He latched onto existing prejudices against Jews that were popular in Germany since the late 19th century. Basically those ideas were already around but Hitler amplified them like 1000%. It was convenient I guess.
this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2025
0 points (50.0% liked)
AskHistorians
1156 readers
25 users here now
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
~~since the late 19th century~~
Since the 2nd century.
They were often money lenders by trade, and I think he blamed their woes on this somehow
Antisemitism is an ancient prejudice. Reuther’s Faith and Fratricide is a good work that traces the conflict between Judaism and Christianity all the way back to the period where Christians were still Jews.
A big justifier for medieval antisemitism was the idea that the Jews had killed Jesus. See Matthew 27:22-25
Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
(Keep in mind that this story makes absolutely no sense, and was probably a later addition as Christianity became more “Romanised” and wanted to shed its more revolutionary, anti-Empire roots.)
Pogroms throughout the Middle Ages and afterwards were fairly common. Medieval Christians believed that Jews poisoned wells to spread the Black Death, that Christian infants were kidnapped for their blood to be used in matzo balls, that Jews secretly had horns… Jews were often forced to convert, see during the Reconquista where Isabella and Ferdinand ordered an expulsion from Spain of all Jews who refused.
Hitler wasn’t just randomly picking Jews. Hating Jews was an entirely mainstream thing for most of the past two millennium.
They were the political opposition, and the funding for it. He was an outsider populist. They were the establishment.
They were the establishment.
This is one of the most incorrect things anyone has ever said.
The previous government blamed Jews for losing WW1. It was called The Great Big Lie I think.
I believe youre referring to the Stab-in-the-back myth
No, Hitler blamed Jews for losing WW1. He came up with the “Great Lie.”
It was absolutely not just Hitler that manufactured the great big lie.
If anything he was a product of the great big lie.
The Jews at that point of time were viewed very similarly to how Muslims are viewed nowadays. Just like it now feels natural for many to assume that a Muslim is automatically a terrorist, back then people had very similar assumptions about Jews.
And just like nowadays populists can use "Look, a Muslim! Be scared!" as a way to get votes, back then they could do the same by saying "Look, a Jew! Be scared!"
it was an easy way to get people behind him. You can figure out what the sentiments people had towards Jewish people in 1920's were like if you just look at what the sentiments towards Muslims are in 2020's.