The changing face of Antisemitism: The modern period
- liv_study_2020
- Aug 26, 2020
- 10 min read
Credit to Yad Vashem for the online course. Most of the information is based on my notes and research.
What happened to Antisemitism during the modern period?
As I have covered the Greco-Roman world and the medieval period in my last blog, I would like to cover this issue up to the 19th Century in Europe. New attitudes and perceptions of the Jews developed in this time period.
The early modern period
The protestant Reformation
What role did the Jews and Judaism play for the thinkers of the Reformation?
As the corruption of the church was exposed during the Reformation, it meant more bad news for the Jews. Lets look at Giovanni Boccaccio's classic work, Decameron, which offers us a humerous insight of the corruption of the Church. "A Jew by the name of Abraham is pressured by a Christian friend to visit Rome in the hope that he will be so impressed that he will convert to Christianity. Abraham returns disgusted and reports:" (1)
“I say this for that, if I was able to observe aright, no piety, no devoutness, no good work or example of life or other what did I see there in any who was Churchman: nay lust, covetise, gluttony and the like and worse ... And as far as I judge, meseemeth your chief pastor and consequently all others endeavor with all diligence and all their wit and every art to bring to nought and to banish from the world the [values of the] Christian religion ...” (1)
Martin Luther
Luther was the founder of Protestantism, where he had the backing across Northern Europe from nobles who would like to seize church's wealth.
How does Luther impact the Jews?
Luther was sure that the reason why Jews did not convert to Christianity was that they could not stomach the corruption of the Church. In his earlier works, That Jesus Christ Was A Jew, he describes how the Church's corruption impacted the Jews:
“For they [Church clergy] have dealt with the Jews as if they were dogs and not human beings. They have done nothing for them but curse them and seize their wealth ... I hope that if the Jews are treated friendly and instructed kindly enough through the Bible, many of them will become real Christians and come back to the ancestral faith of the prophets and patriarchs…”(1)
However, the Jews did not go into Protestantism either. They believed that Christianity was a false religion from the start. Luther took this rejection personally and became an Anti-semite. The evidence of this is through his later work, 'The Jews and their lies":
“What shall we do with this damned rejected race of Jews since they live among us and we know about their lying and blasphemy and cursing. We cannot tolerate them even if we do not wish to share their lives, curses and blasphemy. Perhaps we can spare a few of them from the fire and flames. Let me give you my honest advice…”(1)
Luther's 'honest advice' outlined plans for dealing with Jews, including:
1. burn all synagogues
2. destroy Jewish holy books
3. forbid rabbis to teach
4. destroy Jewish homes
5. ban Jews from roads and markets
6. forbid Jews to make loans
7. seize Jewish property
8. force Jews to do hard labor
9. expel Jews from Christian towns (1)
The impact of Luther's work was used during the period of the Nazi's, where they and Hitler used Martin Luther's anti-Jewish writings in anti-Jewish propaganda.
The enlightenment
What were the ideals and goals of this movement and how did they relate to the way its leading thinkers perceived Jews and Judaism?
The Enlightenment started in France, where the idea of reason- conform to only one reason- was originally used there. They were against any idea of religion, God and regarded the Jews as the most 'obstinate' and their 'greatest enemy'; words carrying all prejudices against Judaism.
Between Western and Eastern Europe
How were the Jews treated and perceived in the area in which they were mainly concentrated at the time- Eastern Europe?
During the early 16th to 18th centuries, the Jews of Eastern Europe were mainly concentrated in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Jews were granted protection and autonomy in these areas. This was in exchange for their services: the Jews were a major urban element, filling an important economic role assigned to them by the ruling classes. 'It is important to note that no major new ideas or ideologies were generated in this region' (2). The perceptions about the Jews that were created in Western Europe were imported to this region, which led to a further development of those ideas in the less developed regions of Europe.
Overall, there is a 'paradoxical situation'(2). On the one hand, there was unconnected anti-Jewish theories and ideologies to the East European realities. But, on the other hand, we have 'grassroots antisemitic feelings', anti-Jewish feelings, especially experienced among the burghers and the serfs. These groups saw the Jews as 'Massive threats'. In some areas, the Jews were leaseholders and tavern-keepers and they had a great deal of power over the serfs, which provoked deep antagonism towards the Jews and deep hatred towards these Jewish leaseholders. This eventually caused an outburst of violent pogroms against the Jews as part of the Bohdan Khmelnytsky uprising.
The return of Jews to Western Europe
How did this process influence the rise and formulation of modern forms of Antisemitism?
There was a development of hostile attitudes when the Jews returned to the West. Many were becoming the same position in society with the same ideals, such at military, politician etc. This suggests that many feared the Jews in power, creating the idea of world domination in the later years.
Emancipation: New possibilities and new perils
How did a European society, which was used to seeing the Jews as socially inferior and visibly different, handle their assimilation into civilian life?
The change of the Jews position in society led to negative outcomes of the Jews. Many views that it was dangerous in other ways than they were before: trying to mingle in society, creating new fears which was especially shown through Treitschke.
Treitschke embraced his hostility toward the Jews, where he criticised Jews for refusing to assimilate into German culture and society.
The Industrial Revolution and Urbanism
How did the sense of disillusionment and discontent that festered among large segments of the European population in this time period affect the development of antisemitism?
This period was seen as the major influence on the evolution of modern Antisemitism. The cities were the centre of nationalist movements and cosmopolitans and the Jews were the centre of action; the backbone of the modern/middle-class. Many saw Jews as the foreigner, however, and not part of our ethnical identity; feared that Jews would ruin our values by Jewish ideas etc.
Perceptions of Jewish success in the urban environment
How did the Jewish success in these environments influence the development of negative attitudes towards the Jews?
In England, between 140,000-15,000 Jews settled here. The combination of immigration and urban growth led many people to ask the question: in what ways are Jews different and in what ways are they similar?. This fed into some of the opposition to Jewish immigration.(3)
Urban conditions was perceived as unnatural, the overwork, the overcrowded conditions, the insanitary conditions were all seen to lead to degeneration. Williams Evans-Gordan assumed that in degenerating conditions, only a degenerate social type would thrive and persist. This assumption was made as he stated that the Jews 'were thriving in urban conditions in London'(3) and answered the question many were asking.
Racism and racial Anti-semitism
How were the Jews perceived by racial antisemites? How is this perception different from the way they were perceived in the traditional form of antisemitism discussed when dealing with the Middle Ages?
A new form of antisemitism rose in the second half of the 19th century, which is known as racial antisemitism. This antisemitic form will be proved to be lethal as this was used as groundwork for Nazi ideologies. The influence of certain scientific advances in the study of linguistics and philology, such as cultures and languages, has developed into some forms of racist ideas. For example, the study of languages was seen as the reflection for the superiority of development; there are supposedly higher and lower cultures.
There was a new field, known as Social Darwinism, that was developed by Herbert Spencer. He argued that among the societies there were superior beings and lesser beings, and the superior beings had the right to rule and they achieved that right through a struggle and a survival of the fittest in a struggle in real time among people in societies.(4)
In the late 19th century, leading thinkers across Europe began to approach race and the struggle between races as something mystic. Racist and Antisemitic writings were flourishing. An example for this way of thinking was the British-German philosopher Houston Stewart Chamberlain. He wrote extensively about how the so called Jewish race was foreign to the superior nature of the North European Aryans, and how dangerous it was.(4) Racial antisemitism saw the Jews as a 'destructive race that sabotaged the achievements of the Aryans in Europe' (4). Antisemitism was now directed against the Jew that did everything to become part of the society in which they lived.
Germans, Jews and Antisemites
How were the Jews perceived and treated in 19th Century Germany?
We are now going to focus on specific areas: Germany, France and the Russian Empire. In Germany, Wilhelm Marr was the man who popularised the term Antisemitism. A confederation of 39 states emerged in Germany, following the Congress of Vienna in 1814 and 1815. In 1871, the majority of these states were unified to form the German nation-state, known as the German Empire. These changes led to discussions, particularly the term ‘a German question’. That is, What is Germany? What would it be? And how would Germans make themselves into one single country in parallel to France and England in this respect? Since then, the Jews played the role of the inside enemy and were the anti-unification element. (5)
The integration of Jews into french society
From the French Revolution to Dreyfus Affair (1894)
How could the Dreyfus Affair take place in a country created on the French Revolution's ideals of civil equality for all?
The Dreyfus Affair was considered one of the most infamous episodes of Antisemitism in the modern period. It follows a Jewish French captain, Alfred Dreyfus, who was falsely accused of Treason. Although his title demonstrates how well integrated French Jews were in France, Dreyfus was accused of selling military secrets to the Germans, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in exile. When evidence started to unfold to prove Dreyfus's innocence or guilt, this was printed in newspapers and France were split into two opposing groups. Antisemitic speech was swept through France and surprised many who thought the successful integration of Jews into French society had put an end to this old hatred. At the same time, many had argued for Dreyfus’ innocence. For example, Emile Zola, a french novelist and playwright, blamed French society for being Antisemitic. In 1906, Dreyfus was released and joined the Army. This event demonstrates that Jews were not safe, even as emancipated equal citizens.
To understand why this event took place in a country created on the French revolution's ideals of civil equality for all, we must understand the rupture of the French Revolution. This revolution led to the birth of the counter-revolution in the Modern Period. And 'the counter-revolution was so strong, and the fact that the Revolution emancipated Jews led the counter-revolution to see the Jews as the main target'. (6) We witness the birth of thinkers who are really aiming to relate modernity, Enlightenment, to Jewishness and to destroy Enlightenment implies to destroy Jewishness. From the French Revolution, this 'counter-revolution intellectual movement' led to many antisemitic crises. (6)
A question for you to consider is: Why do you think the Dreyfus Affair played such a significant role in the development of Modern Antisemitism?
Russia
Between restrictions, reforms and pogroms
How were the Jews treated and perceived in the Roman Empire by both ruling class and masses?
A question to ask ourselves before we begin is 'What is a Pogrom?'
It is an organised, often officially encouraged massacre or persecution of a minority group, especially one conducted against Jews.
The Russian Empire gradually included the largest Jewish population in the world. This led to anti-Jewish policies emerging in Russia in the late 18th century and Jewish permanent residency was limited from this. The Russian government decided to allow Jews to reside in the empire but limited them to the regions where they had lived following the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.(7) The Pale of the Settlement was the area where Jews were permitted to live. This existed from 1791 until 1917, the Russian Revolution. During these years, this legislation prohibited Jews from participating in local self-administration, from taking Government posts and for Jews to settle in rural areas. The Assassination of Alexander II did not help matters as it was followed by a wave of pogroms and it was worse for the Jews as they were blamed for the Pogroms: “Well, they exploit the rural population, the rural Christian population. Of course this is the natural reaction.”(7)
Antisemitic expressions in the early 20th century
What can the Beilis Affair teach us about antisemitism in late Imperial Russia on both the government and Grassroots level?
The pogroms between 1881-82 was one of the first Anti-Jewish attacks in the Russian Empire. This led to Jews joining the Zionist movement and fled for Palestine (the Land of Israel), while approximately two million, ended up immigrating to the United States. Jews were perceived as a foreign and destabilizing force accused by counter-revolutionary forces as wanting to bring down the Russian Empire.(8) This led to antisemitic texts, such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (more information about this will be on my instagram account).
One of the major Antisemitic events that occurred between 1911-1913 was the blood libel Beilis Affair. This happened due to the accusations of a Kievan Jew, Mendel Beilis, for slaughtering a Christian child and he was put on trial. This was one of the most notorious cases in pre-Holocaust Europe and Russian society broke up into two: you have the right-wing press that argues Jews engage in this ritual (murder for Christian blood) and then you have the public voice of Russian writers, which are more liberal, who speak out against this accusation (8).
Overall, this trial led to legitimize the idea that Jews carry out the blood libel, that they carry out ritual murder for the purposes of abusing Christian blood (8). Many assumed that all the Jews were responsible, leading to discontent in Russia.
In conclusion, we can see that antisemitism continued in the modern era and many new ideologies took place in Germany and Russia. It perceived the very notion of progress.
I hope this blog was informative. The reason why I wrote this blog was due to learning lessons through time. We need to learn that what we say can affect those around us or the future of ideologies, such as Martin Luther's antisemitic ideologies. We are all equal, and violence should always be the last option.
Websites/articles I used and recommend for further research:
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