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Inseparable from human history are the wars between peoples for land, power and other reasons. For a very long time Jewish people were negatively targeted and blamed for all the negative things that happened to humanity. This oppression was based on the lack of knowledge, as well as prejudice that had no real facts to support the accusations. One of the dark chapters in history is the crusades or “Holy War” that took place between 11th and 13th centuries. Jewish people were one of many nations towards which the hostility was directed, the reasons being unacceptable and unfair. Unfortunately people did not learn from the mistakes made and such unfair treatment has been going on for many years, continuing in the twentieth century.
The first crusade took place when Pope Urban was elected. He gave a speech that described how Jewish people oppressed Christians and drove them out of the “Holy Land”, which was Jerusalem. This was not true at all, but everyone listened and believed it. His speech was very convincing, as people of all ages and gender wanted to join in the war. Urban told the people that Jerusalem was covered with blood of Christians and that this war would free the land that was rightfully theirs and that it must be taken back in the name of Christ. The crusaders took Jerusalem in the year 1099 and this is when the majority of killings took place. Those who were not murdered were sold into slavery all over Europe (Chazan 157). Out of all the popes in that period of time, Urban was the only who showed such hate towards the Jewish people. He instilled the view that Jews were a danger to others and to the Christian faith, and so they must be exterminated by any means necessary. Originally Jews were left alone but in the course of the crusades the warriors became “blood thirsty” and started the massacre. Publicly any violence was prohibited but the warriors did not obey any laws or rules, thinking of Jews as a race inferior to all others. Many Jewish people were forced to be baptized and those who refused were murdered. During the second crusade there were less Jewish killings as they received protection from numerous leaders and popes. The total of nine major crusades took place, but in between there were many others, which comparably were smaller. In the Jewish records first, second and third crusades are described as most violent, when almost a third of Jewish population was destroyed. During every crusade there were people, who would record everything that was happening in order to pass this information to the future generations. Another unfortunate fact was that not only the warriors and specially trained soldiers murdered Jews, but the simple folk also took up arms in the religious wars and used the opportunity to murder and steal (Eidelberg 79).
During the crusades Jewish people showed a lot of strength both physically and mentally. They greatly relied on their faith and were not afraid to die in its name. Sometimes there were instances when parents killed their children but it was done in a proper manner and ritual. The reason for this was to escape any harm that would be inflicted by the crusaders. Often Jewish people resisted such unfair treatment by taking up arms and fighting for their freedom, but many times they were outnumbered and defeated. The extermination of Jewish people directed by religion, Pope Urban and Christian church has had a deep impact on the Jews. The slaughter greatly weakened economic and social position of Jewish people. The development of the society and intellectual growth were somewhat halted as the wars had a great impact on the community. When the crusades were over, Jews were cleared from European countries like England, Spain, Italy and France. As Jews were driven out of many countries, they were forced to settle in other places becoming scattered all over Europe. The effects of the oppression were great but Jewish community continued their intellectual development, focusing on sciences and trade. They became very effective in money lending and this created a reputation for them that was known “far and wide”. Late in the fifteenth century they started to immigrate to Eastern Europe and were successful in establishing themselves among the nobility. Many took part in the development of industries and were very prosperous. In the time of the crusades Jewish people had many achievements in the intellectual sphere. There was a number of great thinkers as well as poets and other scholars. For example Maimonides was a philosopher who was very influential in his teachings. He was a rationalist and a physician. Yehudah Halevi was another famous man who specialized in poetry. One of the biggest achievements of Jewish people is thought to be Kabbalah, which is a teaching of secret and mystical knowledge (Eidelberg 123).
By examining the history of the world it is evident that Jewish people were constantly oppressed and mistreated. There are very many reasons. One of them is jealousy, as they are considered people of strong faith and unique knowledge. Also many people cannot do with the fact that Jesus Christ was born in the Jerusalem, as if supporting the view that Jewish people were a superior nation. Another reason for great religious hate is the fact that it was Jewish people who crucified Jesus Christ. This was one of the major arguments in organizing the Holy War, with the purpose to have revenge on the people for such a horrific deed. Since this fact was widely known the popes of that time felt the need to protect the Jewish people from any violence. They had documents that would outline fair treatment of the Jews, but very often these law were not abided by, as the popes had no way to control the crusaders. But in reality this fact is greatly misrepresented in the historical documents. Judea was under Roman rule at the time and so it is unclear how it is the Jewish people who are held responsible for killing the “Son of God”. Unfortunately not many people know this or think about it, and when young children are told of this story they believe that it were Jews who crucified Jesus Christ. It has become instilled in the minds of people, since this message had existed for two thousand years. Also people forget that according to the Jewish belief, crucifixion and the resurrection were a part of the great plan that God put in place, and so blame Jews for such a monstrous action. Often Jewish people were seen as the enemy of all others and Christianity, because they did not want to convert and had their own unique belief system. There were false stories that described them as enemies of the Christian religion, possessing evil powers and knowledge. The blaming of these peoples has reached such heights that every time something happened they were blamed for no reason, as being the only ones capable of evil. For example in 1144 AD a local boy was found dead in the woods:
“The town was soon in an uproar, blaming Jews for his death. Rumors soon circulated that Jews had placed a crown of thorns on William, and crucified him—an echo of the long standing indictment that Jews had killed Christ” (Mohl 120).
There were also many myths that falsely accused Jewish people of wanting to take over the world, through their secret organization. This propaganda continues to appear in the anti-Semitic literature, perverting the views of the public and easily influenced minds. Another horrible example of hatred for Jews is the most recent extermination-the holocaust. It shows how a whole nation can believe into something that is completely false. Just as in the ancient times Hitler was the voice of hate that people listened to, and this proves how influential one person’s disturbing beliefs can be. As seen from numerous examples, the hate for Jewish people is often based on a view of one person who has some sort of personal dislike towards them. But it is also clear that this hate has infiltrated human minds during many hundreds of years, based on fear, jealousy and scapegoating. A term Anti-Semitism has a long history of existence. Almost every nation at some point in time expressed hate directed towards the Jewish people. Their culture is very unique and often people are jealous of Jewish faith and closeness to God, which in turn alienates them even more, causing constant oppression. Such treatment started a long time ago, as yearly as the fourth century. The majority of people did not understand the Jewish faith and rituals, fearing the unknown. The traditions that Jews had were not widely known in the rest of the world and people made up stories that would separate and brand them as different in a negative way. In some countries Jews were allowed to practice their religion but a lot of privileges were taken away. This was done with a purpose to eventually convert Jewish people to Christian religion, as they would have no choice but to come to churches and accept the dominant faith. There were even laws that would forbid Jewish people to fix their synagogues, in the hope that they will eventually fall apart. But Jews were very persistent and strong in their beliefs, staying true to their religion and this unique quality of Jewish people and their faith was often the cause of hate. Another source of this hateful treatment, are people who wrote historical documents describing the ancient times when Jesus was crucified (Mohl 124). They would add non-existent guilt to the Jews that perverted the way they were seen by other nations. It is clear that the repetition of this unfair and unsupported view towards Jewish people has reached the modern times, being extremely hard to root out.
There is no denying that for the longest time Jewish people were wrongfully represented in the history writings and stories. It seems that these records would teach people how wrong they were and continue to be, but the case is quite the opposite, leaving it to the future generations to change unfairly instilled views about the Jewish people.
References
Chazan, Robert. European Jewry and the First Crusade, California, United States:University of California Press, 1987. Print.
Eidelberg, Shlomo. The Jews and the Crusaders, New Jersey, United States: University of Wisconsin Press, 1977. Print.
Mohl, Allan. “The Evolution of Anti-Semitism: Historical and Psychological Roots.” Journal of Psychohistory 39.2 (2011): 115-128. Print.
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