Anti Semitism In The Holocaust

Words: 1455
Pages: 6

The uncertain cause of the Holocaust has created a vast amount of controversy throughout the years. It is either stated that the genocide occurred because of the anti-semitism in Europe, or, that Hitler created the whole thing himself. Although the Nazis carried out the actual policies that later developed into the Holocaust, the already existing negative attitude towards the Jewish people in Europe is what actually allowed it to occur.
The middle ages is where a large amount of anti-semitism came to be. After European economic life began to thrive in the early twelfth century, Jews were not admitted into cities (Heinemann). During this time, the term “to judaize” was created. This “meant both to be a heretic and to lend money on interest”
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Anti-semitism had been fueled by “Christian theology and, more important, by popular catechisms” (Heinemann). Modern anti-semitism in France started to occur “around the time of the French Revolution (1789) and the “Jewish question” also arose” in discussion of equal rights being shared among all men regardless of religion or origin. The French National Assembly made the argument that these rights should be denied to the Jews because they were simply a nation and not just a religious group …show more content…
Hitler wasn’t the only leader to dislike the Jewish people. Mussolini’s writes “as regards Poland I have complete understanding for the German position” and further elaborated that this strong military position will need to stay (Mussolini). Hitler and the Nazis did not create these ideas and randomly choose a race to pin as a scapegoat. Hitler was smart in that he chose a group of people that have a past of being blamed and hated to utilize as an excuse for the lost war. He came to power because Germany’s government was lost without a leader - someone to tell them what is right from wrong. The hate towards the Jewish people were already in the minds of most of the European race, so Hitler took advantage of that and just slightly nudged the German people to consider if there was a negative Jewish