HIST 307 Lecture 1: Jewish History Notes (this is all lectures)
HIST307/JWST345
Notes
Intro: The Meaning of the Holocaust
● Try to understand the Holocaust
● How did this happen? Why?
● So many bystanders!
● Holocaust literally means burning totally by fire
● There was a lot of Jewish persecution before this, but this was different. Mass murder is
unique to the Holocaust.
The Tradition of Antisemitism
● The Nazis weren’t the first-ever antisemites!
● But they were really special, so how did they become special? What happened here that
was different than in other antisemitic situations?
● Antisemitism-hating Jews solely because they are Jewish
● Term coined by Wilhelm Merr in 1879 in his book The Victory of Jewry over
Germandom. It said the Jews sought to destroy the aryan race and he called them semites
● There was a very strong anti-Judaism tradition-like against the religion, not necessarily
the people and that started around the late 18th, 19th, or 20th century
● BUT that’s not why the Holocaust happened! Hitler hated Christians also!
ID: Church Doctrine
Who? Church
What? Statement against the Jews
When? 4th-8th century
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Where? Europe
WDIC?
● It said that the Jews have to stay, but basically with Jim Crow laws-keep it separate but
equal. The fact that they bothered to say that means that the Jews and Christians were
interacting.
● This was because Christians believed the Jews killed Jesus and they rejected him as the
son of God
● Church thought that Christians were the New Israel (hence the New Testament)
● Because of the strong influence of the Church laws, the Jews ended up in ghettos,
segregated from the outside world
Back to regular notes
● Jews were rumored to have horrid and non-human qualities (ie horns, a horrid smell,
weird illnesses, etc)
● Christians blamed the Jews for the Black Death (fun fact-this was because the Jews didn’t
get sick as much as the Christians did. Why? They washed before bread!)
● Blood Libel- Jews would allegedly kill a Christian child and use its blood to make
matzah (1st one was a boy named William in England)
● Now we’re onto the 19th and 20th century and anti semitism became racial instead of
religious
● Why? The Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and eventually the Constitution
● Jews were now disgusting because they were a persecuted people
● But highlight-Jews were emancipated! This was HUGE!
Late 19th Century Antisemitism in Europe
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● 1870s-outburst of antisemitism in France and Russia
● No official discrimination, but the hatred made the Jews nervous
● Why did this happen? Because people need someone to blame for their problems and the
Jews were there
● It also helped that the Jews loved modernity and its values so the people who it wasn’t so
great for (small business owners, traditional people, etc) needed to blame it on someone
and the Jews were perfect
● Jews not even considered German volk-like German people. They’re a separate people
entirely.
Political Antisemitism
● People started creating political parties whose major point was to be antisemitic
● Blame the Jews for everything
● At the time, antisemitism was pretty normal
ID: Christian Social Workers Party
Who? Adolf Stoecker-Lutheran minister and court marshall
What? Antisemitic political party
When? Late 19th century
Where? Berlin
WDIC?
● Appealed to lower middle class who felt left out of capitalism but didn’t like socialism
● Issued the Antisemites Petition of 1880
● Declined as Germany grew richer (1895 was last big depression before 1930s)
ID: Pan German Party
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Document Summary
Holocaust literally means burning totally by fire. There was a lot of jewish persecution before this, but this was different. Antisemitism-hating jews solely because they are jewish. Term coined by wilhelm merr in 1879 in his book the victory of jewry over. It said the jews sought to destroy the aryan race and he called them semites. There was a very strong anti-judaism tradition-like against the religion, not necessarily the people and that started around the late 18th, 19th, or 20th century. But that"s not why the holocaust happened! It said that the jews have to stay, but basically with jim crow laws-keep it separate but equal. The fact that they bothered to say that means that the jews and christians were interacting. This was because christians believed the jews killed jesus and they rejected him as the son of god. Church thought that christians were the new israel (hence the new testament)
