.. .According to the Dayacides, the Jews, as long as they did not renounce their error, must live in a state of eternal disgrace and abasement, therefore proving the veracity of Christianity. The writings of the Byzantine Fathers are particularly hard on them. St. John Chrysostom described them in this way: “Brothel and theatre, the synagogue is also a retreat for brigands and a lair for wild beasts... living by their stomach, mouth always gaping, the Jews do not act any better than pigs and goats, in their lewd grossness and extremes of their gluttony. They only know how to do one thing: stuff themselves and get drunk.” As for the no less venerable Gregory of Nysse, he categorized them as “murderers of the Lord, assassins of prophets, rebellious and hateful toward God,.. .confederates of the devil, race of vipers, informers, calumniators, mentally clouded, pharisaic fermentors, sanhedrin of the devil, cursed, execrable, stoners, enemies of all that is beautiful.” These inflamed declarations, fed by popular sentiment, explained the formation of a Byzantine anti-Semitism whose influence made itself felt far and wide in Eastern Europe.3
Every Christian child received the teachings about the Jews’ profound criminality, inferiority, and sinful nature. This created a constant potential for active hostility.
As attempts at conversion failed, various European countries took action against Jews. Some expelled them. Others restricted them to certain living areas (ghettos) and certain professions. The combination of restrictions and special opportunities led Jews to practice professions that brought further harm to them. Finance and moneylending were devalued by Christians for religious reasons and forbidden by church law. Jews were encouraged to work in commerce, banking, and finance, However, people who became indebted to them often resented the debt and felt that Jews were exploiting them, which further fueled anger and resentment. Rulers at times relieved themselves of debts by expelling Jews. Persecuting Jews, depriving them of rights, and taking away their property diminished economic competition, provided immediate profit, and served as revenge for presumed wrongdoing.a
Jews had different habits, customs, clothing, and external appearance. These differences were partly religious, partly cultural, and partly imposed by authorities. Human beings, as I have noted, fear the different, the unusual, especially when it is prejudged as bad or dangerous. Jews were relatively unaffected by the plague, the Black Death that decimated Europe in 1348, probably because of religious habits of personal hygiene. As a consequence the belief arose that they had caused the plague. Other atrocities were also ascribed to them; it was widely believed that they killed children at Passover to drink their blood.
Finally, Jewish culture encouraged devotion to learning, industriousness, and other characteristics that helped Jews succeed in spite of adverse circumstances. In an atmosphere of prejudice, envy, and resentment, even such positive characteristics as warm, positive family relations and a relatively peaceful life-style were cast in a negative light.
Research shows that existing prejudices and stereotypes determine how the behavior of a group’s members is interpreted.6 Stereotypes are highly resistant to change.7 Furthermore, they are self-fulfilling prophecies; people who hold stereotypes behave in a way that evokes the stereotyped response.8
The very same behavior undergoes a complete change of evaluation in its transition from the ingroup... Abe Lincoln to the out-group Abe Cohen or Abe Kurakawa... Did Lincoln work far into the night? This testifies that he was industrious, resolute, perseverant, and eager to realize his capabilities to the full. Do the out-group Jews or Japanese keep these same hours? This only bears witness to their sweatshop mentality, their ruthless undercutting of American standards, their unfair competitive practices. Is the in-group hero frugal, thrifty, and sparing? Then the out-group victim is stingy, miserly, and penny-pinching.9
Anti-Semitism was further encouraged by the writings of Martin Luther, whose influence on German culture was enormous. He began with a positive attitude toward Jews, but turned against them when they refused to be converted. His image of the Jews resembles the Nazi image:
Herewith you can readily see how they understand and obey the fifth commandment of God, namely, that they are thirsty bloodhounds and murderers of all Christendom, with full intent, now for more than fourteen hundred years, and indeed they were often burned to death upon the accusation that they had poisoned water and wells, stolen children, and torn and hacked them apart, in order to cool their temper secretly with Christian blood.
It is more than fourteen hundred years since Jerusalem was destroyed, and at this time it is almost three hundred years since we Christians have been tortured and persecuted by the Jews all over the world (as pointed out above), so that we might well complain that they had now captured us and killed us – which is the open truth. Moreover, we do not know to this day which devil has brought them here into our country; we did not look for them in Jerusalem.
Yes, they hold us Christians captive in our country. They let us work in the sweat of our noses, to earn money and property for them, while they sit behind the oven, lazy, let off gas, bake pears, eat, drink, live softly and well from our wealth, sweat, and work. They curse our Lord, to reward us and to thank us. Should not the devil laugh and dance, if he can have such paradise among us Christians, that he may devour through the Jews – his holy ones – that which is ours, and stuff our mouths and noses as reward, mocking and cursing God and man for good measure.10
Some speculate that the relative assimilation of Jews in Germany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries contributed to modern anti-Semitism.
Modern antisemitism was born not from the great difference between groups but rather from the threat of the absence of differences, the homogenization of Western society and the abolition of the ancient social and legal barriers between Jews and Christians.
Racist passions reach a
