Jews were no longer considered a religion but a race (Semites) rather than an ethnicity Race: a group of people who share physical characteristics based on genetics Ethnicity: a group of people who share cultural characteristics such as religion, language, etc. This provided a new basis for discrimination

Examples of Anti-Semitic Propaganda Propaganda slide depicting Jews as the bastard sons of Asian and negroid racial groups. The caption reads, "The Jew is a bastard." Date: Circa 1933 - 1939 Locale: Germany Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Marion Davy

History of Anti-Semitism (cont.) Racist thinking becomes more respectable in society. Particularly following WWI, many are seeking easy targets on which to vent their frustration. Unfortunately, this fell on the Jews in Germany and Eastern Europe.

The Rise of Hitler 1933: Adolf Hitler is elected prime minister of Germany Hitler immediately sets into motion a series of laws to make Germany a dictatorship 1935: Hitler announces 3 new laws that strip Jews of citizenship and makes it a crime for Christians to have contact with them 1939: World War II begins 1940: Hitler controls much of Europe and Jews are being identified, isolated, and singled out for genocide (the systematic murder of a racial or ethnic group)

Hitler’s Reign Continues 1943: At this point 80-85% of European Jews are dead and many more are on their way to death camps 1944: While Hungarian Jews (like the author of Night) were not deported until much later than other European Jews, at this point 12,000 per day are being shipped to death camps 1945: Hitler commits suicide as Russian and American troops invade Germany: the camps are liberated and exposed

An Image From the Camps