Antisemitism: Hatred Of The Jewish People

“Antisemitism is the hatred of the Jewish people” (remember.org). Antisemitism from Europe still influences the way people today categorize and stereotype Jews. Jews were not liked during the late 500s because they were pawns and considered “property of the king.” Jews were often desperate for jobs, and had to serve the king as tax collectors. “Tax collectors were hated and despised because they collected taxes and payments needed to fund the Roman Empire.” (bible-history.com). Also, tax collectors were the only people in town, besides the king, who were allowed to touch and deal money. “Tax collectors were usually not very highly paid, so when they collected their taxes for Rome they would turn over the required amount of money, and whatever

The Greeks took their hatred another step and began displaying various forms of propaganda in order to turn the Church against the Jews. The Jews were depicted as devils who stole hosts and stabbed them. The Church took high offense to these claims, because the host represented the body and blood of Jesus Christ and the thought of this horror disgusted them. The Greeks unfairly translated the tax collector stereotype of stealing into their propaganda to lie about the Jews. “Jesus was a Jew, and the Greeks said that the Jews refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah” (newworldencyclopedia.org). “The Greeks exploited that Jesus was a Jew and began accusing the Jews as the people responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ”

The people of Sighet still did not listen to the hints or foreshadowing given to them about what was to come. “The Jews had the choice to listen to their fellow members who had witnessed the camps such as Moishe, but they refused to listen and ignored him” (mrsbonnerintothenight.blogspot.com). This could have been due to the fact that the Jews were unaware and unknowledgeable of what was taking place behind their backs due to the Nazis’ secrecy. The Nazis were very good at hiding the truth from the Jews of Sighet. The Jews were always uncertain of their future and existence. “The Nazis made sure to erase and extinguish all evidence of the genocide by burning the deceased bodies immediately to ashes. Various forms of coded language was used by the Nazis to give out verbal orders. This took place so that only those who could interpret the language could understand what was going on” (ushmm.org). This was a very effective fear tactic that kept the Jews and all others in the concentration camps out of the loop and scared. Many Jews described the experience as being trapped inside a nightmare; they hope it is a dream, and do not want to face the reality of what is about to happen” (mrsbonnerintothenight.blogspot.com). Self-deception was used by the Jews as well to create hope in situations where there is none” (shmoop.com). It was used to trick