Long-term Background of the Holocaust
Antisemitism: coined in 1879 by German journalist Wilhelm
Marr
Jews were a separate race, the Semite race (descended from
Noah’s son Shem)
How many races
do anthropologists say there are in the world today? -- Only 3, maybe 4. Name
them if you can. – White, black, and
Oriental. Or Caucasoid, Negroid,
and Mongoloid. Some scientists wonder
what to do with the Australian aborigines, as they don’t really fit with any of
the other groups. So the Jews are obviously
not a race.
The Jews are a people, a religion
Writing it this way (without a hyphen and a capital “S”) denies
the idea of a separate race
An irrational hatred
“Jews are not hated because they have evil qualities; they are
given evil qualities so they can be hated.”
From the Orthodox point of view, antisemitism goes back to Sinai
The Orthodox are
extremely conservative in their view of the law. For them, the statement we looked at earlier that Jews became
God’s Chosen People shut out the other nations in the Middle East, thus
generating animosity between Israel and her neighbors.
Antisemitism has waxed and waned through time and place
Pagan
times: reasons
Economic: Jews competed
with non-Jews, particularly in Alexandria
Jews vs. Hellenized Greeks and Egyptians
Political: Maccabean
conquests, c. 140 BCE
Cultural: pagans
resented monotheism and its demands and separatism
Messianism: Greeks and
Romans had a problem here
Jews made up 10-12% of Roman Empire
Tacitus (1st C. CE):
was harshly against Jews
Popular antisemitism generally isn’t found
Most antisemitism in the ancient world was confined to the
intellectual elites
Christian
times:
Jews refuted:
Jesus as the Messiah
The Trinity
God became human
Abrogation of the Law
Original sin
What’s this
mean? -- That because of the fall of
Adam and Eve, all future humans are born sinners and are damned unless they
become saved.
Faith in Jesus as only way to salvation
Sacraments of the Church
Let me have a
Catholic, or anyone who remembers this from your world history class, state
these for the us now: -- They are
baptism, holy orders, anointing of the sick (or last rites), marriage,
reconciliation (or confession), communion, and confirmation. – For the most part, one would be
hard-pressed to find Biblical laws for these.
New Testament as Divine
Jews were accused of deicide (murder of God/Jesus)
Matthew 27: “let the
punishment for His death fall upon us and our children”
Who is
“us”? -- The Jews. – Why would they say this? -- Pilate offered to turn Jesus back to
the Jews and not execute him; Pilate was concerned that if he really was the
king of the Jews that the Jews would revolt against the Romans. The Jews told Pilate to keep Jesus and free
another prisoner named Barabbas. So
Jesus in a way was executed by the Jews.
– We can draw this conclusion if the New Testament scriptures are
what we consult for this problem.
However, please be aware that there is a body of literature, most notably
from Flavius Josephus, a Jew who served in the Roman army in the 1st
Century and wrote extensively on his experiences there, as well as a history of
the Jews of the time. His work is
considered reliable, although astute readers will recognize Josephus’ attempts
to discredit marginal religions of the period, of which Christianity was one of
many (Carroll 70). We must be careful
to not be so one-sided in our thinking.
We must keep in perspective that Jesus lived a life that was historical,
not just theological in nature. He was
a real person, and the events of his life are somewhat cloudy, given the
timeframe for the recording of those events some 70 years minimum after his
passing. I would invite any of you to
call me up in 70 years and accurately tell me what we did today…
Arguments over meaning of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
Christians wanted to take Hebrew verses to prove Jesus was the
Messiah
Christians came to be seen as the new “chosen people”
Jews were superceded, rejected by God
Their rejection suggested to some Christians the Jews were in
league with Satan
Stereotypes
Judas, the ultimate betrayer
What was Judas
given to turn Jesus over to the authorities?
-- 30 pieces of silver. And
what is one of the stereotypes or associations about Jews? -- That they are lovers of money. – Or misers.
Jews were also personified as Cain, a murderer and ceaseless
wanderer
70 CE: Jews were crushed
by Romans
Again in 115-17 and 132-35 CE
Jews were driven out of Israel and entered a Diaspora
4th Century CE:
Christianity became legal in Rome, then the official religion
Christian thinking about Jews became codified
Theodosius, 4th C.
Justinian, 7th C
Jews were still to be tolerated by law but as second class
citizens
St. Augustine, 4th C: “the witness people”
Jews should live, in a degraded condition to a) show what
happens to those who reject Christ, and b) witnessing through their Hebrew
prophecies about the coming of Christ
St. John Chrysostum, 4th C: sermons in Antioch that railed harshly against the Jews (“God
hates the Jews…”)
I read an
excerpt from one of Chrysostum’s sermons at this point. See the Medieval Sourcebook, hosted by
Fordham University:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/chrysostom-jews6.html
Pope Gregory, 6th C:
conversion of the Jews preferred; they must be tolerated
Early
Middle Ages (500-1000)
Relationship between Jews and Christians was civil
Charlemagne invited Jews to come in because they were
international merchants
Again, the
association with money or finance.
Visigoths instituted antisemitic legislation
Moors were more lenient, after 711 CE
Charles Martel
defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Tours in France in 732 – this may be the
single most important victory for Christianity in its history. This event always makes me think of what
science fiction guys call “divergent timelines” – the idea that if even one
event never happened, or happened differently, or if a particular person never
lived, all of time would have gone in a different direction. – I think that sounds more like George
Bailey and the angel in “It’s a Wonderful Life”!
High
Middle Ages (1000-1300)
1096: 1st
Crusade to Holy Land began
As the Christians crossed Europe, they carried out violence
against the Jews
Who were the
Crusaders supposed to be against? --
The Muslims. But since the Jews
were also not Christians, the Crusaders put several hundred, more likely
thousands, to the sword and stake on the way to Jerusalem.
1144: Norwich, England
First ritual murder accusation – Jews allegedly killed a child
to use his blood in a ritual to bake matzah
The blood libel
will turn up again and again throughout the next 800 years. What do you know from your chapter in the
Grobman text, “Who Are the Jews?” about the Jews and blood? -- Blood is unclean to the Jews. They have a ritual way to slaughter
livestock and drain the blood out. Meat
is cooked to a well done state where there is no blood left in the meat. Kosher regulations require this.
1179: Third Lateran
Council of church leaders from across Europe reaffirms Jewish second-class
citizenship
What does
“lateran” mean? -- Lateral, like
across. So this was a meeting of
bishops and other church fathers from across Europe.
1215: Fourth Lateran
Council called by Pope Innocent III
Jews must wear a patch (badge), because God marked Cain as a
vagabond
As we said, the
Nazis were many things, but original was not one of them. Like the ghettos show up earlier, like the
British used trains to transport Boers to camps, here we see the use of the
patch to denote that the Jewish are part of “the other”.
1239: Pope Gregory IX
issued a bull condemning the Talmud for alleged anti-Christian references
Talmud burned in Paris a few years later
A bull would be
like an edict – when a king issues a statement like this it’s called an
edict. The pope issues a bull. Why would the Church condemn the
Talmud? What was unique about the
clergy and the Bible in the Middle Ages?
-- The Bible was written in Latin, and only the Church officials
could read Latin. So the Church had the
power to tell the people what the Bible said and what they should believe. – Right. But that was not true in Judaism; in their faith learning is a
great virtue. To study is one of the
highest ways to honor God. – So the
fear was that the Jews could think for themselves and that would compromise the
power of the Church…
Later
Middle Ages (1300-1500)
1347-52: Black Death
killed 25-33% of population of Europe
Jews blamed for poisoning the wells
Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France put entire Jewish
communities to the sword
1391: riots began in
Seville and spread throughout Spain after sermons by a fanatical priest
Unlike in the past, many Jews converted
conversos, or marranos (pigs)
Why would the term
for pigs be particularly offensive to Jews?
-- They don’t eat pork.
Yes, but it goes beyond that.
Can anyone relate the story of the prodigal son from the parable Jesus
told? -- The son asked his father
for his inheritance. The father gave
it, and the son went off to the big city and wasted it on wine, women, and
song. -- Then what happened? -- He was penniless, so he had to get a
job caring for hogs. -- Right – but
he also had to sleep with them and eat what they ate. This would have greatly compromised an important Jewish law. So to refer to the converts as pigs was
quite a slap…
1411: eventually,
Christians turned against the conversos
more anti-Jewish riots and conversions
1480: Spanish
Inquisition began
Went not after the Jews, but the conversos
This is
important – while the Jews were certainly persecuted in their own right, the
Inquisition was primarily after those who might be living a lie. – Claiming Christianity on the outside,
but secretly practicing Jewish rituals…How could someone go before the
Inquisition? -- In some cases the
Inquisition went out to the villages and towns; in others, people were brought
to a central place. The thing about the
Inquisition that was a real challenge for people was that anyone could accuse
you of heresy, and it was not up to them to prove that you were, it was up to
you to prove that you were not. In many
cases, just to have been accused was a sign of guilt.
limpieza de sangra = purity of the blood
Beginnings of racial antisemitism
I’ll say this a
hundred times: the Nazis were many
things, but original was not one of them.
mala sangra = bad blood
Many conversos were burned at the stake
What or who has
this particular death sentence been associated with over the centuries? -- Witches and other heretics. – That’s what Joan of Arc was accused of.
1492: Ferdinand and
Isabella expelled Jews and Muslims after the conquest of Grenada
Jews had been expelled from England (1290), France (1304), and
German lands (but never completely from Germany)
1497: expulsion from
Portugal
More forced conversions
1500: there was no one
living as a practicing Jew in any country bordering the Atlantic
Jewish focus shifted to the East
Turks, some Poles (but not the Catholic Church in Poland)
welcomed the Jews
Jews had been forced out of land-holding, guilds; money-lending
(usury) became main economic activity
Jews were seen as “royal sponges”, because they worked as tax
collectors
Think about a
sponge. What happens when it is squeezed
and released under the water? -- It
fills up. – And what happens when
it is raised out of the water and squeezed?
-- It empties out. Oh, so
that’s what the kings were doing – using the Jews to take tax money or
whatever, and then taxing them to the extent that they sucked all of the money
out of them. Then the Jews were let
back to do their money lending again.
At the
conclusion of this lesson, I put an overhead of a detailed description of the
Chelmnicki massacres of 1648 (Landau 44-5).
To say the least, students left that day with a heavy heart.
I have received
numerous comments through our previous studies of slavery and Indian removal
that they don’t often leave my room not-depressed. My goal is certainly not to beat them down
or discourage them on the virtues of humanity.
But they do leave thinking, and more aware of their pasts and how
important it is to learn from the mistakes of previous generations, and of
others around the world. We often
relate our material to current events, and I firmly believe these young people
are obtaining a new appreciation of history and its lessons. I hope so…
1517: Luther launched
the Protestant Reformation
At first befriended Jews, hoping to convert them
1543: Luther issued a violent
pamphlet against Jews
At this point I
read an excerpt from a diatribe that Luther made against the Jews (ibid.
46-7). The kids were astounded at the
way Luther railed against the Jews. And
again, in Luther’s multi-point plan of action for Jewish persecution, I
reminded the students that the Nazis borrowed from many ideas of the past. Students also made the connection that the
fact that Luther was German made it easier for the Nazis to use his writings
for their propaganda purposes.
1555: spread of ghetto
system in Europe
The “Rome ghetto” under lock and key
Part of Counter-Reformation
By the end of the Middle Ages, the Jew had been reduced to less
than human; and linked to the Devil
The
link between Christian antisemitism and the Holocaust:
Causation for the Holocaust is all here: antisemitism exists where there are no Jews,
in definitions, stereotypes, etc.
Counter-arguments
–
There is a difference between antisemitism and anti-Judaism
There are pro-Jewish passages in the New Testament
The Jews could escape from pre-Holocaust persecution by baptism