Anti-Semitism: The Greatest Cause Of The Holocaust

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There are many factors which lead to the Holocaust, however anti-Semitism was the greatest cause of the conflict. Anti-Semitism is the common name for anti Jewish sentiments. During Hitler was in power, anti-Semitism was used by the Nazis too carry out the Endlosung, which means “final solution to the Jewish Question” (“The Roots of the Holocaust”). However, anti-Semitism was not something that was created by Germany. Through centuries, Jews were a persecuted people. Jews have faced heavy discrimination throughout the Middle Ages, 1800s and mid early 1900s. Middle Ages Anti-Semitism dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, where all over Europe, persecutions
This caused a lot of controversy between the Jews and the Christians (Anti-Semitism). Laws were passed that made it hard for the Jews to partake in elements of public life (Medieval anti-Semitism). “They were forbidden from holding public office; from employing Christian servants; from doing business; from eating or having sex with Christians” (Medieval anti-Semitism). It was also even illegal for Jews to be seen in public during Christian Holy week. Violence against the Jews had begun to decrease by the 1500s, unfortunately though Jews still continued to endure persecution (Medieval anti-Semitism). “Jews still occasionally served as scapegoats, footing the blame for any problem or adversity” (Medieval anti-Semitism). The Jews were accused of many things. They were held accountable of being the ones responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, killing Christian children, causing natural catastrophes and were even accused to being the cause of the Plague that broke out in Europe in 1348 (“The Roots of the
In France, Judaism was recognized as an official religion and in German speaking states Jews were granted economics and legal rights which allowed them to be permitted to do things such as enter legal contracts and buy land and businesses (19th century anti-Semitism). Unfortunately, German anti-Semitism was still active and started to increase during the mid-1800’s regardless of these reforms (19th century anti-Semitism). The reason for the increase in anti-Semitism were because of 2 significant political movements known as Zionism and German unification (19th century anti-Semitism). Zionism was a Jewish nationalist movement that supported the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in Israel. Unfortunately, as Zionism progressed, a false conspiracy theory surfaced that the Jews were engaged in a plot to take over the word (19th century anti-Semitism). German unification was a movement that supported the uniting of East and West Germany. In the 1800s Germany was not one single German nation, instead it was made up of 2 dozen

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