Anti-Semitism it is prejudice concentrated against anyone of Semitic origin, which includes prejudice against Arabs, Assyrians, Jews, etc. The term, however, has a usage much more linked to prejudice (ethnic, religious or cultural) committed against Jews. Throughout history, anti-Semitism has manifested itself in different ways, imposing a very great persecution on the Jewish populations.
Issues surrounding the persecution of Jews vary according to historical context. Many historians claim that such persecution during the medieval period is understood much more from a religious aspect. Modern anti-Semitism basically emerged in the early nineteenth century on the European continent, and its causes are related to political and economic issues.
Anti-Semitism throughout History
The persecution of Jews is an ancient phenomenon and dates back to the period of the Roman Empire. Because of the persecution of the Romans – rulers of Palestine, the Jews fled the region and spread around the world, settling mainly in Europe.
On the European continent, during the period of Middle Ages, this persecution was closely related to issues of a religious order, because of the differences between Catholics and Jews and the fact that they are seen as the executioners of Jesus Christ.
Thus, during the Middle Ages, Jews often became scapegoats to explain certain events and, therefore, they were victims of persecution. One of those moments was the Black Plague, an outbreak of bubonic plague that hit Europe in the 14th century and wiped out a third of the European population. Jews were accused of being the cause of the plague, and historians have reported several instances of attacks on Jewish communities in Europe from this period.
This persecution was also reflected in other ways, with Jews being prohibited from exercising certain offices and being confined to specific parts of the cities where they lived. Finally, the anti-Semitism present in Europe during the medieval period can be exemplified by the fact that they were expelled from several countries. Spain expelled the Jews in 1492, and Portugal in 1497 |1|.
As modern nations consolidated, Jews occupied important state offices and functions, and many even acted by providing loans to European nations. During this period, there was an integration process through which Jews began to assimilate to the places where they were established.
This integration happened, in part, due to the importance of the Jews in the consolidation of the Modern State. from taking up posts in the state bureaucracy, they were also responsible for lending money to the Monarchs. The spread of new ideals based on the defense of reason also explains this greater integration of the Jew in Europe, in addition to the fact that many have accepted converting to Christianity.
Because of this integration, many Jews abandoned their religion (Judaism) and started to proclaim themselves with the nationality of the place in which they were inserted. This integration process was also accompanied by numerous civil liberties for Jews. This picture, however, began to change during the nineteenth century.
What do we consider as the modern anti-Semitism emerged in the early nineteenth century. Philosopher Hannah Arendt considers that Prussia was the starting point |2|. Anti-Semitism in Prussia began shortly after the conquest of the region by Napoleonic troops and is very related to the downfall of the Prussian aristocracy and the transformations that that society suffered.
This happened because the conquerors led by Napoleon Bonaparte sought to abolish the privileges of class in Prussian society and carried out a process aimed at equalizing the position of all citizens. With this, part of the Jews gained rights that they did not have before the arrival of Napoleonic troops. These changes were aimed at destroying the privileges of the nobility in order to implement free trade in the country. This process resulted in the development of anti-Semitism in Prussia.
Also access: Napoleonic era
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With this anti-Semitic wave spreading across Europe, hate speech against Jews spread to several nations on the continent. Hannah Arendt associates the strengthening of anti-Semitism in Europe with the loss of political power of the Jews throughout the nineteenth century.
“Anti-Semitism reached its climax when the Jews had similarly lost public office and influence, and when they had nothing left but their wealth..” |3|
This situation caused several conspiracy theories involving the Jews to be spread across Europe. Politicians and parties emerged that had anti-Semitic discourse as one of their mottos, and it became common to carry out pogroms - concentrated attacks against Jewish communities, mainly in the Russian Empire.
Nazism and Anti-Semitism
The growth of anti-Semitism in political frameworks and in European society peaked with the rise of the National Socialist Party of German Workers or simply, Nazi Party. One of the central elements of Nazism was anti-Semitism, and adolf hitler he managed with his speech to mobilize a nation against the Jews.
What began as a speech became a practice of terror when the Nazis took power in Germany in 1933. This situation worsened from 1935, as recorded by Richard J. Evans:
The anti-Semitic actions carried out in the spring and summer of 1935 took many forms. In May there were […] numerous boycotts of Jewish shops organized by brown shirts and SS, often accompanied by violence. It was also around this time that signs with anti-Semitic sayings were placed on the roadside and on the borders of many towns and villages. |4|.
In the same year (1935), anti-Semitic laws were enacted by the German government, which became known as Nuremberg Laws. These laws excluded Jewish citizenship rights, prohibiting them from marrying Germans (so-called Aryans). From these laws, the persecution of Jews was consolidated in German society, both in public and private life.
night of crystals
Another demonstration of Nazi anti-Semitism occurred in what became known as night of crystals, which took place at the turn of the 9th to the 10th of November 1938. At this event, thousands of SS members and civilians organized a massive attack (pogrom) against Jews in Germany.
Homes, shops and all kinds of buildings inhabited by Jews were invaded and vandalized – the Jews present in these places were attacked, and their property was looted. Richard Evans points out that at least 7,500 Jewish stores were totally destroyed |5|. The name “Night of Crystals” is due to the amount of broken glass that was scattered as the places were being destroyed.
Holocaust
History tells us where this extreme persecution and terror against Jews in Germany led: to the Holocaust or, in the terminology used by the Jews themselves, shoah. The Holocaust was the extermination policy promoted by the Nazis during the years of World War II. The Nazis called the Jewish extermination program "Final Solution”.
Read too: O extermination of Kiev's Jews: Babi Yar Massacre
The holocaust of Jews in Europe took place at different stages: imprisonment of Jews in ghettos, shooting campaigns promoted by the Einsatzgruppen and crowding of Jews in concentration camps. There were forced labor camps and extermination camps, among which the best known was Auschwitz-Birkenau, responsible for the death of 1.2 million people. In all, six million Jews were killed by the Nazis.
|1| ŠIMIK, Radek. Jews in Portuguese society in the 14th and 15th centuries. To access, click on here.
|2| ARENDT, Hannah. Origins of totalitarianism. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2012, p. 59.
|3| Idem, p. 27.
|4| EVANS, Richard J. The Third Reich in power. São Paulo: Planet, 2014, p. 608.
|5| Idem, p. 657.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
