Anti Semitism Essay

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Anti-Semitism is a form of racism (prejudice against racial or ethnic groups) that assumes that being Jewish is a biological trait that can never change. Anti-Semitism commonly emphasizes the notions that Jews are bloodthirsty and power-hungry, and this racist idea portrays Semites (those descended from the original Hebrew speakers) as inhuman and dangerous. Anti-Semitism is a more radical form of Judaeophobia, which is a form of hostility toward Jews by a Christian society. Judaeophobia maintains the belief that Jews can convert to Christianity and therefore no longer be Jewish, but anti-Semitism insists that being Jewish is a biological trait that cannot be removed despite one’s religious affiliation. Long before the National Socialist party …show more content…

Instead, this document emphasized their economic and social goals, such as colonizing more land for the German population to inhabit and the establishment of a national army. While this program mentioned Jews by name several times and implied the exclusion of Jews from the German state they aspired to reform, there was no demand for the anti-Semitic violence for which the Nazi party later became infamous. The shifting nature of the Nazi party’s goals was largely due to embracing anti-Semitic ideals to win over the nation’s favor. To elaborate, since anti-Semitism existed in Europe many centuries prior to the formation of the National Socialist party, the Nazis integrated offensive anti-Semitic messages into their propaganda and policies to appeal to those Germans who already believed in anti-Jewish stereotypes. Furthermore, Nazis’ anti-Semitic messages instilled anti-Jewish beliefs in new generations of Germans, spreading a fear and hatred of Jews like wildfire. Nazis utilized anti-Semitism to cast Jews in a harmful light that uplifted the National Socialist party’s image and gave them a heroic appearance. By fueling a convincing campaign against the Jews and winning over public opinion, Nazis made the general German population more susceptible to supporting their …show more content…

Contrary to previous Nazi documents that addressed broad economic goals, the April Laws specifically targeted German Jews and their expulsion from medical and legal professions, as well as secondary schools and universities. While the April 1, 1933 boycott was an unofficially organized event led by the National Socialist party, the April Laws were formal public policy. Shortly after this legislation was enacted, the Nuremberg Laws were established in 1935. These laws capitalized on the precedents set by the 1933 April Laws; for instance, the Nuremberg Laws stripped German Jews of their German citizenship and prohibited intermarriage and sexual relations between Semites and Aryans. The combined effect of the April and Nuremberg Laws solidified the social death of German Jewry in the