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Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 18th century Europe Resistance to Jewish Emancipation and Assimilation (1700’s) Cultural and economic changes after the Middle Ages were opening a door for Jewish ‘emancipation’ and their assimilation into society. Kings and ruling classes would experiment with ‘their Jews’ by granting them certain rights and privileges to facilitate their integration into society. However, the people generally rejected Jewish assimilation and kept them at a distance. Seventeen centuries of hatred and contempt could not be overcome. 18th century Europe The Era of Enlightenment reasons against the Jews (1700’s) The Enlightenment began in France and spread across western and central Europe. It produced a dominant philosophy that human reason, rational thought and intellectualism could reform society and serve as the ethical code for living. Leading philosophers postulated their explanations of history, the causes for society’s woes and sought solutions to national problems. Many often attacked the Jews’ religious beliefs, their separatism from society and used them as a scapegoat for national problems. The social and political philosophies of this era took hold in Europe and laid the foundation for racial and secular anti-Semitism which would dominate the 19th and 20th centuries. 18th century Europe Anti-Semitism of the Enlightenment Era (1700’s) Voltaire: One of the leading philosophers of the era. His greatest work, Dictionnaire Philosophique, was greatly influential on the Enlightenment movement. It contained 118 articles in which he attacks the Jews in over thirty of them. 1 Flannery says, “This prince of skeptics, sworn enemy of the Church, held Jews and Judaism in utter contempt.” 2 The scholar Arthur Hertzberg describes Voltaire as one, “who has no patience with inferior people such as Jews...” 3 Hertzberg cites Voltaire’s essay, Il faut prende une partie (One Must Take Sides), where Voltaire ridicules religion and says to the Jews: “You have surpassed all nations in impertinent fables, in bad conduct, and in barbarism. You deserve to be punished, for this is your destiny.” 4 Denis Diderot: Diderot was co-editor and publisher of Encyclopedie (1751-72), a compilation of writings from leading Enlightenment philosophers which was sold throughout Europe. Hertzberg describes Diderot’s perspective on the Jews as, “understood to be teaching that the Jew was hopelessly and irretrievably alien.” 5 Other philosophers: Flannery describes other philosopher’s perspectives on the Jews during the Enlightenment: “...to D'Holbach, they were the vilest people on earth; to Rousseau, furious fanatics.” While it is fair to say that not all the Enlightenment thinkers were anti-Semites, it is accurate to conclude as Flannery notes: “It was not until the rise of rationalist thought in the seventeenth century, however, that non-religious antisemitism emerged in force.” 6 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 1 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 1737 Lisbon, Portugal Auto-da-fe: Inquisition against the Jews A recurrence of Jewish persecution occurred against the marranos in 1721. The climax of which was the auto-da-fe of 1737 in Lisbon where 12 Jews were burned at the stake. 19th century Europe Emergence of Racial Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era (1800’s) The advent of the Modern Era was causing massive changes in Europe. Economic reform had led to the establishment of labor movements and unions. Socialist ideology emerged to promote the welfare of the people. Religion’s grip on society had declined because of the scientific revolution and Enlightenment philosophies. With these changes, and the Jewish people’s slow assimilation into society, anti-Semitism became racial and secular. The age-old hatred of the Jews based on religious differences gave way to hating them simply because they were Jewish. 19th century Europe Racial Anti-Semitism: 4 New Jewish Stereotypes (1800’s) The anti-Jewish philosophies of the Enlightenment era, combined with the rapidly growing trend of racial anti-Semitism in the Modern Era, produced four new stereotypes of the Jews 7 : Jewish Disloyalty to Nationalism: “Nationalistic feelings had emerged from the previous century’s Enlightenment. People with a common culture, language, history, race and value system bonded together into political, economic and social entities.” 8 However, Jewish people were considered separate from national society and were not trusted as ‘loyal citizens’ to the nation. Jewish Control of Commerce: Jewish people had historically occupied a place in money lending. As more non-Jewish people entered the financial industry, they resented the position and prosperity of the Jew. As modern industrialism grew and created new industries and professions, and Jewish people entered them as they sought assimilation into society, the Jewish people were resented and accused of trying to control national and international commerce. 9 Jewish Control of Media: New technologies caused a booming birth of the media industry. As Jewish people entered this arena they were generally regarded as seeking to control national and popular interests for their own motives. Jewish Dominion through Socialism: As new industrialism surged, causing economic and social reform, the ideas of communism and socialism emerged. A few Jewish leaders became significant in this movement, particularly Karl Marx. Flannery notes that, “antisemites were well prepared to label his movement ‘Jewish Marxism’ or ‘Jewish radicalism’ despite the fact that Marx's inspirers and followers were all gentiles.” 10 Jewish involvement in social reform was regarded as the Jew’s attempt to control society. These stereotypes were reinforced by, and reinforced, the long history of Jew-hatred. In the next century, Hitler’s Nazi party in Germany would exploit these stereotypes as it rose to political dominance. Hitler and the Nazi party would use Christian and secular anti-Semitic writings to justify their extermination of 6 million Jewish people in the Holocaust of World War II. This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 2 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 19th century Europe More Racial Anti-Semitism: “Social Darwinsim”, Aryan Superiority and Jewish inferiority “Social Darwinism” is the theory that persons, groups, and races are subject to the same laws of natural selection as Charles Darwin had perceived in plants and animals in nature. The weak were diminished and their cultures delimited, while the strong grew in power and in cultural influence over the weak. 11 In the wake of Europe’s racial anti-Semitism, this racial ideology erupted which “proved” Aryan superiority over the Jewish people. Wilhelm Marr: A German political activist, Marr wrote The Victory of Judaism over Germanism, Viewed from a Nonreligious Point of View (1879). Marr’s thesis was that Germany’s liberal policies towards the Jews allowed them to infiltrate and conquer Germany’s society and economy. His essay fervently asserts and expounds upon the emergent Jewish stereotypes. 12 He accuses the Jewish people of manipulating and subduing German society with the goal of, “disintegration of the Germanic state for the benefit of Jewish interests...” 13 Joseph Arthur de Gobineau: A French aristocrat, novelist and philosopher, Gobineau is most notable for asserting the theory of Aryan superiority over the Jewish people. (“Aryan” was a term used to describe a part of the migrating masses of caucasians from the Middle East and Asia who populated Europe) Gobineau postulated his theory in his famous essay, The Inequality of the Human Races (1853-1855). Accordingly, “Members of this so-called Aryan race spoke Indo-European languages, were credited with all the progress that benefited humanity, and were purported to be superior to Semites, yellows and blacks. Believers in Aryanism came to regard the Nordic and Germanic peoples as the purest members of the “race.” This notion, which had been repudiated by anthropologists by the second quarter of the 20th century, was seized upon by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and was made the basis of the German government policy of exterminating Jews, Roma (Gypsies), and other ‘non-Aryans.’” 14 1840 Damascus, Syria Blood Libel of Damascus A well known franciscan monk in Damascus, who was last seen in the Jewish quarter, disappeared without a trace. The French consulate, at the bidding of other monks and the assistance of the Egyptian Arabian governor of Damascus, accused the Jews of Blood Libel and ritual murder. A false confession was extorted from a Jewish barber and eight of the most notable Jews in the community were imprisoned and tortured. The consulate published and disseminated libels in French and Arabic as the Arabic governor sought the execution of the accused Jews. The populace pillaged the local synagogue and destroyed all Jewish scrolls. International Jewish support brought justice for the accused, and they were exonerated of all charges. 15 However, the international Jewish solidarity which arose from the incident “proved” to anti-Semites that the Jews were loyal only to themselves and not to the countries in which they resided. This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 3 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 19th century Germany, Austria Racial Anti-Semitism enters the Political Arena (1878 - 1900) Wilhelm Marr: German political activist and author, founded the Antisemiten Liga (League of AntiSemitism) in Germany in 1879. Its members boycotted buying or selling with the Jews. 16 The Christian Socialist Party (1878): Headed by Adolf Stoecker and supported by German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck (who helped lead the unification of Germany and establish the German Empire in the late 19th century). Stoecker was “vehemently anti-Jewish” and declared the Jews had, “purely materialistic aspirations and were inherently destructive.” Members were forbidden to have personal or business relations with the Jews, and Stoecker sought anti-Jewish political legislation. Flannery notes that Chancellor’ Bismarck’s support was a means to rally, “the disparate political factions against the liberal, democratic cause,” 17 of which the Jews were a part. The party’s doctrines were adopted by Hitler during the initial years of his dictatorship. 18 The International Anti-Semitic Congress of Dresden (1892): Including representatives from Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia, it led to the formation an international anti-Semitic party to repeal laws of emancipation for Jews in all nations. Antisemitische Volkspartei (The Popular Anti-Semitic Party): led by Otto Boeckel, it originated from the Dresden Congress meeting. Fueled by anti-Semitic sentiment in eastern Europe, it gained 260,000 popular votes and 16 seats in German parliament by 1893. 19 Political Anti-Semitism in Austria 20: Anti-Semitic socialist parties formed in the 1880’s under the leadership of Georg von Schoenerer. Anti-Jewish legislation restricted Jewish participation in commerce and higher education. The anti-semitic parties were joined by clerical parties in the 1890’s under the leadership of Vienna mayor, Karl Lueger, of the Christian Socialist Party. At one time, Lueger received a visit from the young Adolf Hitler who came to Vienna to study the "Jewish problem." Later in the 1920’s, Hitler would name Schoenerer and Lueger as the two politicians who influenced him the most. 21 1894 France The Dreyfus Incident French anti-Semitism was brewing in France because of Jewish assimilation and prosperity in France’s economy during the ‘Jewish emancipation’ of the last two hundred years. The Dreyfus incident would only serve to galvanize anti-Jewish sentiment in France. 22 After Germany’s overwhelming defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, a French investigation ensued about possible espionage by two French officers. The two officers quickly covered their tracks and framed a Jewish-French captain, Alfred Dreyfus, for the leaked intelligence to the German army. “The Jew” once again became the scapegoat as French public opinion erupted in a wave of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus, who was innocent, was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. Years later, the trial was reopened and Dreyfus was exonerated by the French military. 23 Regardless, this incident only compounded the stereotype of the Jew’s disloyalty to his nation and set the Jewish people up as targets for the growing, anti-Semitic political movements across Europe. This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 4 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s early to mid 19th Russia, Poland (eastern Anti-Semitic Response to Jewish Assimilation century Europe) With the partitioning of Poland, Russia had become governor of the largest Jewish population in the world. The Jews were restricted to live in the Pale of Settlement where many suffered as serfs at the hands of local landlords. 24 Reforms of the Enlightenment era had not reached eastern Europe, and Jews in the Polish provinces, Ukraine and southern Russia lived somewhat separate from society at large. Russia’s management of their new “Jewish problem” alternated between attempts towards Jewish assimilation and imposing debilitating, even torturous, restrictions on them. Russian Czar Alexander II initially supported Jewish assimilation, but later became wary of Jewish emancipation as many Jews became involved liberal and social movements. 25 Anti-Semitic response to Jewish assimilation was widespread and led to a series of newspaper articles accusing Jews of a world conspiracy, which led to the fictitious book, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. 1853-56 Russia Blood Libel in Saratov, Russia In 1844, the Manager of Jewish affairs in Russia wrote a document entitled Information about the killing of Christians by Jews for the Purpose of Obtaining their Blood. It was distributed among the Russian government and stirred anew the age-old accusation of ritual murder and Blood Libel against the Jews. 26 In 1853, two Christian boys disappeared and their bodies were found months later. Several Jewish families in Saratov were accused of murder and a government investigation ensued. The witnesses’ testimonies proved to be false and the accused were acquitted. However, the Jewish families’ reputations were ruined and the incident only fueled the anti-Semitic sentiment in the Russian populace. 27 late 19th century Russia Anti-Semitic Political Reforms Revolutionary movements against the autocratic Czarist regime resulted in the assassination of Czar Alexander II. For the new Czar, Alexander III, “There were enough Jews associated with liberal or radical movements for the government to make all Jewry the chief target of its anti-revolutionary program.” 28 Alexander III, a “zealous champion of the Greek Orthodox Church,” collaborated with his chief advisor, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, who was procurator-general of the Holy Synod, to “maintain at all cost the regime of a police state...” Pobedonostsev, later dubbed the Grand Inquisitor, held that, “the people must be held in a state of patriarchal submission to the authority of the Church and of the temporal powers, and that the GreekOrthodox masses must be shielded against the influence of alien religions and races, which should accordingly occupy in the Russian monarchy a position subordinate to that of the dominant nation.” His plan was reportedly to expel a third of the Jews, forcibly convert a third and kill a third. An imperial manifesto was issued, entitled The Statute concerning Enforced Public Safety. It called upon “...all faithful subjects to eradicate the hideous sedition and to establish faith and morality.” The statute conferred upon state, provincial and city governors “...the power to issue special enactments and thereby setting aside the normal laws as well as placing under arrest and deporting to Siberia, without the due process of law, all citizens suspected of ‘political unsafety’.” 29 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 5 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 1881-1906 Russia Pogroms: “An organized massacre, especially of Jews” 30 Anti-Semitic violence followed the manifesto as waves of pogroms broke out from 1881 to 1884 “...by the well-organized ‘activity’ of the mob and the deliberate inactivity of the authorities.” 31 Jewish communities were wrecked; stores and houses were looted, burned and destroyed; individuals and families were killed and beaten; the women sometimes raped. Often the authorities would stand idly by; at other times they would arrest the rioters. A second wave of pogroms erupted in 1903, again in the context of revolutionary conflict with the imperial regime. This time under the anti-Semitic Czar Nicholas II. The Kishniev pogrom, fueled by antiSemitic newspaper articles, resulted in 45 Jewish deaths, hundreds wounded and about 1500 Jewish houses and stores looted. Numerous other pogroms occurred throughout southern Russia and the Ukraine. In Odessa, over 300 hundred Jews were killed and thousands wounded. Pogroms in Bialystok and Siedlce occurred with direct involvement by Russian authorities. 32 The pogroms of 1903-1906 ravaged over 600 towns, killed hundreds and wounded thousands. It devastated Russian Jewry. Understandably, massive Jewish migrations from Russia took place as the Jewish people realized they were wanted nowhere and hated everywhere. Many fled to central Europe, the USA and many others to Israel in the emerging wave of Zionism - the hope that the Jewish people may finally find refuge in their ancestral homeland. 1905 Russia Anti-Jewish Propaganda: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion A fictitious book released in Russia in the wake of anti-Semitic reaction to Jewish involvement in Bolshevik revolutionary efforts, it blames the Jewish people for the world’s problems by allegedly exposing a Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world, especially through the financial industry. The book capitalizes on emergent Jewish stereotypes in its fraudulent story. Even though the book was officially exposed as a complete fraud multiple times in various countries, it gained worldwide distribution, became the cornerstone of European anti-Semitism and fears of ‘Jewish capitalism’, and was used extensively in Nazi Germany propaganda. 33 The book is still used today by anti-Semitic groups to brainwash the ignorant into Jewish hatred. Post WW I Germany, AustriaAnti-Semitism following World War I Hungary, Russia A “Stab in the Back” legend in the German and Austrian empires attributed their losses in the war to internal traitors, primarily communists and Jews. This belief was widely accepted in German military leadership despite the fact that Jews fought valiantly for the German empire during the war. 34 Jewish involvement in the Bolshevik leadership during the Russian Revolution at the end of WW I was cited by nationalists throughout Europe as Jewish disloyalty to their nation (Jewish Bolshevism) and a tendency of Jews to favor communism. 35 People of Germany, Austria and Hungary bemoaned the Jewish stereotypes as many blamed the Jews for exploiting the war for monetary gain and to advance the Jewish conspiracy for world domination. 36 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 6 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 1919-1938 Germany Post WW I Nazi Germany and Anti-Semitism German unrest: Understatedly, Germany was in unrest following WW I. Humiliated from losing the war, in economic depression and high unemployment, overcome with war reparations and little support for the new Weimar government birthed in Germany’s post-war chaos, the Nationalist Socialist German Worker’s (Nazi) party emerged under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Hitler hypnotically rallied the German population. Espousing German-Aryan supremacy, Prussian militarism and neo-paganism, he mobilized the nation in only a matter of years under a renewed sense of super-nationalism and antiSemitism. 37 Hitler’s plan: Hitler’s obsession and hatred for the Jews originated from his years in Vienna. He and the Nazi party capitalized on the existing anti-Jewish sentiment while mounting a campaign that blamed Jews specifically for Germany’s post-war ills and evoked fear of ‘Jewish dominance’ in Protocols fashion. The Nazi platform, which quickly gained popular approval, was established on removing the inferior Jews from Germany to ensure Aryan superiority and allow the Nazi party to restore Germany to power. Germany would gain its rightful preeminence as it expanded its territory across Europe. This plan, as Hitler penned it in his book, Mein Kampf (My Struggle), became the Nazi blueprint. 38 Targeting the Jews: In 1920, Nazi legislation denied German citizenship of Jews, labeling them as “guests” of the nation, and denied them from public office. Social and professional discrimination followed, progressing into Jewish boycotts, agitation and eventually into Nazi killings. Incredibly, this became acceptable as Nazi propagandizing, using Protocol arguments and anti-Jewish writings from Martin Luther 39 and medieval Christianity, quickly swayed public opinion to more extreme Jew-hatred. In 1933, the “progressive elimination of ‘non-Aryans’ from public life commenced.” SS troops publicly burned Jewish books, the yellow badge was imposed and Jewish shops were marked with “Jude”. The Jewish community was terror-stricken and some quarter million Jews fled Germany in the 30’s. In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws cancelled Jewish citizenship. The Nazis employed university professors to teach the ‘science of race’ - the alleged Aryan superiority in contrast to the “Jewish race, spirit and scholarship.” Nazi-instigated, anti-Jewish riots killed many Jews and left the rest in despair. Jewish suicides were common and even ridiculed by Nazi propaganda. 40 In 1938, the Nazis expelled 12,000 Jews onto the Polish border, where half were unable to find refuge as their lot was negotiated politically. This affair prompted Herschel Grynszpan, a 17 year old whose parents were among the Jewish refugees on the Polish border, to kill Ernst Vom Rath, a Nazi official in Paris. This gave Hitler the incident he needed to advance his attack on the Jewish people. Kristallnacht: The turning point for mass, anti-Jewish violence came on November 9-10, 1938. Conveniently in honor of Martin Luther’s birthday, a series of violent pogroms broke out in Germany, Austria and Sudetenland-Czechoslovakia. Nazi officials, SS Stormtroopers and Hitler Youth burned 267 synagogues, looted and destroyed 7,500 Jewish shops and desecrated Jewish cemeteries. Ninety one Jews were murdered, more were beaten and women were raped. The SS arrested 30,000 Jews transferring them to prisons and concentration camps. In the aftermath, Jews were blamed for the incident and forced to pay Germany for property damages. Insurance payouts were confiscated by the German government. New legislation was implemented that transferred Jewish property to Aryan ownership at a fraction of its value. 41 Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass”, was the turning point for Nazi anti-Semitism. This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 7 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 1919-1938 Germany Post WW I Nazi Germany and Anti-Semitism Governmental logistics for genocide: After Kristallnacht the Nazi party connivingly implemented a complex bureaucratic system involving the entire German government, local municipalities and civilian companies. It was a sinister scheme whereby the Jews could be identified, removed from private businesses, dispossessed of their assets and concentrated into ghettos. So encompassing was this program that the entire nation was involved; everyone understood they were removing the Jews from Germany. Raul Hilberg, a leading Holocaust historian, states: “It was this very bureaucratization of the [Nazi] policy which made possible its colossal scale and transformed a pogrom into a genocide.” 42 Implementing the Nazi “Final Solution” to the Jewish problem was transferred to the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi elite political and military police. In as much secrecy as the operations would allow, the SS would advance the purging process of Germany’s Jews to impoverishment, expulsions, the ghettos, and ultimately to the horrendous atrocities of the Holocaust. 43 1939 - 1945 Nazi Germany WW II and the Jewish Holocaust (World War II) War begins: Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939, signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in August 1939 and then invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Two days later the UK, France, New Zealand and Australia declared war on Germany, and the war began. Tragically, the Jewish people were forgotten by the Allies. Polish ghettos, labor camps and concentration camps: Once Germany occupied Poland, the SS started to implement the ‘final solution.’ SS troops would gather the Jewish people into synagogues and buildings where they were shot to death or flogged through the night. The German army, initially at odds with the SS, protested the overt violence which led to, “...’orderly’ solutions, and these in turn to systematic persecution.” 44 Jewish people in Poland were herded into the ghettos, labor camps and concentration camps. A ghetto that once held a hundred thousand people would now be forced to accommodate over a half million. “Thirty percent of the ghetto populations died of starvation or disease.” 45 The German railway system was seized by the Nazi party which mobilized over a million new workers for the ‘final solution.’ Germany’s Jewish population was then transported to the Polish ghettos and concentration camps. Their belongings were stripped from them, separated and later given to Nazi and army personnel. Life expectancy in the camps was between six weeks and three months, not including death by accident, suicide or shooting. 46 The labor camps were a form of mass murder, as the Nazis termed it: Vernichtung durch Arbeit, ‘destruction through work.’ 47 Mass genocide of the Jewish people: The mass extermination of the Jewish people began with Germany’s invasion of Russia in 1941. Four million Jewish people resided in the land overrun by the Germans. Half fled east before the invasion. Those remaining would be slaughtered. Mobile killing units, the Einsatzgruppen, followed the German army. Before the Jewish people realized what was happening, the killing units would round them up and take them, by the tens of thousands, outside of town. They would be forced to dig massive ditches then line up in rows at the edge where they would be shot in the back of the head, their bodies falling into the massive grave. The process would repeat until the ditch was full of dead bodies and no Jews were left alive. Over a million Jewish people were murdered in this manner by the end of 1942. 48 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 8 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 1939 - 1945 Nazi Germany WW II and the Jewish Holocaust (World War II) Six permanent extermination centers were built in Chelmno, Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek and Belzec - all within German occupied Polish territories. They were chosen because of easy railway access, and they were isolated from centers of population. Some Jewish people were shot, starved or used in labor. Most however were grouped, forced to undress, handed soap and towels and deceptively told they were going to bathe as they entered ‘shower rooms’ where they were exterminated by deadly gas. “For many months in 1942, 1943 and 1944, the Nazis were each week killing in cold blood over 100,000 people, mainly Jews.” 49 The survival of Russia against the Germans, the entrance of the United States into the war in 1941 and Allied victories created a sense of urgency in the Nazi party to accelerate their ‘final solution’. “It was from this point on that the exigencies of the Holocaust were given priority even over the war itself, reflecting Hitler’s resolve that, whatever the outcome of the war, the European Jews would not survive it.” 50 1945 on World World Response to the WW II Jewish Holocaust Failed assistance for the Jewish plight: The governments of Austria and Romania (and France to a slight degree) participated with the Nazi Holocaust. “The Russians were closest to the Holocaust but never showed the slightest desire to help the Jews in any way.” Other European states refused to collaborate, yet the SS seized their Jewish populations nonetheless. The British and American governments were sympathetic to the Jewish plight, but mostly failed to take significant action. 51 Flannery notes: “The hundreds of thousands of Jews that escaped the doom owed their survival more to the rescue activities of individuals and private groups, than to resistance by governments or churches...The record of the churches is one marked with ambivalence.” 52 WW II Aftermath: Germany surrendered in May of 1945. By the end of the war, the Nazis had killed almost 6 million Jewish people in the European countries under their control. It amounted to the extermination of 67% of the combined Jewish population in those countries. Over 90% of the Jewish population in Poland, Germany, Austria and the Baltic states were annihilated. War crimes reparation: Only after the Nuremberg Trials did the world learn the full story of the Holocaust tragedy. Yet sadly, and to the disbelief and appall of the Jewish people - and rightfully so world response was merely...mixed. Johnson notes: “No one can say justice was done.” 53 Many nations arraigned Nazi members and collaborators for war crimes and most were duly prosecuted. Financial reparation: Chaim Weizman, President of the Zionist Organization in 1945, submitted a compensations claim to the four Allied Powers, but to no avail. Proceeds of the sale of confiscated Nazi property by the Allies were allocated to the Jewish people, but little actually reached them due to bureaucratic complexities. In 1951, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion submitted a collective compensation claim, along with other reparation claims, to Germany for Israel’s absorption of a half million German-Jewish refugees. Despite attempts by Arab nations to prevent it, an agreement was ratified, and Germany has compensated Holocaust survivors and their families. But Johnson notes the amount was inadequate. 54 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 9 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 1945 on World World Response to the WW II Jewish Holocaust Christian reparation: Perhaps the most notable Christian response was the moral reparations effort put forth by the Vatican in the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1964. For this Ecumenical Council, Pope John XXIII appointed Cardinal Augustin Bea as Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity and gave him the charge to draft new statutes regarding the Catholic relationship to the Jewish people. Albeit somewhat tardy, the Church sought to make amendment and restitution to the Jewish people for the issues of deicide and religious freedom in the wake of world response to the Holocaust. Arab nations and Arab Catholic and Orthodox leaders protested en masse to the effort, absurdly claiming “Catholic Zionism” and Catholic support for Palestinian oppression by Israel. 55 Sadly, the final statute issued by the Council: 1) made no direct apology for the Church’s history of antiSemitism or the atrocities committed against the Jewish people, 2) did not explicitly absolve the Jewish people of the Church’s historical accusation of deicide against them, 3) did not fully respect the continuity and legitimacy of the Jewish people and their faith, and 4) the statute’s language and presentation contains an air of superiority and replacement theology. However, to the Vatican’s credit and the Church’s, the statute was a heroic effort in behalf of the Vatican and the Church to: 1) condemn anti-Semitism, 2) condemn any teaching that God has rejected the Jewish people or that they are guilty of deicide, 3) acknowledge the Jewish heritage common to Christianity and Judaism, and 4) recommends a mutual knowledge and respect between the two communities. International community reparation: On 29 November 1947, the United Nations passed Resolution 181, “a non-binding recommendation to partition Palestine, whose implementation hinged on acceptance by both parties - Arabs and Jews. The resolution was adopted...by a vote of 33-12 with 10 abstentions...The Arab nations...denounced the plan and voted as a bloc against Resolution 181 promising to defy its implementation by force.” 56 Decidedly, yet sadly not overwhelmingly, the international community as a whole recognized the need for a homeland for the Jewish people, safe from its enemies. Jewish response: I believe that Johnson sums up the overall Jewish response to the Holocaust (and the Jewish perspective of the world’s response) with his estimation: “But the Jewish people grasped that the civilized world, however defined, could not be trusted. The overwhelming lesson the Jews learned from the Holocaust was the imperative need to secure for themselves a permanent, self-contained and above all sovereign refuge where if necessary the whole of world Jewry could find safety from its enemies.” 57 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 10 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 20th century Russia (Soviet Union) Communist Anti-Semitism The Russian Revolution resulted in communist rule as Lenin came to power in 1922. Communist control of politics, economy and society - while affecting the general population - had its hardest impact on the Jews as Bolshevik rule sought to de-Judaize them by curtailing Jewish cultural and religious and practices and discriminating against Jews in certain professions. 58 The Stalin era (1924-1953) marked a significant rise in anti-Semitism. In Stalin’s “Great Purges,” he not only rooted out opposing Bolshevik divisions, but also any Jewish elements that were suspected of ‘Jewish internationalism.’ The purges, “virtually terminated the organized life of the Jewish group as a recognized cultural and ethnic minority.” 59 The German-Russian Non-Aggression Pact of 1939 restrained Russian military and civilians from opposing Nazi pogroms and murder of Jews in German occupied Soviet Union, Romania and Poland. 60 Soviet disregard of the Jewish annihilation at the hands of the Nazis was characteristic of the antiSemitism of the Stalin era. The birth of Israel as a state in 1948 sparked a new wave of Soviet anti-Semitism under the guise of antiZionism. An article written in the Pravda newspaper by Ilya Ehrenburg, an ‘anti-Jewish’ Jewish writer employed by Stalin, denounced Israel, “as a bourgeois tool of American capitalism.” Thus, as Johnson records, “began a systematic attack on Jews, especially writers, painters, musicians and intellectuals of all kinds, using terms of abuse...identical with Nazi demonology.” 61 Soviet anti-Semitism extended to Czechoslovakia where, in 1952, former Czech Secretary General, Rudolf Slansky, and thirteen other communist leaders, mostly Jews, were falsely accused of Zionist espionage and executed. Slansky was posthumously exonerated. In 1953, nine doctors, six of them Jewish, were accused (in Protocols fashion) of killing two members of the Soviet politburo and scheming to poison Stalin as part of a British, US and Zionist conspiracy. Scholars speculate that the trial was to be used as public justification for Jewish executions and deportations to Siberia which were under way. However the trial was never held, the doctors were released and Stalin died shortly thereafter. Jewish people fared no better under Khrushchev’s term (1953-1964). He, “switched the thrust of antiJewish propaganda from spying to ‘economic criminality’, large numbers of Jews, their names prominently displayed, being convicted and sentenced to death in nine show-trials.” 62 According to Flannery’s research: “The campaign as such has nothing to do with antisemitism, but...Jews have been singled out in many ways. They are punished more severely than others, 60% of those executed thus far were Jews.” 63 This era also witnessed the outbreak of pogroms, blood libels, anti-Semitic riots and synagogue burnings. In the 1970’s Krushchev allowed Jewish emigration to Israel and a quarter million Jews returned to their homeland. But as emigration continued in the 1980’s the exit-visa process became so subjugated with bureaucratic complexities and exorbitant costs, and also extended over an unreasonable amount of months, even years, that leaving the Soviet Union became virtually impossible. 64 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 11 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 19th – 20th century United States of America American Social and Economic Discrimination against the Jewish People It was the ‘American experiment’ - the Constitutional guarantee of civil and religious liberties as “unalienable rights” for its citizens 65 - that gave the Jewish people an unprecedented opportunity in the modern world for prosperity and harmonious life with non-Jewish citizens. Perhaps it is fair to say that the USA has given the Jewish people more freedom from anti-Semitism than any other modern nation except for Israel itself. While the fanatical, European Jew-hatred did not take root in the US, Flannery notes in his research that a “dual nature of anti-Jewishness” emerged consisting of social and economic discrimination. 66 Jewish prosperity in the American industrial progress following the Civil War caused jealousy and resentment and paved the way for discrimination. The Seligman Incident of 1877 is an example where the Grand Union Hotel of Saratoga, New York refused to accommodate a Jewish banker and his family. Discrimination against Jews spread to resorts, social clubs and private schools. 67 As American industrialism progressed, and an increase of Jewish immigration to the USA from Russian persecution in the late 19th century caused more Jewish people to enter the workforce, economic discrimination emerged in the American workplace. In the early 20th century, racial discrimination from Europe, combined with fears of ‘Jewish communism’ and the accusation of Jewish, world-dominion conspiracy as contained in the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion, found its place in the USA. A renewed sense of American patriotism and discrimination against minority groups emerged which primarily targeted the Jewish people and the African American communities. Notable incidents of this period include a rise of anti-Semitic organizations and periodicals across the US, the lynching of a young Jewish man (Leo Frank) in Atlanta, Georgia who was wrongfully convicted of murder and the efforts of automobile industrialist Henry Ford. 68 Ford launched a seven year, national campaign defaming the Jewish people and accusing them of the world-domination conspiracy in his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, and his book, The International Jew, The World’s Foremost Problem. 69 The US Congress also limited Jewish immigration into America. The peak of American anti-Semitism occurred in the years prior to World War II as some Americans were blaming the Jews for the Great Depression, accusing them of the world-domination conspiracy and even accusing them of seeking American entrance into the war. However, American anti-Semitism declined during the war and the years following it, never to be revived again. 70 1 Leon Poliakov, The History of Anti-semitism: From Voltaire to Wagner, translated by Miriam Kochan (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003) p.88 Accessed on Google Books 29 Feb 2012 2 Edward H. Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism (New York: Macmillan Co., 1965) p.176 3 Taken from a letter to the editor of The New York Times by Arthur Hertzberg about Voltaire’s anti-Semitism. Accessed 29 Feb 2012 from The New York Times online edition, www.nytimes.com, The article is here: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/30/books/l-voltaire-and-the-jews-590990.html This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 12 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 4 Arthur Hertzberg, The French Enlightenment and the Jews: the Origins of Modern anti-Semitism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968) pp.300-301 Accessed on Google Books 29 Feb 2012 5 Hertzberg, Ibid., p.286 6 Flannery, Ibid., p.175 7 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Antisemitism in History: The Era of Nationalism, 1800-1918.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007173) Accessed on 10 Feb 2012 8 Remember.org, A Cybrary of the Holocaust. Gary M. Grobman, “Modern Anti-Semitism” (http://remember.org/guide/History.root.modern.html) Accessed on 27 Feb 2012 9 Flannery, Ibid., pp.167-168 10 Flannery Ibid., p.168 11 Encyclopedia Britannica website. “Social Darwinism.” (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/551058/social-Darwinism) Accessed 27 Feb 2012 12 The Occidental Observer website (www.theoccidentalobserver.net) Kevin MacDonald, Wilhelm Marr, The Victory of Judaism over Germanism Viewed from a Nonreligious Point of View, Jan. 6, 2010. Accessed on 27 Feb 2012. An english transcript of Marr’s essay can be found here: http://www.kevinmacdonald.net/Marr-Text-English.pdf 13 Ibid., http://www.kevinmacdonald.net/Marr-Text-English.pdf, p.19 14 Encyclopedia Britannica website. “Aryan.” http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/37468/Aryan Accessed 1 March 2012. An online copy of Gobineau’s essay, translated by Adrian Collins, M.A., can be found here: http://www.archive.org/stream/inequalityofhuma00gobi#page/n1/mode/2up 15 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia (Damascus Affair). (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4862-damascusaffair) Accessed 27 Feb 2012 16 Roberto Finzi, Anti-semitism: from its European Roots to the Holocaust, (New York: Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., 1999) pp.43, 47, Accessed on Google Books 2 Mar 2012 17 Flannery, Ibid., pp.180-181 18 Finzi, Ibid., pp.47-48 19 Finzi, Ibid., pp.48-49 20 Flannery, Ibid., p.183 21 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Antisemitism in History: Racial Antisemitism, 1875-1945.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007171) Accessed on 10 Feb 2012 22 Flannery, Ibid., pp.183-189 23 Jewish History website. “The Dreyfus Affair.” (http://www.jewishhistory.org/?s=dreyfus&x=0&y=0) Accessed 10 Feb 2012 [see also www.dreyfus-affair.org] 24 Simon M. Dubnow, History of the Jews in Russia and Poland. (Bergenfield: Avotaynu, Inc., 2000) pp.158-159 Accessed on Google Books 3 Mar 2012 25 Flannery, Ibid., pp.170-173 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 13 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 26 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia (Saratof). (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13198-saratof) Accessed 3 Mar 2012 27 Dubnow, Ibid., p.274 28 Flannery, Ibid., p.189 29 Dubnow, Ibid., pp.322-325 30 Random House Collegiate Dictionary. “pogrom” 31 Dubnow, Ibid., p.325 32 Jewish Virtual Library website. “Pogroms” by Yehuda Slutsky (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0016_0_15895.html) Accessed 3 Mar 2012 33 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007058) Accessed on 25 Feb 2012 34 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Antisemitism in History: World War I” Holocaust Encyclopedia (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007166) Accessed 18 Feb 2012 35 Flannery, Ibid., p.198 36 USHMM, Ibid 37 Flannery, Ibid., pp.205-207 38 An online edition of Mein Kampf can be found here: http://www.archive.org/stream/meinkampf035176mbp#page/n5/mode/2up Accessed 5 Mar 2012 39 Hitler referred to Martin Luther as a “great reformer” of Germany on page 287 of his book, Mein Kampf (My Struggle), which can be viewed here: http://www.archive.org/stream/meinkampf035176mbp#page/n327/mode/2up/search/luther. Arguably, Hitler’s favorable opinion of Luther was not only based on Luther’s magnificent rally of the German people for a populist reform, but also on Luther’s vehement anti-Jewish arguments that the Jew was an inherent danger to the German people and the Church - which fit perfectly with Hitler’s view of the necessity to purify Germany by exterminating the Jewish people. An online edition of Martin Luther’s On the Jews and their Lies (1543), provided by the Fortress Press & Augsburg Fortress publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, may be found here: http://www.humanitas-international.org/showcase/chronography/documents/luther-jews.htm 40 Flannery, Ibid., 212-214 41 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Kristallnacht: A Nationwide Pogrom, November 9-10, 1938” Holocaust Encyclopedia. (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005201) Accessed on 25 Feb 2012 42 Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews, (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1987) pp.486-487 43 Flannery, Ibid., pp.218-219 44 Johnson, Ibid., p.490 45 Flannery, Ibid., p.221 46 Johnson, Ibid., pp.490-491 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 14 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com Effects of Historical Christian Anti-Semitism in the Modern Era: 1700’s – 1900’s 47 Johnson, Ibid., p.491 48 Johnson, Ibid., p.494-495 49 Johnson, Ibid. p.498 (Johnson cites numerous sources for the Nazi killings taken from the volumes of publications following the Nuremberg Trials) 50 Johnson, Ibid., p.497 51 Johnson, Ibid., pp.499-500, 503-504 52 Flannery, Ibid., p.224 (An excellent example of the heroic efforts of individuals is Steven Spielberg’s movie, Schindler’s List 53 Johnson, Ibid., p.514 54 Johnson, Ibid., pp.514-515 55 The statute issued concerning “the Church and the Jews” can be read in Judith Hershcopf’s documentary, The Church and the Jews: The Struggle at Vatican Council II, pp.99-100. An online version of her work can be accessed at the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations website, www.ccjr.us, at http://www.ccjr.us/images/stories/BankI_Vatican_II.pdf. Accessed 7 Mar 2012 56 As cited by Middle East scholar and historian, Eli E. Hertz. Myths and Facts (on the Middle East) website, Eli E. Hertz. www.mythsandfacts.org, “UN Resolution 181 - The Partition Plan” by Herts (http://www.mythsandfacts.org/Conflict/10/Resolution-181.pdf) 57 Johnson, Ibid., p.517 58 Flannery, Ibid., pp.233-235 59 Schwarz, The Jews in the Soviet Union, pp.258-273 as cited by Flannery, Ibid., p.237 60 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Pogroms”.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. (http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005183) Accessed on 5 Mar 2012 61 Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews, (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1987) p.570 62 Ibid., pp.570-571 63 Flannery, Ibid., p.244 64 Johnson, Ibid., p.572 65 The American Declaration of Independence. From the Internet Archive website, www.archive.org, The transcript of the Declaration can be accessed here (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html) Accessed on 12 Mar 2012 66 Flannery, Ibid., pp.247-248 67 Flannery, Ibid., p.251 68 Flannery, Ibid., pp.253-257 69 The Jewish Virtual Library Website, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. “Henry Ford Invents a Jewish Conspiracy” (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/ford1.html) Accessed on 12 Mar 2012 70 Flannery, Ibid., p.261 This era is unique from the previous eras because anti-Semitism, which had historically been of a religious nature, evolved into more of a social and racial nature. During this era, the Church lost its dominance over society. However, centuries of Christian discrimination against the Jewish people had produced a general anti-Jewish racism in society as a whole. As a result, not only did the Church maintain its historical anti-Semitism, but society also became prejudiced against the Jewish people. Page 15 Christian Apology to the Jewish People www.ApologytotheJewishPeople.com Copyright 2012 Voice of Judah International Ministries, Inc. www.VoiceofJudah.com