| | (5) The historical causes of anti-Semitism
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The Historical BackgroundThere has always been prejudices against Jews in Christian
Europe. Martin Luther, for instance, wrote that Jews were demonic.
They have also always been used as scapegoats. In the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries many Jews were expelled from where they lived. There were
also economic restrictions: they were not allowed to learn a trade, rather they
could only work in certain jobs, such as in finance. This is where the
stereotypical idea that Jews are only interested in working with money comes
from. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Kaiser blamed Jews
both for the Allies' victory in the First World War, as well as the communist
revolution of 1918 which he described as a "Jewish conspiracy" .
Both of these examples are instances of putting the blame onto an innocent
scapegoat in order to keep the population happy.
In Andorra, Andri too was given the blame. The
Andorrans said, for instance, that he had started the fight - whilst it had in
reality been started by the Andorrans themselves because they didn't like
Andri. They twist the story to their own advantages and say that he
caused it because he makes people nervous and wants them to have bad consciences („Sie wollen, dass man ihnen ein Unrecht tut. Sie warten nur darauf…“ ;
("They want us to do them wrong. They are waiting for it..." )
(The Doctor, 8th Scene)). They also
say that he threw the stone that killed The Señora – but he was at home.
Hitler and the Nazi EraHitler was no elected because the German people were
especially anti-Semitic, rather because of his idea of a homeland and his
promises of an economic boom - promises which came in the wake of the Weimar
Republic, where there had been years of high inflation (due to the Treaty of
Versailles), unemployment (due to the worldwide recession) and instability
(caused by the instability of the Weimar Republic where there was a new
Government almost every year). People blamed the Government for
these problems and wanted a strong leader - therefore Hitler came to power.
We don't know exactly why Hitler was an
anti-Semite. He didn't like other races in general as they weren't "pure"
Germans - but I believe (without knowing any specific details) that he developed
a particular hatred for Jews whilst he lived on the streets of Vienna as an
artist. Once in power, he could start his regime of terror. Protests
and resistance had no success because of propaganda, and due to the fact that
Hitler had total power. The anti-Semitic program of the Government was
begun immediately and implemented in stages. Jews were excluded from
public services, and Jewish shops were boycotted. They lost their right to
property through the "Aryanisation" program; and their civil rights
were lost to the 1935 Nuremberg laws.
The night of the 8th November 1938 was Reichskristallnacht. Jewish
homes, synagogues and shops were firebombed and destroyed. Throughout this
period of German history, the persecution of Jews was completely open.
They were oppressed, and had to wear a gold star so that they could be
recognised. Finally, as everybody knows, they were driven out of countries
including Poland and Germany and had to live in Ghettos, whilst six million met
their deaths in concentration camps.
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