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ANTI-SEMITISM

Mrs. BraheWorld History II

Objectives

Define anti-Semitism

Discuss brief history of anti-Semitism

Learn about propaganda and stereotypes

Make connections to current-day anti-Semitism, racism, prejudice and bigotry

What is Anti-Semitism?

Definition: hostility toward Jews as an ethnic or religious group, often involves social, economic and political discrimination

History (adapted from article “Anti-Semitism in history: From the Crucifixion of Christ to 1400”) Sometimes called "the longest hatred," anti-Semitism

has persisted in many forms for over 2,000 years racial anti-Semitism of the Nazis took hatred of Jews

to a genocidal extreme The Holocaust began with words and ideas:

stereotypes, sinister cartoons, and the gradual spread of hate

More History

First millennium of the Christian era Christian leaders developed the doctrine that…

all Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Christ

the destruction of the Temple by the Romans and the scattering of the Jewish people was punishment (for past transgressions and for failure to accept Christianity

10th and 11th centuries Doctrine about Jews was hardened and unified due to:

threat to the Church hierarchy from the impending split between Roman Catholicism & Greek Orthodoxy (Schism)

successive waves of Muslim conquest

success in converting the ethnic groups of Europe

military-spiritual zeal of the Crusades

Discrimination

Jews became the minority religion in Christian Europe In some countries, Jews were welcomed from time to time

But faith was key to self-identity

Religion influenced public and private life

Jews found themselves increasingly isolated as outsiders

Jews do not share the Christian belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and many Christians considered this to be arrogant

the Church taught that Jews were responsible for Jesus' death Jesus was executed by the Roman government (political threat)

As outsiders, Jews were objects of violent stereotyping and subject to violence against their persons and property.

Discrimination: Action based on prejudice or biased beliefs that results in unfair treatment of individuals or groups; unjust conditions in areas such as employment, housing, and education

Propaganda

Jewish Myths began to spread “blood libel," a myth that Jews used the blood of

Christian children for ritual purposes

Jewish failure to convert to Christianity was a sign both of service to the anti-Christ as well as of innate disloyalty to European civilization

Conversely, the conversion of individual Jews was perceived as insincere and as having materialistic motives.

Propaganda: deliberate spreading of ideas or information, true or untrue, with the purpose of manipulating public opinion to gain support for one’s cause or to discourage support for another

Anti-Semitism increases…

Anti-Semitism reached new heights in the Middle Ages most common manifestations were what we now call

pogroms (riots launched against Jews by local residents, and frequently encouraged by the authorities)

Pogroms were often incited by rumors of blood libel In desperate times, Jews became scapegoats for

natural catastrophes Example: some people believed that Jews brought on the

"Black Death," the plague that killed millions of people in Europe in the 14th Century

Claimed it was divine retribution for the Jews allegedly blasphemous and satanic practices.

Nazi Anti-Semitism

Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party used anti-Semitism in their campaign of genocide against the Jews

Anti-Semitic laws, violence and propaganda preceded the holocaust

Anti-Semitism took many forms: Religious based discrimination

Politically driven hatred or discrimination

Ethnically or culturally based regarding heritage or culture

Perpetuation of stereotypes based on economic or bigoted images of Jews begin “greedy”, for example

Employs venom, power and prejudice similar to racism

Two Last Definitions

Racism: A set of beliefs based on perceived “racial”

superiority and inferiority

a system of domination that is played out in everyday interactions

unequal distribution of privilege, resources and power

Stereotype: a simplistic, firmly held belief, often negative, about individual characteristics generalized to all people within that group

Cover of an anti-Semitic German children's book titled "Trust No Fox in the Green Meadow and No Jew on his Oath." Germany, 1936.

Illustration from an anti-Semitic children's primer. The sign reads "Jews are not wanted here." Germany, 1936.

Illustration from an anti-Semitic children's book published in 1936 in Nuremberg, Germany. Depicts a caricature of a wealthy Jewish department store owner oppressing impoverished Germans.

Illustration from a children's book. The headlines say "Jews are our misfortune" and "How the Jew cheats." Germany, 1936.

1) What message does this book cover send?

2) What stereotypes are used?

3) Why do you think it targets children?

4) How does the timing of this book, published in 1936, coincide with the Holocaust? What is that important?

5) Are there messages you see or hear in modern life that invoke similar stereotypes?

6) What can you do to counter such images and messages?

"Trust No Fox in the Green Meadow and No Jew on his Oath.“

German boys read an issue of Der Stuermernewspaper posted in a display box at the entrance to a Nazi party headquarters in the Dresden region. The German slogan (partially obscured) at the bottom of the display box reads, "The Jews are our misfortune." Germany, 1937.

Cover of a German anti-Semitic children's book, Der Giftpilz (The Poisonous Mushroom), published in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1935.

Illustration from the book above. The caption reads: "The Jewish nose is crooked, it looks like a 6.“

A sign outside a town in northern Bavaria warns: "City of Hersbruck. This lovely city of Hersbruck, this glorious spot of earth, was created only for Germans and not for Jews. Jews are therefore not welcome."

Hersbruck, Germany, May 4, 1935.

A woman who is concealing her face sits on a park bench marked "Only for Jews." Austria, ca. March 1938.

Sign on a phone booth in Munich that prohibits Jews from using the public telephone. Munich, Germany, 1942.

During the anti-Jewish boycott, men carry banners which read "Germans! Defend Yourselves! Do Not Buy From Jews!"

Berlin, Germany, March or April 1933.

Anti-Semitic graffiti painted on the wall of a Jewish cemetery reads "The death of the Jews will end the Saarland's distress." Berlin, Germany, November 1938.

1) What messages does this cartoon send?2) What stereotypes are used?3) What do you think the artist showed the world

being attacked, rather than just Germany or Europe?

4) How does the timing of this cartoon, published in 1938, coincide with the Holocaust? Why is that important?

(stop here if answered last ?s)5) Are there messages you see or

hear in modern life that invoke similar stereotypes?

6) What can you do to counter such images and messages?

Propaganda cartoon warning of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy.