This may be off-topic, but I am trying to understand how come anti-semitism grew so large. Maybe it is largely a consequence of their lack of a country of their own, after all?
There is some evidence suggesting that people in Europe felt (and may still feel) strongly attached to "their" lands and might easily come to resent significantly sized communities of "outsider" settlers. That is understandable to a point, since land was so tied to survival and arguably will always be.
Jewish people could not be counted on to fight for the Church nor for a King that was supposedly blessed by the Christian God, yet they would unavoidably need vital space, jobs, water and food, so their very presence would have some impact. They would be perceived as something of a wild card and a resources drain. Lacking a king or army of their own, they would also be conveniently unresisting targets of any expansionist or greedy rulers who would have little fear of resistance. And if human psychology did not change too much in the last thousand years or so, those who preyed upon the Jewish People can be trusted to have been their most unfatigable critics and ill-sayers.
That looks like a plausible scenario to me and would explain a lot, up to and including the decision to support a Jewish state after WW2 when there was so little interest in the idea previously, as well as the apparent resignation of many of the Jewish in accepting endless conflict.
Of course, I am guessing wild like heck. No doubt a lot of the Jewish in the forums will feel horrified or just pitied of my ignorance on the matter. If it helps any, I admit that I have no knowledge on the matter worth speaking about.
Anyway, that is my attempt at understanding anti-semitism to the best of my current knowledge. Do you see anything there that you would like to comment or correct? Or maybe I should just bring this to some other area or thread? What do you think?
You've mostly got it down, though it should be mentioned that
where the Jews were in Europe was extremely important. For instance, in Northern Germany(Hanover, Brandenburg, East & West Prussia, Pomerania, Mecklenburg and such) Jews
tended to have it pretty easy, if only because they were the most assimilated in Europe & sought to further their becoming of subjects to the various crowns.
Between 1700 and 1870 for instance, Jews in Prussia were seen by most as Prussian subjects who happen to be of the wrong faith. They helped immensely in Prussia's war efforts, and served with remarkable distinction in service to the Prussian King. A particularly wealthy Berliner(who happened to be a Jewish Woman) was given the
Order of Louise personally by King Frederich William III for her contributions to the war against Napoleon(she used her money to set up hospitals and herself would be seen in them helping with surgeries, knitting wounds and other things) and had it specially made so that it would not be a cross, so as not to offend her religious sensibilities.
It's part of the tragedy of the Holocaust that it occurred in
Germany of all places. German Jews were the most assimilated in the world. They saw themselves as Germans first and Jews second, if at all.
Also, it's perfectly fine to discuss that here Without anti-semitism one could not have the Holocaust, after all.
