From Prejudice to Destruction: Anti-Semitism, 1700–1933

408 Pages·1980·0.84 MB·English

by  Jacob Katz

JACOB KATZ
FROM PRE
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Anti-Semitism, 1700-1933
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FROM PREJUDICE
DESTRUCTION
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Anti-Semitism, 1700-1933
JACOB KATZ
Jacob Katz here presents a majorreinterpreta-
tion of modern anti-Semitism, which blends
history of ideas with social analysis. He de-
scribes the process by which a set of negative
ideas about the Jews gradually became trans-
formed and then, around 1870, picked up so
much social force as to result in the premedi-
tated and systematic destruction of the Jewish
peopleofEurope.
Mr. Katzrevises the prevalentthesis thatmedi-
evalandmodernanimositiesagainstJewswere
fundamentally different. He also rejects the
scapegoattheory, accordingtowhich theJews
weremerelyalightningrodforunderlyingeco-
nomic andsocialtensions. Onthe contrary, he
argues, there were very real tensions between
Jews and non-Jews, because the Jews were a
highlyvisible andcohesivegroupandso came
into conflict with non-Jews in competing for
socialandeconomicrewards.
Inthelate nineteenth century, Mr. Katz argues,
hatred oftheJewsshiftedfromtheirreligionto
more "essential" aspects oftheir characterand
behavior. The term "anti-Semitism," he
explains, which first came into use around
1870, wasmeanttodescribethischange. Thus,
ironically, just as Jews were being integrated
into the political state, skillful propagandists
such as Theodor Fritsch and Houston Stewart
Chamberlainwere extraordinarilysuccessfulin
spreading notions of Jewish racial inferiority
and its threat to the pure Aryan stock. And so
when Hitler came on the scene, the seeds of
racehatredwerewidelysown.
Jacob Katz is Professor Emeritus of Jewish
Educational and Social History, The Hebrew
UniversityofJerusalem. Among his previously
published books are Jews andFreemasons in
Europe, 1723-1939, and Out ofthe Ghetto:
The SocialBackground ofJewish Emancipa-
tion, 1770-1870, both published by Harvard
UniversityPress.
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From Prejudice to Destruction
Anti-Semitism, 1700-1933

From Prejudice to Destruction
Anti-Semitism, 1700-1933
Jacob Katz
Harvard University Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1980
Copyright © 1980 by Jacob Katz
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Katz, Jacob, 1904-
From prejudice to destruction.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
—
1. Antisemitism History. 1. Title.
DS145.K354 305.8'924 80-14404
ISBN 0-674-32505-2
Preface
PREJUDICE TOWARD JEWS-anti-Semitism in modern parlance-
has been strangely persistent ever since its first appearance in ancient
times. The force and universality of the anti-Jewish animus attracted the
attention ofobservers even before its deadly culmination in the Holocaust.
Since then it has become the subject of extensive historical, sociological,
and psychological research and of intensive theological and philosophical
inquiry. Most of these intellectual endeavors were prompted by the desire
to find an answer to the gnawing question of how this inhuman event,
unique in its mass dimensions and abysmal evil, could have occurred.
The present study has a less ambitious objective: to show how the
anti-Jewish animosity grew in strength, paradoxically just when in the
wake of the Enlightenment and modern rationality one might have ex-
pected it to disappear. I do not claim that such historical investigation will
satisfy the quest for ultimate explanation. It may, however, pave the way
for it or at least prevent the creation of myths, which is the easy way to
avoid facing hard facts.
I have made use ofprevious research undertaken for my book Exclu-
siueness and Tolerance: Studies in Jewish-Gentile Relations in Medieval
andModern Times (1961), and I have had at my disposalthe bestpossible
collections of source material. Besides the great treasures of the Jewish
National and University Library in Jerusalem, I consulted for over a
decade materials in the British Museum and the Wiener Library in Lon-
don, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, and the Zentralbibliothek
Preface
in Zurich. During the years 1973-1975 I enjoyed, asvisitingprofessor, the
hospitality of the university libraries of Harvard and Columbia. Some
results of my research I have published in learned periodicals; here I have
presented the conclusions most relevant tothe overalltrend ofmy studies.
The book appears almost simultaneously in Hebrew (Am Oved, Tel-
Aviv) and in English—both versions composed by the author, the English
with the gracious assistance of Rabbi Arthur Super and others.
A research grant from the American Jewish Committee facilitated the
accomplishing of the project.
J. K.
The Hebrew University ofJerusalem
1980
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