In the Jewish communities the Jews suffered from persecution and violence, such as looting of belongings and smashing the windows of Jewish owned shops. These ‘pogroms’, from a Russian word meaning a violent mass attack on a section of the community, were often condoned and encouraged by the Russian government who were more than happy to see someone else get the blame for their economic failures. Waves of pogroms broke out in 1881 and 1882, and once again between 1902 and 1905. This period in history was a testing time for the Jews within Russia. At first self-defense groups were formed and sometimes managed to drive the local hooligans and peasants away but they were always outnumbered and found it increasingly impossible to defend themselves, several hundred Jews were beaten to death in cities like Mnsk, Odessa and Bialystok.
In 1905 the Tzar’s secret police published perhaps the most notorious example of pre-Nazi anti-semitic propaganda. The ‘Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion’ put forward the notion that an organiation of elite Jews were planning to take over the world. It was a hoax but this did not stop it from being circulated throughout Europe and America and it helped fuel Nazism in the 1930’s.
Meanwhile during this period Frances Jewish population was far less than Easten Europe. French Jews had been the first in Europe to be given equal rights as citizens and enjoyed freedom throughout France. However in 1894, French Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a French Jew, was tried for high treason and sentenced to life imprisonment in total isolation on Devil’s Island, off the coast of the peal colony of French Guiana. It took many years for the truth to be known: Dreyfus was totally innocent of the crime and false evidences had been used to convict him. This high profile case highlighted the fact that anti-semitism was present in advanced Western Europe as well a more backward states of Eastern Europe.
The Jews of Germany had already been living continuously in different parts of the Germany for more than 1500 years when the German Empire was established in 1870.
Germany was created after being unified by Prussian leaders in the war between Prussia and France. Bismarck, the German leader, appreciated the contribution of the Jews to the Prussian army in the war and the opening of the Orianenburger Strasse synagogue in Berlin in 1866 was a triumphal moment for Bismarck as even then Prussian troops were heading back from Austria after defeating the Austrian army. The synagogue also showed how Jews were secure as they had ever been due to Germany following the French Revolution and emancipated Jews which allowed them to have Parliamentary democracy, equality and liberalism.
However in Germany, and all over Europe, there were new forms of anti-semitism emerging. For instance, leaders who wanted to establish colonies in Africa and Asia claimed that white were more superior than other raves and had to take over the other ‘weaker, less civillised’ races.
Judaism was also very commonly linked with socialism and communism due to the fact that the father of communism, Karl Marx, was Jewish. In fact, throughout history, Jews have always been depicted, by many people, as moneylenders. This is due to the fact that in Christian laws it states that ‘one cannot lend money at interest, so many Jews who were often short of money saw it as the perfect opportunity to make some extra money.
Both Christian middle-class Germans and Austrians were alarmed by the sudden rise in political power of the working class. They all searched for a scapegoat and the Jewish population became the obvious choice as it has so many times before in history, once again the Jews were being resented, this time it was mainly due to religious tolerance being replaced by ideas of racial superiority. The Jews were finding themselves accused of dominating and polluting the culture and business of Germany. They had to face being called an alien race and being told why they should be removed from society on an increasing basis. Famous figures in the public eye started to put forward ideas that germans were racially superior to Jews and how they wanted them to leave Germany for the good of the Germany race. One example of this was the famous composer Richard Wagner.
