[Kiwiwriter]

Originally Posted by lancesergeant

Hitler attended Anton Drexler's meetings who preached anti - Jewish/ semitism. Can anyone shed on any light on why the Jews were blamed for Germany's ills. Was there a genuine belief / foundation for this or were the Jews a convenient scapegoat, at the time treated like a social underclass. I am curious as to the core reason for their doctrine- was there any basis in fact. A grain of fact to base it on. What started it all off. Had it been a social undercurrent of thought for some time or any reason better than none. It would be interesting to know what was the cause.

Anti-Semitism is often called "the oldest hatred," and the origins are very deep in Western tradition. They probably date back to the Crucifixion.

In modern terms, a lot of anti-Semitism is the result of medieval European laws that barred usury between Christians. Since Christians could not lend money, Jews carved out this profession as a niche, and were able to prosper at it. However, nobody likes pawnbrokers or moneylenders, and thus began the image of the covetous, grasping, money-obsessed Jew, which in turn became the stereotype of the conspiratorial Jewish banker.

Very sad stuff. There are a number of good books on this subject. "The Coming of the Third Reich" by Richard Evans discusses the German anti-Semitic background in detail. It pre-dated Hitler. It pre-dated the Kaisers.