History Courses For Dr. Christopher C. Lovett
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History Courses For Dr. Christopher C. Lovett |
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Updated as of 2 October 05 Today in History: On October 2, 1780, Major John Andrι, a British spy associated with Benedict Arnold, was executed on this day in history. Quote of the Day: "In my view we are much worse off now than when we went into Iraq. This is not a partisan position. I voted for these guys." A senior figure at a military-sponsored think tank as told to James Fallows in "Bush's Lost Year" in The Atlantic Monthly (Oct. 2004) Take the Ann Coulter Quiz Where are you politically? Take the Neocon Quiz and find out. "History is Far too Important to be left to History Professors" Teaching isn't such a novel idea
Bibliography:
History of Disease Contemporary Terrorist Organizations Map of Islamic Terrorist Cells in the U.S.A.
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Anti-Semitism and the Road to the HolocaustHolocaustFall 2008General Comments The murder of European Jewry had its origins in the anti-Jewish policies that started in the early history of Church. The Nazis could point to these policies as a justification for their own behavior. All of which contributed to the road to extermination. Combined with the prevailing racialist world view that found its way into science and medicine the Holocaust would become a foregone conclusion.Purpose The objective is to look at the early Christian precedents and they role played in the tragedy we know as the Holocaust. We should remember that Jews for centuries have been victims of Christian persecution. We should ask, what was the purpose of those persecutions? What were the aims of those who pressed for conversion?Impact of those Persecutions We should remember that Jews have been victims of horrible persecutions. But why were they persecuted for in the first place? How did Jews respond? Where did they go?The Hilberg ModelStarting at the Beginning We should realize that the first anti-Jewish policy did not start with the Nazis. Throughout Western history the persecutions came in three waves. The first wave started nearly four centuries after Christ. Beginning in the time of Constantine, when Christian Church got a leg up as the official religion in the Roman Empire.The Early Role of the Catholic Church The early Church fathers demanded adherence to the Church. The goal of believers was to have unbelievers accept Church principles. This was done through conversion. The Church believed that Christianity was the only true religion. The ONLY religion. Jews would have to convert.Jews and the Early Christians Saw Christians as part of a Jewish sect. Since the first Christians followed Jewish law. But the early Christians just adopted some non-essential practices. But problems emerged when the Christians did accepted some bizarre practices. Like elevating Christ to Godhood.The Jews and the Christian God To the Jews there was only one God. That God is invisible. He is a jealous God. And there could be no others. He is no Christ and Christ is not Him. From that time onward Christianity and Judaism were irreconcilable.Christian Hopes of Jews Abandoning Judaism Ever since antiquity and well into the Middle Ages, Jews did not abandon Judaism. With escalating pressure the Church thought the Jews would see the error of their ways. Soon the Church would use every means possible to have obstinate to convert. The Church never permitted put on individual Jews. But the clergy put pressure on the whole Jewish population.The Official Policies of the Catholic Church The first was to force Jews to convert. The purpose was to rescue or to save non-believers. It was thought that non-believers would experience the pits of hellfire. It was the duty of believers everywhere from keeping that from happening. The early Christians believed that they were the one, true religion.How Did The Church Do It? The standard method was to use patience and persistence. Jews were not convinced and moved towards force. The early Papacy did not permit pressure against individual Jews, instead, they used pressure on the Jewish community.Impact on the Jews If a Jew accept Christ, he lost his/her identity. Abandoning Judaism was not an easy matter. Individual Jews actively resisted attempted conversion regardless of the time period.The Churchs Defensive Measures To combat the Jews the Church adopted defensive measures against them. Believing that the faithful need to be protected against the Jews. How did it work? Intermarriage was prohibited. Discussion of religion was forbidden. The Talmud was burned. Jews were barred from public office.The Need for Religious Purity If if a Jew converted, there were grades of new Christians Half New Christian, Quarter New Christian, One-Eighth New Christian. In Spain certificates of purity were issued. If conversion failed the Church would take more drastic measures.The Church Sees No Other Option The Church feels that they have no other option. To many, the Jews were too dangerous to have around. Some, event he Protestant Martin Luther, felt that the Jews were blind. The Church had invested to much over the last 1,200 years.What Else Can Be Done? Between 1100 to 1600 the Jews of England, France, Germany, Spain, Bohemia, and Italy were given the choice of expulsion and conversion. Expulsion became the second Anti-Jewish policy in history.Expulsion The initial expulsions happened before the rise of nation-states. With previous policies conversion expulsion was an indication of a failed policy. King Philip Augustus of France expelled the Jews from France in 1182, gaining the support of the Church. Edward I expelled the Jews from England in 1290. Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492.The Blood Libel One of the main charges against the Jews was the blood libel. The blood libel is an allegation that a particular group was involved in a form of human sacrifice. Often involving children. While many groups were charged with the blood libel, for the most part Jews were saddled with this canard.The Allegations The standard was that Jews killed Christian children. Used their blood to make Passover matzohs. Variations of this charge was around since the first century C.E. And would continue into the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Map of Expulsion of Jews in Regions of EuropeThe Ghetto of Rome One method of further control was the establishment of the ghetto. Earlier Jews lived freely in Rome ever since antiquity. But all of that changed by Pope Paul IV who introduced the Papal Bull Cum nimis absurdum. Which meant Since it is absurd and utterly inconvenient that the Jews, who through their own fault were condemned by God to eternal slavery .... This allowed the Church to openly restrict the Jews even further.The Persecutions Continued Jewish males had to wear a yellow hat. Jewish women had to wear a yellow kerchief. Sometimes they also had to wear a yellow badge as well. Why yellow? Yellow in the Middle Ages was considered a sign of worthlessness. Jews were limited in where they could reside. What they can do.If That Was Not Enough They had to attend a required sermon on the Jewish Shabbat. Where they were attacked by the Church The Jews were forbidden of owning real estate outside of the ghetto. Practice medicine among Christians. Employee Christian women of childbearing years as a maid Higher education was prohibited. Entry into the fields of law, pharmacy, notary, design, and painting was closed to Jews. Jews could not rent property outside of Ghetto with the approval of the Cardinal Vicar.Jews and Taxes within the Rome Ghetto Besides the other discriminatory practices, the Jews had to pay taxes and other fees/fines. The Jews had to pay a yearly stipend for the upkeep of the Catholic Church that maintained the Ghetto. A yearly sum, 5,250 Lira, had to be paid to the Roman Catholic Church to finance the missionary work among the Jews in Rome. Likewise, additional funds had to be provided for those Jews who had already converted.The Background for Nazi Persecution When the Church said that the Jews do not have the right to live among us. The Nazis said the Jews have no right to live. The medieval Church used forced conversions to drive Jews into exile. The Nazis wanted to complete the process.Elements that Aided Nazi Persecution The Administration Process. The Germans were more efficient than other persecutors. The industrial component made this possible. Especially during World War I. It made the persecutors desensitized to the rouge violence of the period. Two other issues dramatize the link between the Church and Nazi persecutions the Yellow Star and ghettoizing the Jews.Sample of Church and Nazi Persecutions Prohibition of intermarriage and of sexual intercourse between Christians and Jews. Jews and Christians not permitted to eat together. Jews not permitted to employ Christian servants. Jews not permitted on the streets during Passion Week. Burning of the Talmud. Marking of Jewish clothes with a distinctive badge. Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor (Sept. 15, 1935) Jews denied the right to dinning cars (Dec. 30, 1939) Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor. Decree baring Jews from the street on Nazi holidays. Book burnings in Germany. Decree of September 1,1941.Raul Hilbergs Position He argued that when Hitler raised the Jew as a threat, many Germans were already programmed to accept that view. When Hitler went further and proclaimed that the Jews should be punished, the German public would agree. This is getting close to Goldhagens argument of eliminationist Anti-Semitism. The key was Martin Luther.Germans and Martin Luther Many knew about his writings including The Jews and their Lies. Here Luther outlined his case against the Jews. They wanted to rule the world. They were arch-criminals. They were both a plague and a misfortune. The seeds were sown for what would follow.Background The Jews had developed a clear pattern to external persecution throughout history that have lasted for 2,000 years. Often the term Jews refers to those who experienced the Diaspora, the expulsion of the Jews from Palestine, long before the creation of the modern state of Israel. The Jews are a rebellious lot. When the Jews of Palestine were revolting against the Romans, the Jews of Alexandria were doing the same. How did Jews of the Diaspora respond to persecution?How did Diaspora Jews Respond to Persecution Prior to the Holocaust? Resistance Alleviation Evasion Paralysis ComplianceExamples of Historical Alleviation to Persecution A Standard course was ransom, petitions, and protection payments. In 1942, Bulgarian Jews petitioned the authorities not to be removed from their apartments. In the Middle Ages, the Jews of Nurnberg paid 80,000 Guilders to stop a pogrom (Duke received 15,000 and his agent 4,000). The same would happen in Slovakia and Hungary to stop the transports east. Sometimes the victims, seeing no avenue of escape, complied with the wishes of the persecutors.Other Forms of Alleviation Rescue and Relief were other approaches to the same effort to end the persecutions. Often this was lead by Prominent Jews. They raised money from the outside to encourage immigration. In the 1860s, German Jews raised money to protect and help Russian Jews. Following the persecution, there would be Reconstruction to restore the damaged or destroyed Jewish community.The Evasion Reaction This was not as marked as alleviation. Jews rarely fled in the wake of a pogrom. Instead they lived through it. They survived and this too shall pass.Paralysis This happens when there is no avenue of escape or all else fails. Likewise, the persecutor finds strength from the inability of the victim to flee. This happened to World Jewry between 1941-42, when the decisions were being made for the Final Solution. The final action was compliance best seen with the establishment of the Judenrat or Jewish Councils that worked with the Germans in the Ghettos.
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