Why did Hitler hate the jews
Why did Hitler hate the Jews?
Adolf Hitler, ruler of Germany from 1933-1945, and his Nazi Party murdered more than half of Europe’s 11 million Jews in the Holocaust. The vast majority of these murders took place in just 4 years from 1941 to 1945. Hitler was able to do this because of his feelings of hatred towards the Jews (known as anti-Semitism) were shared by many other Germans and people in Europe. Anti-Semitism was not invented by Hitler or the Germans. It existed everywhere in Europe and had been around for hundreds of years.
MEDIEVAL ANTI-SEMITISM
The origins of anti-Semitism go back to the early Christian period. Early Christians hated the Jews because they mistakenly blamed them for killing Jesus Christ. In the twelfth century, Christian hatred was made worse by what is called the ‘blood libel’. This is the untrue story that Jews sacrificed Christian children as part of their religious beliefs. Jews across all of Europe were sometimes murdered when Christian children disappeared or were found dead.
There are further examples of anti-Semitism in the middle Ages. Jews were sometimes forced to wear a yellow badge and were forced to live in separate parts of town and cities called ghettos. Eventually, the rulers of England, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain ordered all Jews to leave their countries. Many moved to Poland and Russia but persecution here led millions to move to the USA at the end of the nineteenth century.
MODERN ANTI-SEMITISM
By the early years of the twentieth century, ant-Semitism had become a race issue as well as a religious one. Anti-Semites (people who hate and persecute Jews) now argued that Jews came from a lower race. This was a serious issue for the Jews. While in Medieval times, Jews who converted to Christianity and gave up Judaism were welcomed by Christians, to modern anti-Semites, converting to Christianity made no difference. Hitler shared this view and the Nazis treated Christian Jews with the same hatred as other
Adolf Hitler, ruler of Germany from 1933-1945, and his Nazi Party murdered more than half of Europe’s 11 million Jews in the Holocaust. The vast majority of these murders took place in just 4 years from 1941 to 1945. Hitler was able to do this because of his feelings of hatred towards the Jews (known as anti-Semitism) were shared by many other Germans and people in Europe. Anti-Semitism was not invented by Hitler or the Germans. It existed everywhere in Europe and had been around for hundreds of years.
MEDIEVAL ANTI-SEMITISM
The origins of anti-Semitism go back to the early Christian period. Early Christians hated the Jews because they mistakenly blamed them for killing Jesus Christ. In the twelfth century, Christian hatred was made worse by what is called the ‘blood libel’. This is the untrue story that Jews sacrificed Christian children as part of their religious beliefs. Jews across all of Europe were sometimes murdered when Christian children disappeared or were found dead.
There are further examples of anti-Semitism in the middle Ages. Jews were sometimes forced to wear a yellow badge and were forced to live in separate parts of town and cities called ghettos. Eventually, the rulers of England, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain ordered all Jews to leave their countries. Many moved to Poland and Russia but persecution here led millions to move to the USA at the end of the nineteenth century.
MODERN ANTI-SEMITISM
By the early years of the twentieth century, ant-Semitism had become a race issue as well as a religious one. Anti-Semites (people who hate and persecute Jews) now argued that Jews came from a lower race. This was a serious issue for the Jews. While in Medieval times, Jews who converted to Christianity and gave up Judaism were welcomed by Christians, to modern anti-Semites, converting to Christianity made no difference. Hitler shared this view and the Nazis treated Christian Jews with the same hatred as other