Race and Ideology

Anti-semitism may be viewed as having passed through several stages: in the Middle Ages it was based essentially on a religious viewpoint, its essence being the definition of the Jew as the killer of Christ. The 16th cent Protestant reformers retained this view. Its corrollary, however, was that by accepting Christianity, the Jew could achieve a release from his special disabilities. 18th cent enlightenment was opposed to all traditional religions. It favored emancipation of the Jew, but demanded that he abandon his `superstitious' religion in favor of the worship of Reason & the Supreme Being. Because of their association in the public mind with usury, Jews were generally regarded as socially harmful. By the 19th cent, the image of the Jew shifts towards one which defines him as not being able to participate in the community of the nation, ie, as un-German. By the 2nd half of the 19th cent, race becomes the new criterion by which a Jew is defined. Racism rejects assimilation, & holds that Semitic blood can corrupt the purity of the nation, & that blood determines culture, creativity, & character. At this time (circa 1880), the ideal of eliminating Jews from Europe is already suggested. Racist ideas are popularized among other ways through novels, of which A. Dinter's SIN AGAINST THE BLOOD is an ideal example,. This work elaborately shows the dangers of racial intermixture, & also develops a very popular theme of 19th & 20th cent anti-semitism, the idea of an organized internat'l Jewish conspiracy, aiming at world domination. These racists ideas were held in the 19th cent by a lunatic fringe. In the 20th cent, the heirs of this group came into power in Germany, &, fully accepting these ideas, drew from them the logical conclusion of genocide. AA.