The Jews of Medieval Germany
Medieval Germany
The Empire in Rome at the time of entry of Jews was such that everybody had freedom of movement. Jews as well a Christians could move freely as they wished without any form of discrimination. Although many Jews were bought as slaves, they eventually became free and could move around the empire freely.
Germany as a country is said to have rich history of Jews. However it is also the country where Jews were killed in great masses during the reign of Nazi as we shall see later in this discussion. Germany is also the only European country that provided the best environment for Jews to accumulate wealth and prosper especially during the 19th century. Jews from America and Poland fled to Germany when they faced opposition in their native countries. Jews were first recorded to exist in Germany in the 4th century. It thus seems ironical when we view Germany through the lens and see that the same place where Jews were provided with home is the same country where misery and massive killings began.
During the first migration of Jews to Europe, there was no Christianity. Although not much is known about the Jews who migrated first to Germany, the 8th century is known to have been the century when there were large numbers of Jews in the country. For the bigger part of their life Jews in Germany were able to relate well with Christians. During that time Jews were allowed to have equal opportunities as Christians. They would work in whatever offices they wished, hold positions in public offices, take possession of land. However despite the good and seemingly smooth relationship between these two religions Germany like all other countries of the world during this period experienced some problems. There was disunity in the country as Germany at this time had various tribes. There were various civil wars between the Christians and the Jews. By this time the Christians had come with their own coded laws which gave the impression that Jews were to be treated as outcasts and that they were hated by everybody.
The Christians went to great efforts to have everybody seclude themselves from the Jews. This made the civil wars even worse with the Jews attempting to fight for their rightful position in the society. The attempt by the Christians however did not bear much fruits as this is also the time that Germany as a country was experiencing financial crisis and fluctuations in the political arena.
Most of the Jews in Germany were assimilated into the cultures and traditions of Germany. They were given full citizenship as though they were born in the country and they were treated equally with the natives. Most natives however did not find this idea agreeable and they opposed it heavily. However, the Chancellor of Germany at the time Ottovon Bismarck gave directives which had to be followed whether they were agreeable or not. It was also at this time that many Jewish refugees came into the country having fled from Russia due to various orders and laws that had been introduced by the government which were anti-Jews.
The medieval period in Germany and the entire Europe was one of the most difficult for most Jews. While Jews formed a big portion of the population in Germany at the time, all of the people in power professed the Christian faith. One of the reasons why Jews were considered as great enemies of Christians is because they were seen as sympathizers of Muslims who were dire-hard enemies of Christians. Jews were therefore prevented from owning property like land and had areas that they could not be allowed to occupy. They were restricted to low class areas that were known as ghettos while the developed parts of the country were reserved fro the Christians. There was segregation against the Jews during the mediaeval period in Germany and the entire Europe.
During this period the laws that governed Christians prohibited them from lending money at an interest. However, most elites needed to borrow money for various activities. The Jews thus played a significant role as they would lend money to those who were in need of borrowing. While sometimes the Jews made money when the borrowers paid back, most of the times they lost their money if a borrower especially the king decided to throw the Jews out of the kingdom. Alternatively to avoid the debts owed to the Christians, the kings would introduce new laws which would stipulate that Christians were not under obligation to pay back the Jews. A good example was King Edward I when he borrowed money from the Jews only for him to thrown them out of his kingdom terming them as outcasts. The Jews were kept out of England for the next three hundred years and the money they had lent to the king was lost.
The Holocaust
The killing of Jews in large numbers was initiated in German. Although it is not yet clear whether it is Hitler the leader of the Germans who came up with this concept, many writers argue that, Hitler was the mastermind of Holocaust when he took office as leader of the German people. Hitler wanted the Jews to be driven out completely from Germany and be separated from totally from the natives. Within two weeks after Hitler gave the order of seclusion of Jews, the Germans were already going round burning shops and houses belonging the Jews. This seemingly harmless action escalated to greater height and before long masses of Jews was being executed mercilessly through the watch of Hitler and his assistants.
Jews in the public service lost their jobs and everything went out of hand. Jews began fleeing from the county that was initially considered as a safe haven for Jews. It was during the World War II that Hitler came up with the final leg of dittoing Jews and this came to be known as the Holocaust. It is ironical that the very hand that initially fed the Jews later came to be the very hand that brought about their misery in the end.
Categories:
0 comments:
Post a Comment