Part
1
I.2000
years of religious antisemitism?
A.
Diaspora under Roman rule: after 3 major revolts, Rome destroys Judea,
Jews fan out
1.
Yet some emperors were pro-Jewish
B.
Crusades: Jews must convert or be massacred: in 1099 Jews in Jerusalem
burned alive
C.
Black Death (1347-1350): 1 out of 3 Europeans die; Jews blamed and slaughtered
1.
Not in Islamic Europe; only where image of “Christ killer” makes into a
target
D.
Spanish Inquisition: tries root out false Christian converts--many Jews
flee to Poland
E.
Pogroms in Russia/Poland begin Easter 1881;murder of Jews causes exodus
1880-1920
F.
Reformation & religious pluralism: reduce anti-Semitism in W. Europe,
not E. Europe
II.The
Holocaust
A.Turning
point for Jews of Europe--Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany on 1/30/33:
Would
lead to death of 6 million Jews, managed/sanctioned by modern technocratic
state.
B.Nuremberg
Laws 1935: sex/marriage between Jews and non-Jewish Germans banned.
C.
“Final Solution”: Nazi bureaucratic code for elimination of 2000 years
of civilization
1.
2/3 of the world’s Jews live in Europe in 1939.
2.Death
camps: use of Zyklon B gas and crematoria in Auschwitz.
3.
Over 75% Jews killed in Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece, Poland vs. 1% Denmark
III.Is
Christianity the Cause?
A.
Christianity initially seen as competing Jewish sect;must distinguish from
parent religion
1.
Competition: many converts to Christianity in turn converted to Judaism
2.
Mutual antagonism/intolerance results, much as in family feuds and civil
wars
B.
Christianity becomes official state religion under emperor Constantine:
1.
Sets in motion 16 centuries of persecution
a.
Pope Eugenius IV bans bathing, eating, living with Jews; special clothing
b.Pope
Paul (1555) reinstates special clothing for Jews;uses as slave labor
c.Martin
Luther, Of Jews and Their Lives (1543): antisemitic tract
C.
Hitler refers to messianic mission in Mein Kampf
D.
Jews do better in pagan times, in Roman empire, and in Moslem world
E.Yet(1)
Jesus, apostles are Jews;Jews write 3 Gospels;(2)antisemitism decrease
in West
IV.Real
Cause: Secular Eugenics Movement with Colonial Ideology of Racial Superiority
A.
“Race” is central doctrine in Mein Kampf--Jews seen more as a race
than a religion
1.Aryans
must prove themselves by conquering living space to the East
2.Jews
seen as part of international Jewish conspiracy
B.Not
only Jews targeted: partial exterminate Slavs (3,000,000 non-Jewish Poles,
3.3
million
Russian prisoners of war); 250,000 Gypsies killed; gays; socialists; mentally
ill.