Early Christian Roots of the Holocaust

History > European - 20th Century
History > European - World Wars
Holocaust Studies

Argues that a history of anti-Semitism in Europe became justified by religion and paved the way to the social and political climate that led to the Holocaust.

1,314 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2003 United States

Paper Summary:

Thousands of years of anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe became rooted and emboldened in the Christian religion. This paper traces the development of anti-Semitism from the late Greco-Roman era through the life of Christ, the Crusades, and the Protestant Reformation. As Robert Wistrich observes, "Only on a soil watered for centuries by such fearsome demonology could the Holocaust have been conceived, let alone carried out with so little opposition."

From the Paper:

"In his 1543 work "Concerning the Jews and Their Lies" Luther presents a case against Jews and calls for retribution for their crimes against Christianity. He makes the familiar comparison between Jews and the satanic when he writes "If they are not God's people, then they are the devil's people" (Rubenstein and Roth, 57). He proposed setting fire to Jewish synagogues and schools because they were the source of the "lying, cursing, and blaspheming" against the Christian religion (Wistrich, 13). Luther further advises the German rulers to revoke the passports and traveling privileges of all Jews and to make them "earn their bread by the sweat of their noses" through hard labor (Wistrich, 13)."

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APA Citation:

Early Christian Roots of the Holocaust (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 13, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Argumentative-Essay-Early-Christian-Roots-of-the-Holocaust/54667

MLA Citation:

"Early Christian Roots of the Holocaust" 15 January 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. <http://www.academon.com/Argumentative-Essay-Early-Christian-Roots-of-the-Holocaust/54667>