Racism and Hostility towards Jews

In the 18^th century, new scientific discoveries began to generate a modern world view which ended the monopoly of religion on explaining the world. Racism and modern anti-semitism were negative consequences of this development.

Racial theories became widespread in the 19^th century. The claim that European races were superior served to justify colonialism abroad. In domestic debates, racial ideology provided a reason for social inequality. Social Darwinists transferred Darwin’s research findings on “natural selection” and “the survival of the fittest” from the plant and animal world to human society.  Eugenics research asked about the ideal conditions for human reproduction. It prejudiced against “inferior races” as well as the sick and weak.

Anti-semitism at the end of the 19^th century was very different from Christian hostility towards Jews during the centuries before. Religious, economic and political elements were supplemented with racist explanations. Alongside the old, still virulent prejudices emerged the view of the “inferiority of the Jewish race”. This new racial anti-semitism asserted that the Jews had unchangeable physical and character traits and thereby denied them the chance of integrating into the Volksgemeinschaft (community of german people).

2.1. 

Racism

A racial theory developed in the mid-19^th century based on the assumption that there were superior and inferior races. A comparison of facial and skull measurements was the method used in the search for the ideal human type. Social Darwinists applied such anthropological studies to design a hierarchic order of human society. For these theorists, racial purity was a prerequisite for the superiority and dominance of the “white race”. 

2.2

Eugenics and Racial Hygiene

Eugenics gained scientific recognition at the beginning of the 20^th century. It had a long-lasting influence on health policy in that it called for genetic improvement through control of the birth rate. Those without any “hereditary defect” were to be encouraged to reproduce and those with a “hereditary defect” prevented from doing so by sterilisation. Racial hygienists developed a broad spectrum of measures to keep the “Nordic race” pure.

“Inferior humans are reproducing faster than the healthy population”,
diagram from the Journal for Hereditary Selection and Genetics, Vol. 1, 1926

2.3

Christian Hostility towards Jews

The accusation of “murdering Christ” was central to religious-motivated hostility towards Jews. In the Christian-dominated society of the Middle Ages, the Jews were a minority, forced to live in their own residential areas. They were not allowed to practise certain professions and clothing regulations and laws applying to Jews marked them out as outsiders. Pogroms and expulsions were constantly carried out when Jews were accused of poisoning wells, ritual murder or defiling the host.

2.4

German Nationalist Hostility towards Jews

In the early 19^th century, sections of the German nationalist movement propagated a narrow view of national character. This movement saw the origins of the German national character in Germanic heritage and in Christianity. The Jews were considered as foreign bodies at odds with the unity of people and state. Nonetheless, the Enlightenment and emancipation meant that Jews were granted legal equality. With the 1812 Edict, Jews became Prussian citizens. However, the edict contained some special regulations, which for example meant that Jews were barred from assuming public office. German Jews were only granted full civil equality under the 1871 constitution.

2.5

Political Anti-semitism in Germany

Political anti-semitism was targeted at emancipated Jewry. During the economic crash of 1873 and the crisis of political liberalism, anti-semites formed themselves into a political movement.  Parties and public figures made anti-semitism acceptable within middle-class society. They called for a “solution to the Jewish question” through a repeal of Jewish equality. 

The historian Heinrich von Treitschke created controversy with his 1879 essay Unsere Aussichten (Our Prospects). Through linking nationalism and antisemitism he appealed above all to students and broad sections of the middle classes. Some professors, such as Theodor Mommsen, publicly rejected Treitschke’s antisemitic remarks.

2.6. 

Societal Antisemitism

Antisemitism was not just associated with political parties. Nationalistic employers’ and professional associations also incorporated antisemitism into their manifestos.

By 1918, most Jews were prevented from having higher positions in the civil service. Everyday hostility towards Jews manifested itself in numerous forms of social exclusion.

2.7. 

Racial Antisemitism

At the end of the 19^th century, racial theories and conventional hostility towards Jews blended into racial antisemitism. This was also directed against people who did not consider themselves Jewish. The behaviour and character of the Jews was put down to their “race” and apparently backed up by science. Antisemites called for the “Aryan race” to be kept pure and pointed to the consequences of “defiling the race”. 

Text: Dr. Thomas Rink

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