Jewish Timeline and the Roots of Anti-Semitism

1. Jewish Timeline and the Roots of Anti-Semitism CWR 12

2. The Crusades 1096-1291CE • After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Christian Church took over as political and religious leader of most of Europe. • As the Church grew in size, it also needed more money; the Crusades began as a way to get more money (by gaining more land) and curb Islamic growth in Europe. • Muslims were the main target of the Crusades, but over 30% of all Jews living in Europe during the Crusades were slaughtered. (About 10, 000) • During this time, the Church gained control of Jerusalem

3. Middle Ages: Replacement Theology • During this time the real foundation of Anti-Semitism was laid. • Middle Age Christians held the belief that the Jews had “failed their mission” given by God to spread His Word. Some believed that Jesus had been sent to “straighten things out” and that the Christians were the new Chosen People. • They blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus, because even though the Romans had killed him, the Jews wanted him to die.

4. Middle Age Church Officials • From John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople, we get this: • Jews are the most worthless of men ― they are lecherous, greedy, rapacious ― they are perfidious murderers of Christians, they worship the devil, their religion is a sickness... The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ and for killing god there is no expiation, no indulgence, no pardon. Christians may never cease vengeance. The Jews must live in servitude forever. It is incumbent on all Christians to hate the Jews.

5. Middle Ages: Money Lenders • Jews were excluded from owning land, holding office, becoming a doctor, lawyer, goldsmith or silversmith. • Forced to wear a badge or hat to distinguish themselves as Jews • Forced to become money-lenders as Christians were not permitted to lend money to one another. • This put the Jews in a dangerous position. Often they were accused of falsely accused of crimes by a Nobleman or Church official who wished to renege on a loan. The Jew would often be put to death or have his property confiscated by the accuser.

6. Middle Ages: Blood Libel • In 1144, the first accusation of Blood Libel occurred. A group of Jews were accused of kidnapping a Christian baby and draining it of its blood. They were said to have drank the blood. This accusation became popular and swept through Europe. • Jews were said to need to drink blood for the following reasons: • Jews suffered from hemorrhoids as a punishment for killing Jesus and drinking blood was the best cure for hemorrhoids at the time. • All Jewish men menstruate and need a monthly blood transfusion. • Jewish men, when they're circumcised, lose so much blood because of that surgical procedure that they need to drink Christian babies' blood. • Blood is the chief ingredient in matzah (unleavened bread), and therefore prior to every Passover Jews would be requiring a large supply.

7. The Spanish Inquisition-1478 • Before the Inquisition, Spanish Jews and Muslims were discriminated against and forced to convert to Christianity. • "Those of them who refused to accept baptism were immediately slain, and their corpses, stretched in the streets and the squares, offered a horrendous spectacle." B. Netanyahu, The Origins of the Inquisition • The sole purpose of the Inquisition was to investigate these converts to see if they were “sincere” in their conversion. • They were tortured until they admitted their “crime”, and then put to death. • The Inquisition lasted for about 400 years.

8. Spanish Expulsion-1492 • In July of 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella sent Christopher Columbus on a mission to discover America. They also expelled 200, 000 Jews from Spain. • Tens of thousands of refugees died while trying to reach safety. In some instances, Spanish ship captains charged Jewish passengers exorbitant sums, then dumped them overboard in the middle of the ocean. In the last days before the expulsion, rumours spread throughout Spain that the fleeing refugees had swallowed gold and diamonds, and many Jews were knifed to death by brigands hoping to find treasures in their stomachs.

9. Chmielnicki Massacre • In 1648-1649, Ukrainians rebelled against Poland and succeeded in gaining back control of a huge portion of Ukraine from Poland. • During this time, the Jews experience Pogroms; they are violent mob attacks usually condoned by forces of law • 100,000 Jews were tortured and murdered in cruel ways that rivalled the worst torture inflicted during the Holocaust.

10. Jews in Russia: 1791-1903 • Jewish emancipation had begun in Western Europe in 1791, but it did not extend to Eastern Europe • That same year Jews were herded into settlements on the borders of Russia, called Pale • In Russia, pogroms – violent mob attacks against Jews - became a regular occurrence • All Jewish boys between the ages of 12-25 were conscripted to the Russian military for a term of 25 years. Conditions were so bad that most did not survive. The few that did often lost touch with their Jewish Heritage.

11. World War I: 1914-1917 • Russia became the Soviet Union as a result of World War I. • Poland was re-created. • The Entire Middle East was split into two great areas. One area was controlled by France and the other was controlled by the British. This resulted from the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The British named their area Palestine. This was a name which had been originally coined for the region by the Romans after the destruction of Jerusalem.

12. Nuremburg Laws: 1935 • Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933. In 1935, he instituted the Nuremburg Laws. • "Marriages between Jews and subjects of German or kindred blood are forbidden." • "Extramarital relationships between Jews and subjects of German or kindred blood are forbidden." • "A Reich citizen can only be a state member who is a German of German blood and who shows through his conduct and is both desirous and fit to serve in the faith of the German people and Reich. The Reich citizen is the only holder of political rights." • "A Jew cannot be a citizen of the Reich. He can not exercise the right to vote. He cannot occupy public office." • "Jews are forbidden to display the Reich's national flag or to show the national colors."

13. Kristallnacht: 1938 • On November 9, 1938, “the night of broken glass”, 191 synagogues were destroyed and 91 Jews were killed. • This was the first outbreak of violence against Jews in Germany. • At this time many Jews tried to flee Germany but many places refused them. When Canada was asked, the response from the Foreign Minister was “None is too many.” In the end, we accepted only 5000. This was, by far, the fewest of any nation.

14. The Final Solution • World War II had begun in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. • By the time the Final Solution was begun in 1942, 1.5 million Jews had already been executed by Einsatzgruppen killing squads. This was not an efficient way of killing people though. • The Final Solution was the Death Camps. Of the 24 concentration camps, 6 were death camps. • Auschwitz ― 1,500,000 murdered (12,000 a day) • Chelmno ― 320,000 murdered • Treblinka ― 870,000 murdered • Sobibor ― 250,000 murdered • Maidenek ― 360,000 murdered • Belzec ― 600,000 murdered • Ultimately, 6 million Jews were murdered. They were the largest group of people targeted. They comprised 30% of the estimated 18 million that were mass murdered. Other groups included Romanies (Gypsies), gentile Poles, Slavic people, Soviet POWs, the mentally ill, deaf, mentally and physically disabled.

15. Impact of the Holocaust • After World War II, many Jews immigrated into Palestine. • The British no longer wanted to maintain control of the region as it was becoming more difficult and their resources had been stretched during the war. • The United Nations decided to end the British Mandate and divide the land among the Arabs and the Jews.

16. The proposal called for the Jews to get: a narrow strip of land along the Mediterranean coast, including Tel Aviv and Haifa a piece of land surrounding the Kineret (Sea of Galilee), including the Golan Heights a large piece in the south, which was the uninhabitable Negev Desert The Arabs were to get: the Gaza Strip a chunk of the north, including the city of Tzfat (Safed) and western Galilee the entire central mountain region of Judea and Samaria (today known as the West Bank) to the River. Jerusalem was to be under international control. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted for this partition plan . Of those voting, 33 nations voted yes, including USA and USSR; 13 mostly-Arab nations voted no; 11 nations abstained.

17. Nation of Israel • On May 15, 1948 the flag of Israel was raised. • For the first time in 2000 years, Israel was under Jewish control again. • Almost immediately five Arab countries declared war and Egypt bombed Tel Aviv.

18. War of Independence -1948 • The War of Independence last 13 months. • In the end, the borders changed:

19. Six Day War • The war began on June 5 with Israel launching surprise bombing raids against Egyptian air-fields after a period of high tension that included an Israeli raid into the Jordanian-controlled West Bank. • Within six days, Israel had won a decisive land war. Israeli forces had taken control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

21. 1974-2000 • Egypt • Following the Camp David Accords of the late 1970s, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in March, 1979. Under its terms, the Sinai Peninsula returned to Egyptian hands, and the Gaza Strip remained under Israeli control, to be included in a future Palestinian state. • Jordan • In October 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement, which stipulated mutual cooperation, an end of hostilities, and a resolution of other issues.