Antisemitism Before the Nineteeth Century - 766 Words

Before the nineteenth century antisemitism was largely religious, based on the belief that the Jews were responsible for Jesus crucifixion. It was expressed later in the Middle Ages by persecutions and expulsions, economic and personal restrictions. After Jewish emancipation during the enlightenment, religious antisemitism was slowly replaced in the nineteenth century by racial prejudice, stemming from the idea of Jews as a distinct race. In Germany theories of Aryan racial superiority and charges of Jewish domination in the economy and politics in addition with other anti-Jewish propaganda led to the rise of antisemitism. This growth in antisemitic belief led to Adolf Hitlers rise to power and eventual extermination of nearly six million Jews in the holocaust of World War II. (holocaust encyclopedia) Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 in the small Austrian border town of Braunau am Inn. He was the fourth child of an Austrian customs official. The family was comfortable although not wealthy. His father was a man of bad temper and his mother was depicted as a woman of gentleness and devotion to her children. As a child, Hitler was an average student. When he was 16 years old, he dropped out of school. He later turned to art such as drawing and redesigning the city of Linz on paper. In 1907 Hitler relocated to Vienna where he had planned to study art. He was later rejected and began to live a life of poverty. His family sent him money to support himself throughout his