Drama
Literature
Music
Visual Arts

Maps

Room 1
Links

Primary Resources

Artifacts
Documents
Periodicals

Testimonies

Edie L.
Frank S.
Lisl S.
Marietta D.
Nechama T.

Related Topics

Judaism

Related Links

Antisemitism
Arts
History

Teaching Tips

Antisemitism

Teaching Resources

Antisemitism

Glossary

Sunshine State Standards

History Wing

Timeline for Room 1: Antisemitism

Image

Date

Description

1313
B.C.E.

Exodus from Egypt—The story told in the Torah that describes the flight of the Hebrew people out of the Nile Valley through the Sinai until they crossed into Canaan, the promised land.

Map: Shows the route of the Exodus of Jews. From www.bible.ca

Topic: PreRoman

922
B.C.E.

King of Judah established Israelites to be known as Jews—The Israelites had been divided into the Northern and Southern empires. When the Assyrians destroyed the Northern Empire, the remaining Israelites in the Southern Empire, around the area of Judea, became known as the Jews.

Map: The divided Kingdom, 10th-6th Century B.C.E.
From www.israel.org/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0dsx0

Topic: PreRoman

826
B.C.E.

The Holy Temple completed. The first temple built by King Solomon in Jerusalem executing the idea of his father, King David.

Image: Illustration of the Holy Temple.

Topic: PreRoman

587
B.C.E.

Destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple, spiritual center of the Jewish people)—After the revolt of Jews had been suppressed, Nebuchadnezzar’s forces sacked Jerusalem. The temple was stripped and burned. The structure, central to the Jewish people for 370 years, had been destroyed. The destruction of the temple marks the beginning of the Babylonian Captivity forcing Jews into the diaspora away from their homeland in Judea.

Image: From http://www.ou.org/torah/tt/5763/tzav63/mikdash.htm

Topic: PreRoman

333
B.C.E.

The first Jews settled in Europe after the conquest of Alexander the Great—During the reign of Alexander the Great and the period of the Successor States, there were significant population movements of all kinds of peoples. They were all united by the commonality of language—Greek was spoken by all educated people; the other major language was Aramaic, spoken widely in the mercantile world as the daily language of the Holy Land. The very location of Jerusalem was critical to trade between East and West in the empire.

Image: Alexander the Great. During his reign, the first Jews came to Europe.

Topic: PreRoman

30
C.E.

Death of Jesus—Jesus was crucified by the Romans under the orders of Pontius Pilate. Crucifixion was a Roman punishment, not a Jewish one. Jewish punishment for heresy at this time was stoning.

Painting: "White Crucifixion" by Marc Chagall, 1938, oil on canvas, Art Institute of Chicago

Topic: Roman Empire

70
C.E.

Destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple, spiritual center of the Jewish people)—Since the early years of the Common Era (C.E.) there had been increasing antagonism between Jewish zealots in Jerusalem and Roman leadership. This antagonism escalated under the reign of the Roman Emperor Caligula. Between 66 C.E. and 70 C.E. the zealots launched the Great Revolt against Roman domination. The Romans responded by crushing the revolt and destroying the second temple in 70 C.E. Historians estimate that almost a million Jews died during the Great Revolt. The era of Jewish homelessness dates from the destruction of the second temple.

Top image: Arch of Titus in Rome. This depicts the destruction of the second Beit HaMikdash (Temple) in 70 C.E. Bottom image: Destruction of the Second Temple.

Topic: Roman Empire

800
C.E.

Charlemagne (768-814 C.E.) grants equal rights to Jews—Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the pope on Christmas Day 800 C.E. and took control of all Europe, except Britain, Spain and Scandinavia. Charlemagne encouraged a cultural renaissance in his birthplace, Aachen, and rewarded his allies with large grants of land in Europe. Jews were granted equal rights with other citizens in the empire, and Charlemagne prevented the Church from making excessive demands on Jews. Charlemagne viewed Jews as an economic asset for the empire and protected Jewish culture and commerce. The coronation of Charlemagne confirmed the division between the West and East. The Emperor of Constantinople regarded Charlemagne a usurper and resented the papal support of Charlemagne. Charlemagne overextended his empire. After his death nobles squabbled among themselves and greatly weakened the power and unity of the empire. The rights that Jews had enjoyed under Charlemagne were also eradicated with the changing political climate.

Image: Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (768-814 C.E.)

Topic: Roman Empire

1096
C.E.

The First Crusade began—The preaching of Pope Urban II and Christian clergy urged Christians to go to the Holy Land to fight the Muslims. Some clergy urged Christians to cleanse their homelands of the infidels, Jews, before proceeding to the Holy Land.

Top map: The Crusades (from http://www.loyno.edu/~seduffy/CrusadesMap.html
Bottom image: From Battles of the Crusades.

Topic: Crusades

1135
C.E.

Maimonides was born—Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) was a Spanish and Egyptian rabbinic authority, philosopher and physician. He was one of the greatest post-talmudic scholars and exerted considerable influence on contemporary Jewish thought. His works provided an intellectual and practical program for Judaism. He used reason but acknowledged the limits of reason. Man, according to Maimonides, attains his greatest level by balancing reason and piety.

Image: Moses Maimonides, one of the greatest and most influential post-talmudic scholars.

Topic: Crusades

1144
C.E.

The first recorded blood libel—During the Second Crusade the rumor that Jews murdered Christian children and used their blood to make matzoh (unleavened bread) for Passover became popular belief. The first instance occurred in Norwich, England where the tanner’s apprentice, William, had been found dead in the woods; his death was blamed on Jews. It was reported that William had been kidnapped, tied to a cross, stabbed in his head to simulate the crown of thorns on Jesus and drained of blood. The child’s blood was purportedly mixed into matzoh. These charges were a replay of the crucifixion of Jesus—a Christian child murdered in a ritual to mock the Christian ritual of the Eucharist. William became St. William of Norwich. Many Christians made pilgrimages to his tomb where it is believed that miracles have occurred.

Image: Myth of the blood libel. Jews were accused of killing Christian children to use their blood for preparing matzoh for Passover.

Topic: Crusades

1177
C.E.

There was a ritual murder charge against the Jews of Blois—Jews in Blois, France were accused of the ritual murder of a Christian child. All Jews in the town (approximately 33 men and 17 women) were tortured and burned alive.

Image: Antisemitic pamphlet. Illustration of a ritual murder of a Christian boy, a crime imputed to the Jews. From http://www.judengasse.de/ehtml/Z404.htm

Topic: Crusades

1215
C.E.

Pope Innocent III charged Jews with deicide—During the era of Innocent III, anti-Jewish laws were passed. Jews were required to wear a yellow badge and were prohibited from holding public office. On the other hand, Innocent III issued a papal bull indicating that it was wrong to kill Jews, for Jews must “survive” to remind Christians of divine law. However, Jews must live in shame as “outcasts until they seek the name of Jesus the Lord.”

Image: Pope Innocent III. Responsible for charging the Jews with the crucifixion of Jesus. Convened Fourth Lateran Council.

Topic: Crusades

1242
C.E.

Massive burning of copies of the Talmud in Paris, France—The Dominican and Franciscan monastic orders had sought to convert Jews to Christianity but found it impossible to achieve their goals. It was believed that the Talmud denigrated Jesus and his mother and thus prevented Jews from converting to Christianity. Thus, in 1242, in the Parisian plaza near the Hotel de Ville, “twenty-four carts piled high with volumes of the Talmud were taken out to a public square in Paris and the precious loads were consigned to the flames.”

Diaspara, The Post-Biblical History of the Jews, Werner, Keller. p. 225.

Image: During these times, book burnings by the Catholic Church was common. The painting on the left depicts Saint Dominic conducting a book burning in 1207, in Albi, France, where the Saint proved to the heretics that their books containing heretic ideas do not pass the trial by fire while the Catholic books fly up from the bonfire undamaged. "St. Dominic and the Albigenses," was created by Pedro Berruguete in 1480 and is now owned by the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Topic: Crusades

1290
C.E.

Jews were expelled from England—On July 18 an Act of the King in Council during the reign of Edward I ordered all Jews to leave England by November 1, 1290. Those remaining were to be executed. Most English Jews fled to France; some fled to Germany and Spain. Edward I was the first ruler in this era to order Jews to leave; these measures were followed in France a century later and in Spain two centuries later. Preceding the expulsion, there had been numerous accusations of Jews engaged in blood libel.

Image: King Edward I of England. Responsible for the expulsion of Jews from England in 1290 C.E.

Topic: Crusades

1298
C.E.

The charge of host desecration against Jews in Bavaria—The charge that the host (a wafer believed to become the actual body of Christ during the mass for Christians) was desecrated by Jews led to the massacre of approximately 3400 Jews in Bavaria. According to popular beliefs, desecration of the host could be carried out in a variety of ways: pins could be stabbed into the host, a knife could stab the host until Jesus’ blood leaked out, or the host could be nailed in a symbolic replay of the crucifixion.

Top Image: The Miracle of the Desecrated Host was painted by Uccello in Urbino between 1465 and 1469 as the predella for the altarpiece showing the Communion of the Apostles that Justus of Ghent (Joos van Wassenhove) painted in 1472 for the church of Corpus Domini in Urbino. The predella tells the antisemitic legend through six episodes. The six scenes are not unanimously attributed to Paolo Uccello. Bottom image: The Host and wine goblet at Catholic Mass.

Topic: Crusades

1348
C.E.

Jews were blamed for the Black Plague—The plague which resulted in the death of a third of the population of Europe during the fourteenth century was a natural disaster that led to a number of efforts among Christians to prepare for the last days before total destruction. As part of this preparation, it was considered important to compel Jews to convert to Christianity. Jews were under suspicion during this era since their food and sanitary habits helped them survive more than other groups. Popular rumors among the peasantry were that Jews caused the plague by poisoning the wells, and communities could only be safe if Jews were removed.

Image: "Flagellants." During the 14th century, the Jews were blamed for the Black Plague, and Christian communities sought to purge themselves of Jews in their midst.

Topic: Crusades

1394
C.E.

Jews were expelled from France—Charles VI ordered Jews to leave France, and many sought refuge in Spain. Jews were not allowed to return to France until the eighteenth century. During the French Revolution (starting in 1789), Jews were granted civil and political rights as French citizens.

Image: King Charles VI of France. Ordered the Jews to leave France in 1394 C.E.

Topic: Crusades

1480
C.E.

The beginning of the Spanish Inquisition—The Dominican friar Tomas de Torquemade headed the Inquisition in 1480, designed to seek out heretics in the Church. Although Jews were not specifically targeted for the Inquisition, Jews who had converted to Christianity (converses) were suspected as being insincere in their conversion.

Image: Torture was used on suspected heretics to gain confessions. Those of Jewish ancestory were among those tortured.

Topic: Spanish Inquisition

1492
C.E.

Jews were expelled from Spain and Italy—The Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, issued an edict for the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Their rationale was that the order would protect conversos (Jews who had converted to Christianity) from being drawn back to Judaism. “We have arrived at the conclusion that the only efficacious means to put an end to these evils consists in definite breaking off of all relations between Jews and Christians, and this can only be obtained by their expulsion from our kingdom.” Jews sought refuge in the Netherlands, North Africa, the Ottoman Empire and Central Europe.

Image: Edict of Expulsion 1492. Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Spain.

Topic: Spanish Inquisition

1496

Jews were expelled from Portugal—After Jews were expelled from Spain, many sought refuge in Portugal where they were again quickly expelled.

Map: Portugal

Topic: Spanish Inquisition

1543

Martin Luther published “Concerning the Jews and their Lies”—In the early years of the Reformation, Martin Luther believed that Jews would convert to his reformed Christianity that went back to the original sources. The failure of Jews to convert led to Luther’s harsh attack on Jews, predicting they would be annihilated. In 1994 the Lutheran Church officially condemned Luther’s attacks on the Jews.

Image: Martin Luther. Published "Concerning the Jews and Their Lies" which proposed measures for persecuting the Jews.

Topic: Reformation

1648

Chmielnicki Massacres in Russia and Poland—The Union of Poland and Lithuania in 1569 prompted Polish nobles to create large estates in the Ukraine. Jews often served as middlemen for the Polish lords and were hated by the local peasantry for their work on behalf of foreign lords. By 1640, there were 50,000 Jews in the Ukraine. In the spring of 1648, Bogdan Chmielnicki united the Ukrainian peasantry against their Catholic Polish rulers and the Jews. The peasants’ anger was particularly directed against Jews since they had more direct contact with Jews than they did with their Polish landowners. It is estimated that almost a quarter of all Jews living in Poland were killed, and many others were left homeless.

Map: Chmielnick's Massacre 1648

1654

The first Jews settled in New Amsterdam in the New World—In September 1654, twenty three Jewish refugees arrived in New Amsterdam from Brazil. They had originally settled in Brazil, as Dutch citizens but they were forced to flee when the Portuguese took over Dutch colonies, including Brazil. Even though the Jews arriving in New Amsterdam were Dutch citizens, settlers in New Amsterdam opposed their presence. Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of New Amsterdam, petitioned the Dutch West India Company to ban Jews from New Amsterdam, claiming that “the deceitful race—such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ—be not allowed to further infect and trouble this new colony. . . .” The Dutch West India Company refused to ban Jews because they had substantial capital invested in the company. The company also granted Jews full political and civil liberties in New Amsterdam but specifically prohibited their right to carry on their religion in synagogues or gatherings.

Image: Peter Stuyvesant, Governor of New Amsterdam

1776

Americans declared their independence from Great Britain—The Declaration of Independence set forth premises of tolerance for all religions which were later embodied in the Constitution.

Image: Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776). Pivotal document in American History that proclaimed independence for the 13 colonies from Great Britain.

1789

French Revolution began—Liberty and Equality for all citizens was the hallmark of the revolution. However, there was considerable debate in the newly created National Assembly about the status of Jews in the new French nation.

Image: Fall of the Bastille, July 14, 1789. Angry mob captured royal prison in Paris, France.

Topic: Enlightenment

1791

Jews were granted full citizenship in France—On September 28, 1791, the French National Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the applicability of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen to the Jews, thereby granting emancipation to Jews. The Jacobin leader Duport spoke forcefully on behalf of this resolution prior to the vote at the National Assembly:

Image: Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, 1789. This declaration emancipated Jews in the French Republic. Jews gained citizenship and equal rights with other French citizens.

Topic: Enlightenment

1804

The Pale Settlement—Before the partitions of Poland in the late eighteenth century, the Russian Czars sought to keep Jews out of Russia. However the partitions of Poland between Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Prussia led to the incorporation of millions of Jews within the Russian Empire. The Czars responded by restricting Jews to certain areas known as the Pale of Settlement. Also, the Czars sought to undermine the Jewish way of life and to encourage assimilation within the empire. Some nineteenth century Czars were more liberal in their approach and took measures to protect Jews from excessive persecution.

Map: The Pale Settlement (1835-1917) had been established in 1791 by Czar Elizabeth II. © Copyright American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, Reprinted with permission.

Topic: Enlightenment

1812

Jews were emancipated in the German state of Prussia—Liberal reforms were introduced in countries conquered by Napoleon. Although Prussia never came under French rule, Frederick William III of Prussia granted full civic rights to Jews. Jews were still restricted from the officer corps. After the defeat of Napoleon, the decree pertaining to Jewish rights was amended to restrict Jews from holding public office. No other German state at this time extended as many liberties to Jews.

Image: Napoleon Boneparte I (1769-1821) Emperor of France.

Topic: Emancipation

1858

Jews were granted citizenship in Great Britain—Through the nineteenth century there had been a series of legislative acts leading to the emancipation of Jews. In 1858, Jews were no longer required to take a Christian oath in order to hold public office. This removed a serious barrier to Jews’ involvement in British public life.

Map: England and Wales in 1832. Courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Topic: Emancipation

1859

Jews were granted citizenship in Italy.

Map: Depiction of the Unification of Italy 1859-1870.

Topic: Emancipation

1871

Jews were granted citizenship in Germany—The creation of the German nation-state in 1871 led to the full emancipation of Jews in all German states. Jews quickly benefited from their new status, and thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe flocked to the west. Despite emancipation, most German states continued to restrict Jews from positions in the officer corps, prestigious administrative posts and foreign service. The essential paradox of emancipation of Jews in Germany is that their opportunities to engage in capitalism led to the popular conception of Jews as parvenus—outsiders who tried to become part of the society.

Photo: Jews were granted citizenship in Germany in 1871. Two German families are shown.

Topic: Emancipation

1879

Wilhelm Marr coined the term anti-Semitism—Marr’s publication entitled The Victory of the Jews over Germany argued that the antisocial traits of Jews were due to their blood. Marr believed that everything in Germany was threatened by the Jews and that they were a demonic race.

Photo: Wilhelm Marr founded the League of Antisemities and introduced the word anti-Semite to political vocabulary in 1879.

Topic: 19th Century Antisemitism

1881

First pogroms in Jewish communities of Russia—Czar Alexander II had passed a number of liberal measures for Jews. A member of the People's Will, a terrorist offshoot of the populist movement, assassinated Alexander with a hand-thrown bomb. His assassination by revolutionaries in 1881 altered the situation for Jews. There were widespread pogroms—physical assaults against Jews. His successor, Czar Alexander III, revered the liberal policies of his father’s era. Czar Alexander III reduced the power of the zemstvos (local assemblies) and the judiciary, increased controls over the peasantry, subjected the national minorities to forcible Russification and persecuted all religious minorities, especially the Jews. Many Jews sought to leave Russia to avoid further violence and persecution.

Image: Alexander II, 1818–81, Czar of Russia (1855–81), son and successor of Nicholas I.

Topic: 19th Century Antisemitism

1894

The Dreyfus Affair occured in France—Captain Alfred Dreyfus, the first Jew to serve on the general staff of the French army, was accused of providing information to the Germans. During the trial, there was widespread antisemitism in the press that enraged public opinion against Jews. Dreyfus was convicted and sent to serve his sentence at Devil’s Island. Dreysfus’ family and supporters, known as Dreyfusards, would not accept the verdict and pushed for a second trial. Meanwhile, it was discovered that Dreyfus had been falsely accused, but Dreyfus was convicted again in a second trial since the French army did not want to admit wrongdoing. It was not until 1906 that the French president finally pardoned Dreyfus. The affair elucidated the major division between antisemites who argued that the interests of France took precedence over the rights of a Jewish officer, and liberals who believed in the ideals of the French Revolution. Another legacy of the affair was the response of Theodore Herzl, a Viennese journalist who covered the trials. Witnessing the intensity of antisemitism, Herzl concluded that Jews could never be fully accepted in western society and needed their own homeland to avoid the persecution experienced in the West. Herzl’s ideas eventually become known as Zionism.

Photo: Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish Captain in the French Army, falsely accursed of treason in 1894.

Topic: 19th Century Antisemitism

1903

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was published—This document was forged by the Czarist secret police. It purported to be the record of a secret meeting of medieval rabbis who planned the conquest of Christian civilization using economic disasters, wars and revolution. Jews were said to be the force behind modernization, finance capitalism, Marxism and anarchism. After World War I, this document was translated into numerous languages and distributed throughout the world. In the United States, articles in Henry Ford’s paper, The Dearborn Independent, were influenced by the Protocols. Organizations such as the Klu Klux Klan and Father Coughlin’s Social Justice also embraced the ideas in the Protocols.

Image: "The Jewish peril. Protocols of wise Zion." The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was a forgery used to incite antisemitism about the protocols of the Elders of Zion (French edition). The Protocols discuss a Jewish plot to infiltrate sections of civilization.

Topic: 19th Century Antisemitism

1914

World War I broke out—At the outbreak of World War I, thousands of German Jews volunteered to serve in the German army; they believed they were Germans, who were Jewish by religion, and had been assimilated into German culture and society. Jews in Eastern Europe lived in several countries involved in World War I: two million Jews were in Russian Poland; one million Jews were in Galicia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, four million Jews lived in the Russian Pale of Settlement. When the war started to go badly for the Russians, there was a tendency among Russians to accuse Jews of treason.

Map: Europe in 1914 at the start of World War I.

Topic: 19th Century Antisemitism

1917

The Bolshevik Revolution—The Bolshevik leadership sought to break down divisions among ethnic minorities and called for the equality of all groups within the Soviet Union. Jews were granted full civil rights. From the Bolshevik perspective, the emancipation of Jews would hasten the process of assimilation of Jews within the new revolutionary society. Attempts by Jews to foster Jewish identity and culture were viewed as reactionary.

Photo: Street fighting during the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

Topic: 19th Century Antisemitism

1918

The surrender of the German Army—The German generals surrendered in November 1918 rather than experience defeat on the battlefield. Immediately, the myth was circulated that Germany was “stabbed in the back” by internal enemies—Jews, Communists, Socialists. Even though Jews had served loyally in the German army, antisemitic feelings in Germany were heightened by the “stab in the back” allegations. In the popular mentality, Jews were equated with Bolsheviks and were to be feared as a major threat to the survival of Germany.

Photo: Herbert and Otto Frank, Jews in the German Army 1916. From Anne Frank Center USA Web site.

Topic: Post World War 1

1935

The Nuremberg Laws—These laws defined Jews racially and segregated Jews from the German population, effectively ending the nineteenth century process of emancipation. The Nuremberg Laws returned Jews to the status of second-class citizens, whose rights and freedoms were defined by the state.

Image: Instructional Chart for Nuremberg Race Laws. issued by the Nazis to help bureaucrats and administrators distinguish Jews from Mischlinge (Germans of mixed race) and Aryans. The white figures represent Aryans, the black figures represent Jews and the shaded figures represent Mischlinge.

Topic: Post World War 1