Jews as "the other"
Racism, anti-Semitism, and Nationalism are the three key factors that were used to make Jews “the other” throughout history. To start with, Jews have always lived in areas ruled by other groups, and they were always there when people needed to place the blame on someone for hard times. Then in the 1800s, the thought that Jews were not only a part of a religion but a different race intrigued people all over Europe. Next William Marr introduced anti-Semitism, and that word found a home all over Europe. Lastly, nationalism was introduced by Napoleon Bonaparte when he set out to conquer neighboring countries. Napoleon and his army unknowingly unleashed a force called nationalism. In Europe, nationalism was defined as a nation of people who share the same traditions and the same history. Since Jews always migrated to places of different people who don’t share the same traditions or history that they do, nationalism automatically made them “the other”. Jews became obsessed with identity. Jewishness constituted some mixture of ethnicity and religion. Jews who converted were no longer identified as outsiders- they were more like the majority now. This was not a problem, but racists made it a problem. Racists said that “Jews would always be Jews, because they belonged to a different race.” Around this time William Marr published a pamphlet called The Victory of Judaism over Germanism, and in it he used the word anti-Semitism for the first time. This word had a major effect in Germany. Theodor Fritsch thought it would be best for Jews and Germans to be kept separated so that Aryan blood could remain “pure”. Germans thought that blood and civilizations where linked together. This idea was used by the Nazis to justify the persecution and murder of Jews. The word anti-Semitism means the hatred of Jews. The Holocaust is the ultimate quintessence of anti-Semitism. In 1879, William Marr commenced the word anti-Semitism, indicating the hatred of Jews. One of the