Why Did Most of Europe hate the Jews in WW-II

[Mathguy]

Antlered, you never responded as to why you applauded when someone lied to you that Stalin was a jew....

[sheena12]

The Holocaust, as opposed to other atrocities committed by one group or nationality against another, was different in many ways.

One way in which it was different was that it is the first atrocity that was perpetrated upon several groups of innocent citizens as a result of their ethnicity, religion, beliefs or abilities that was documented on film. I never saw the persecution of the Protestant Hugonautes in France(of whom I am a decedent) by the Roman Catholic church, or the burning of "witches". I never met a person who was a victim of Caligula or the other leaders of ancient Rome. I never saw any one being drawn and quartered, or tortured on the rack. I know and believe that these events took place, but I never met a survivor of these horrors, nor did I ever see a film of them. Or a photograph.

My Grandmother lived in a part of NYC that was mostly Jewish. My grandmother was a practicing Evangelical Lutheran, as I am. One weekend in the 1960s I was visiting my grandmother at her home on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. We went shopping and after that we decided to have lunch. We went to the local Jewish deli where I ordered a pastrami sandwich on rye. The man who was preparing my sandwich seemed to be missing an eye, I was about six and this looked scary to me. He also had a large scar from his nose to above his eyebrow. The scar crossed his damaged eye. His missing eye. While he prepared my sandwich I also noticed that he had letters and numbers on his inner fore arm. I remember that the first letter was an "A." I was curious and began to say "Grandma! why does he have letters on his..." My grandmother covered my mouth with her hand,

"Shhhh!" she hissed. The man overheard and said "Once I was in a prison, but now I am OK! I am glad to be in New York!" Although he was missing an eye, and was maimed and tattooed - he was first concerned that I not be frightened. As I grew older I would learn that this man lost his wife and his two little girls. The Nazis had tattooed Swastikas on his torso.

This was all calculated and depraved. It was and remains in my mind the single worst and most horrible incident in modern times. Why would a country such as Germany, suddenly decide to "go medieval" on a whole slew of people? Why would they perform ghastly medical experiments on men women and children? Why would men who had attended University and church suddenly think it OK to toss an infant in the air and stab it with a bayonet?

It is way beyond my comprehension and the comprehension of many many people. There is no "folk lore" surrounding the Holocaust. These acts of barbarism were not part of war.I am not a Jew, a union member, a socialist, a Roma person, a Jehovah's witness, a disabled person or a homosexual. I am also not an intellectual.

I AM a human being. And as such, I must defer to my humanity over my race, occupation or religion.
The NAZI holocaust was an event that is and for ever will be abhorrent to all human beings.
As long as I am alive, I will do my best to keep the truth of this horrific event alive.
Former President Dwight D Eisenhower, himself of German decent, made sure that these atrocities,these death camps, ovens and piles of emaciated, dead human beings be preserved because he feared that future generations "would not believe that it took place, or would minimize what took place. President Eisenhower was a visionary, because what he predicted seems to be occurring today.

[Egobop]

I have read many posts in this thread and not very many are actually trying to answer the question in the original post. I have read some some posts here saying that the Jews were hated throughout Europe due to the fact that they killed Jesus. For the majority, I believe this was not the reason.

The Jews were disliked in many countries throughout Europe for many years before World War 2. If you read many history books you will find that at the time banks began in Europe they were considered a "dirty" business by many Christians and so in many of these countries (Germany being one of them) Jews were given jobs such as book keeping and banking. In the times of Bismark the Jews were running most of the money in the country and people began to hate them for this. Before WW 2 the Jews were hated in Germany loathed for having money (of course not all of them did, but just as today many people saw (see) them as money hungry. Naturally when the economies in these countries went bad it was easy for people to assume that the Jews who run the money were the cause. Of course this is a brief description and more was involved in the hatred of Jews during the time period but this is a major factor.

Of course, the people at the time did not bother to think about how the Jews were pretty much forced into the position of handling money when they began doing so. They just knew that the "evil" Jews were in charge of a lot of the finances at the time. It is much easier for people to blame and hate others for their problems and this is something that has not changed and never will.

[sheena12]

Jews simply performed the professions and tasks that Christians at the time felt were in conflict with their faith. They were in most places, prohibited from owning land, so farming was out.

They new how to read and write. Something that was denied Christians before the Reformation and the invention of the Gutenberg Press. Jews did what they needed to do in order to survive.
Very simple. That is why Jews to this day are active in business and the professions.

[linicx]

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