Older roots · Germany · 1340s–1783
Religious accusations made a minority available for blame when disease or religious conflict frightened a wider society.
Explore GermanyPublished by WTJPublication updated
1340s–1783
Older roots · Who gets blamed?
Religious accusations made a minority available for blame when disease or religious conflict frightened a wider society.
The plague needs a culprit
During the Black Death, Jews in European communities were falsely accused of poisoning wells. In German lands and elsewhere, the rumour helped fuel massacres. A frightening disease was given a minority culprit through an older climate of religious suspicion. The accusation was evidence of the persecutors’ prejudice, never evidence that Jews had caused the plague.
Luther’s call for persecution
In 1543, Martin Luther called for measures including burning synagogues, destroying Jewish homes and restricting livelihoods. His religious authority gave these demands a powerful voice. The Reformation had not ended Christian anti-Judaism. In 2015, Germany’s Protestant church explicitly repudiated this legacy and acknowledged the harm of its later reception.
Mendelssohn argues for freedom
Moses Mendelssohn’s Jerusalem, published in 1783, argued for religious freedom and against coercion in matters of faith. He remained Jewish while participating in Enlightenment debate. His work challenged the assumption that entry into modern public life required surrendering Judaism. Jews were thinkers in the struggle over equality, not simply its objects.