school work – Holocaust Studies

Evaluate the following:  Jews in the Middle Ages were persecuted because they refused to acknowledge the Christian faith.  

There are terms that describe the phenomena that was the culmination of years of Jews dressing differently, speaking in a different tongue, and refusing to interact with others in theatre, or in Christian worship services. They were subjected to Judenhass (Jew Hate) even for their progression in medicine and mostly for their refusal to believe in Graeco-Roman Gods and Goddesses, for which they were labeled atheists. The Jews of Palestine believed that Jesus was the Son of God and had been raised from the dead. There was high tolerance at that time for their belief, however it soon became important to ask, “Who was a Jew?” and “Who might betray us into Gentile hands?” A Jew of Tarsus, named Saul/Paul reports violent reactions to his viewpoint that Jesus was the Christ and the Messiah. The book called Acts of the Apostles shows that the Gentles repeatedly punished him for inciting the Jews to rebel in all the cities he visited, receiving 39 lashes. The controversy was in the claim that Gentiles could be on par with Jews without reading the Torah or getting circumcised. Paul creates difference between the Christian believing Jews and the Jews that were Jews but had not received the circumcision of the heart. The only true justness was in accepting Christ as their savior and the Messiah. Soon, uncircumcised Gentiles and even Samaritans were capable of professing Israel’s faith. Many did not read the scriptures and many Jews were considered unsure in their faith. These all happened during biblical times and are noted in the scriptures and led Jesus believing Jews to have horror in people considered to be Jews who did not know the scripture.

Christian Anti-Jewishness “Melato of Sardis” (wrote Landmark Theological Anti-Jewish Writings,

O Israel, why have you committed this unheard-of crime? You have dishonored him who honored you… you have put to death him who gave You life. Was it not for you that it was written: “You shall not shed innocent blood, lest you die a wretched death.

“He had to suffer”
but not at your hands.
“He had to be hanged [crucified]” but not by you!

You gave a drink of gall to a noble mouth that had fed you with life and you put your Savior to death during the great feast! (Passover)

That spirit of song was considered a hatred for Israel for having persecuted Jesus.

A Christian called Marxiom concluded that the wrathful God of the Old Testament could not be the same as the loving God of the New Testament, so he blamed the followers of the Torah and held God blameless.

Origen of Alexandria, although had read the Torah, blamed Jews for believing it literally and for having a carnal knowledge of the sacred writings. He blamed the Jews directly for their lack of belief in Jesus as the Christ.

In Medieval times the Jews could not stay in any country without paying large amounts of taxes and were not subject to conversion as they were ghettoized and soon were subject to expulsion for professing to be Christian while practicing Judaism privately. In the Middle Ages they were favored by the Poles and allowed them to escape Germany where they were not accepted and favored for their abilities in commerce.

Martin Luther had a campaign called, “Jesus was a Jew” where he imagined Jews would flock to convert – but when they did not, he fought back against them hard. Luther’s lies spread that Jews slaughtered Christian Children and used their blood in Passover dinners.

Poland was a great country for a long time for Jews where they managed their own economy and became scholars. Ukraine battled against them for three years and slaughtered anyone of importance that was a Jew simply for their success in learning and finance. After 1881 Jews fled to Germany where Germany had more Jews than any other country suddenly. It also had a dark perspective of the Jews as all Christian Europe did. 

Hitler’s propaganda scheme blamed the Jews for all of the country’s problems and included all of the accusations written previously in this paper to convince the country that the Jews must be stopped, and as they were hated throughout Europe the propaganda went well. Once the previous supporters of Hitler learned that the Jews were being transported to labor camps, it was too late to withdraw support – they believed they were being freed from communism and Jewish domination alike. That they agreed with, but it was too late to withdraw support in a police state. The anti- Jewish passages from the New Testament did not directly send them to the gas line, but rather create a permanent scape-goat position that built and built through gradual and direct control of the Jews, spreading dislike about the Jews, and outright lies. Treating the Jews as second-class citizens for not supporting popular churches and therefore what they said in those popular churches led the people to think even labor camps were acceptable and the Jews weren’t worth rebelling against the state to free them as they were generally disliked.

Published by: Elaine M


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