The term anti-Semitism can be described as the jealousy, anger or outright hatred towards people of the Jewish faith. It was first used in 1881 by German radical and founder of the Anti-Semitic league, Wilhelm Marr (Poliakov, 15). However, the hatred of those who follow the Jewish faith has a much longer history. It saw its beginnings under emperor Constantine who ruled as the last emperor before the fall of the Roman Empire (Reich). Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, attacked the Jewish people for their faith, a trend that has continued into modern day.
Anti-Semitism has defined and continues to define, much of our modern history. Having been present since Rome it has proven extremely useful throughout history to those who wish to attack or scapegoat a group for contemporary problems. Plagues or diseases in Medieval Europe were blamed on Jewish communities that were lived nearby owing to their practice of usury, or money lending, which was a sin under the Christian doctrine. In the Early Modern empire of Venice Jewish communities were sequestered to their quarter of the city which often faced attacks by other, Catholic, citizens when the cities economy came under duress. The entire Second World War can be seen as a global assault on the Jewish faith with the Holocaust, but also with the xenophobic beliefs that Jewish people’s faced when being refused entry to countries such as France or Canada. And of course, in our modern day, the Jewish faith faces scrutiny in America, with recent events in Charlottesville.
The most infamous example of Anti-Semitism was the Holocaust. Germany was in a terrible position following their defeat in the First World War and the stock market collapse during the Great Depression. In response to the widespread despair, radical movements came to the forefront, the one in question here is the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or the Nazi Party (Griech-Polelle, 72). This party was under the leadership of one of the most influential and infamous leaders of all history, Adolf Hitler. Hitler used the Jew archetype as the cause of all Germany’s problems. Using the concept of the “other” Jewish people were described as “dirty, foreign, corrupt, corrupting, and never to be trusted” (Griech-Polelle, 2). Through this language, the Nazi party began the systematic killing of Jewish communities across the globe using death camps, such as Auschwitz (Grief-Polelle, 228). During the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, the Nazi Party killed roughly 6 million Jewish people because of Anti-Semitic beliefs. Here the value of Anti-Semitism is demonstrated through its use in scapegoating the Jewish peoples. The loss was terrible and has been difficult to reconcile. A monument has since been erected in Germany as a reminder and an apology for the hurt caused to the Jewish people.
These hateful values have seen a recent resurgence in our modern times during a Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia. During the rally white supremacists waving the Nazi flag marched and chanted hate speech across a campus. One line that was repeated was “Jews will not replace us.” While the rally has faced widespread denunciation it demonstrates that Anti-Semitic beliefs are still present today, and continue to affect how people interact with those of the Jewish faith.
Graeme Moore
Bibliography
Bartlett, Kenneth R. A Short History Of The Italian Renaissance. North York, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2013.
Griech-Polelle, Beth A. Anti-Semitism And The Holocaust. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017.
Jews in England: Statute of Jewry (1275) and Petition of the “Commonality” of the Jews, English Historical Documents, vol. 3: 1189-1327, ed. Harry Rothwell (London and New York: Routledge, 1975), pp. 411-413.
Poliakov, Léon. The History Of Anti-Semitism. Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003.
Reich, Nathan. “Anti-Semitism.” The Journal of Educational Sociology 18, no. 5 (1945): 294-302. doi:10.2307/2262720.
Sotomayor, Marianna. “Violence At Charlottesville Rally Prompts State Of Emergency”. NBC News, 2017. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/torch-wielding-white-supremacists-march-university-virginia-n792021.
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