The Origins of Antisemitism

Perhaps some of the world's oldest conspiracy theories are directly connected to anti-Semitism. The first such speculation was of a religious type and it referred to the death pf Jesus Christ. In the book "The Origin Of Satan" , Elaine Pagels explains how since the foundation of Christianity , followers of this religion assumed that Jews were the real killers of Jesus , while the Romans had only been manipulated by them to do so. Hence, the Christians have developed an association of these Jews with the greatest evil (Introduction, page xx). Religious Scholars have long disputed this theme and there are still some that believe in its accuracy. The author gives as an example Josef Blinzer, who states that if you reconstruct facts from the four gospels, the conclusion is inevitable: the Jews were indeed mainly responsible for Jesus' crucifixion (Introduction, pages xxi-xxii).

This association of the "chosen people" with wickedness has continued along the centuries. Dr Daniel Keren , professor at Brown University , states in the introduction to "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" that in medieval Europe , during Crusades, many believed Jews would do unbelievable atrocities to Christians. Among those were the following: poisoning the wells, spreading plagues, killing Christian children, using their blood for the Feast of Passover, and in the end enslave and destroy all believers in Christ. Similar to today's anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, many believed that rabbins met secretly and created hidden plans of domination. Such motifs were encompassed in early anti-Semitic literature , and were used as an excuse to discriminate Jews in social and political life.(Introduction ,page 3)

Jewish conspiracy theories continued to flourish after the medieval era had passed. As Dr Daniel Keren writes, in "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", the bloody French Revolution was considered by some authors a big conspiracy. First, a French Jesuit named Abbe Barruel asserted that the secret authors of this plot were the Freemasons. It happened however, that the Jews were emancipated as a result of the Revolution, so later the same author came back and rectified his assertion. In fact, he seemed to believe, the big conspirators were not the Freemasons, but the Jews. (Introduction, page 3)

Dr Daniel Keren continues his introspection into the history of anti-Semitism.A few decades later,he writes, the work of French satirist Maurice Joly ,"Dialogues in hell between Machiavelli and Montesquieu" , a political satire, was used and part of it plagiarized by German anti Semite Hermann Goedsche. The latter adapted it to a fictional story of a Jewish Conspiracy encompassed within his novel , "Biarritz". One of the chapters of this work was suggestively called "The Jewish Cemetery in Prague and the Council of Representatives of the Twelve Tribes of Israel". Needless to say, the chapter described a meeting of important rabbins who worked on a big conspiracy to "take over the world". (Introduction ,page 4)

Goedsche's work was plagiarized in its turn , Dr Keren says, in Russia, and gradually transformed into one of the most controversial publications up to our days: "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". The publisher of the work, priest Sergius Nilus , insisted that the "Protocols" had taken place at the First Zionist Congress in 1897 , at Basle. (Introduction, pages 4-5). As Michael A. Hiltzik stated in Los Angeles Times, in November 1993 , this book was a "key manifesto" of anti-Semitism. Its ideas were eventually taken by Hitler and the Nazi, as almost all that the German totalitarian ruler wrote in his book ,"Mein Kampf" in regards to Jews, could be found in the "Protocols."(in Introdution to the "Protocols of Elders of Zion" , page 7)

Hitler's campaign against Jews was the culmination of all anti-Semitic actions until then. His paranoia about an unseen conspiration of the Judaics led to a horrifying genocide against this people. Since his famous book ,"Mein Kampf" , and its sequel-an unpublished document until much later- contain a synthesis of the anti-Semitic ideas of the time , this material is used here to exemplify "details" of the so called "conspiration". For Hitler, the Jews were criminals against whom no mercy should be shown.(Mein Kampf , page 169) They had always been a "state within states" who had used others to work for them ,but their organization had been hidden under the mask of "religion". Their doctrine was, Hitler said, nothing else than a guide for the preservation of the Jewish race. (Mein Kampf, page 150)

At the beginning , the Jew had come on foreign lands as a "merchant".(Mein Kampf , page 308) , and in time had progressed to a "middleman", becoming active in the economy. In the next stage , Hitler writes ,he was able to start lending money with interest to other people, especially to the lords of the lands. Hence, with time he became the master of commerce and finance.(Mein Kampf , page 309)He also "manipulated" and "controlled" the governments, the princes , forcing himself into their high circles and gaining ,according to the anti-Semitic theory , more control. However ,his goal was to achieve more power: Hitler's argument to this statement is the old promise that God made to the people of Israel in the Bible, that they will be the "chosen people" and rule all others.(Mein Kampf, page 313)

In regards to this idea -the Jews being "chosen" by the Almighty -which is a fundament of their religion, Dr Avi Beker stated that it may actually be the root of all anti-Semitism. Writer of the book "The Chosen: The History of an Idea, and the Anatomy of an Obsession", Beker declared to the Jerusalem Post in 2008 that the persisting of Semite fear and hatred along the years could be tracked down as theological, religious , fright.. This has been so controversial that at some time the Judaics tried to eliminate the idea from their doctrine. They had ,however, come back to it. (Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem: Aug 31, 2008. pg. 5)

Coming back to Hitler, his anti-Semitic arguments continue: wanting more power, the Jews had decided to gain the masses, the people. He presented himself as the "friend of mankind", showing his understanding for the sufferance of the workers. He then introduced democracy and Marxism.(page 314) To Hitler , both of these were Jewish conspiracies. The first weakened the nation , removed its natural leaders, and replaced them with the rule of the people. A rule of the majority was, Hitler asserted, a weak leadership , since no responsibility could be attributed to a certain person, and since generally few of the "people" were really fit to rule.

On the other hand, communism was there to destroy anything that might have been previously important to workers, preparing them to a total manipulation by the "international Jew". (Mein Kapmf, pages 314- 327)Both of the two types of government also encouraged a global , international approach towards the economy, which was to the Nazi leader another obvious proof of the "parasite" 's attempt to dominate all world. These ideas are encountered as well in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" , where the "elders' state that the "mob" is easy to manipulate, as it is hard for it to distinguish good from bad, and just follows the strongest leader. Only a despotic rule , state the "Zionists" ,is able to achieve the final good, and so ideas of "freedom" , " democracy" , and "equality" are abstract and impractical.(Protocols of elders of Zion , pages 26-31)

None of the theories stated in "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" , in "My Kampf" or other anti-Semitic works were proven. On the contrary , they led to unfairness toward a people that may have been misunderstood , and to mass massacres. This is why , as Dr Abraham Foxman writes in the introduction to "Mein Kampf" , it is the responsibility of today's societies to learn from such works that an ethnic hatred ,and paranoia about unseen conspiracies can be a very sure cause for disaster.(Introduction to My Kampf , pages xxi- xxii).

Works Cited

Pagels, Elaine. The Origin of SatanScrovegni Chapel, Pradua, Italy , Random House Inc,New York 1995

Weinberg,L. Gerhard. Hitler's Second Book ,The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler , Enigma Books DD247.H5 A365 2003 -943.086-dc21

Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf , First Mariner Books Edition 1999

HAVIV RETTIG. Anatomy of an obsession. A new book by Avi Beker sees the complex idea of 'chosenness' as the unspoken tension behind anti-Semitism and the defining narrative of Jewish history Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem:Aug 31, 2008. p. 5

Nilus ,Sergei. Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion , translation by Victor E Marsden, pdf document,

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1546310481&Fmt=3&clientId=1496&RQT=309&VName=PQDhttp://ddickerson.igc.org/The_Protocols_of_the_Learned_Elders_of_Zion.pdf