Title page of Martin Luther's On the Jews and their Lies. Wittenburg, 1543

On the Jews and their Lies (German: Von den Jüden und iren Lügen; in modern spelling Von den Juden und ihren Lügen) is a 65,000-word treatise written by the German monk and church reformer Martin Luther in 1543, three years before his death. Image File history File links 1543 On the Jews and Their Lies by Martin Luther This image is a book cover. ... Image File history File links 1543 On the Jews and Their Lies by Martin Luther This image is a book cover. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... Wittenburg is a city in the district Ludwigslust in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ...

In the treatise, Luther writes that the Jews are a "base, whoring people, that is, no people of God, and their boast of lineage, circumcision, and law must be accounted as filth."^[1] They are full of the "devil's feces ... which they wallow in like swine,"^[2] and the synagogue is an "incorrigible whore and an evil slut ..."^[3] He argues that their synagogues and schools should be set on fire, their prayer books destroyed, rabbis forbidden to preach, homes razed, and property and money confiscated. They should be shown no mercy or kindness,^[4] afforded no legal protection,^[5] and these "poisonous envenomed worms" should be drafted into forced labor or expelled for all time.^[6] He also seems to advocate their murder, writing "[w]e are at fault in not slaying them."^[7] A synagogue (from ancient Greek: , transliterated synagogē, assembly; Hebrew: beit knesset, house of assembly; Yiddish: , shul; Ladino: , esnoga) is a Jewish house of worship. ... This article is about the Jewish educational system. ... A siddur (Hebrew: סידור; plural siddurim) is a Jewish prayer book over the world, containing a set order of daily prayers. ... Rabbi, in Judaism, means a religious ‘teacher’, or more literally, ‘great one’. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ or ‘distinguished (in knowledge)’. Sephardic and Yemenite Jews pronounce this word ribbī; the modern Israeli pronunciation rabbī is derived from a...

The prevailing scholarly view^[8] since the Second World War is that the treatise exercised a major and persistent influence on Germany's attitude toward its Jewish citizens in the centuries between the Reformation and the Holocaust . Four hundred years after it was written, the National Socialists displayed On the Jews and their Lies during Nuremberg rallies, and the city of Nuremberg presented a first edition to Julius Streicher, editor of the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer, the newspaper describing it as the most radically antisemitic tract ever published.^[9] Against the majority view, theologian Johannes Wallmann writes that the treatise had no continuity of influence in Germany, and was in fact largely ignored during the 18th and 19th centuries.^[10] Hans Hillerbrand argues that to focus on Luther's role in the development of German antisemitism is to underestimate the "larger peculiarities of German history."^[11] Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... The Nazi partys 1936 Nuremberg Rally was its largest. ... Julius Streicher at the Nuremberg Trials. ... 1943 Stürmer issue: Satan Der Stürmer (literally, The Stormer) was a weekly Nazi newspaper published by Julius Streicher from 1923 to the end of World War II in 1945, with brief suspensions in circulation due to legal difficulties. ... Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed at Jews[1] as a religious, racial, or ethnic group. ...

Since the 1980s, some Lutheran church bodies have formally denounced Luther's writings on the Jews. In November 1998, on the 60th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Lutheran Church of Bavaria issued a statement: "It is imperative for the Lutheran Church, which knows itself to be indebted to the work and tradition of Martin Luther, to take seriously also his anti-Jewish utterances, to acknowledge their theological function, and to reflect on their consequences. It has to distance itself from every [expression of] anti-Judaism in Lutheran theology."^[12] Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which follows the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther. ... Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom[1] against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria on November 9–November 10, 1938. ...

Evolution of his views

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People
Martin Luther Philipp Melanchthon Frederick the Wise Martin Chemnitz Johann Sebastian Bach Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Lars Levi Læstadius C. F. W. Walther Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, by Lucas Cranach the Elder. ... Frederick in an engraved portrait by Albrecht Dürer, 1524 Frederick III (January 17, 1463 – May 5, 1525), also known as Frederick the Wise, was Elector of Saxony (from the House of Wettin) from 1486 to his death. ... Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) was an eminent Lutheran theologian, churchman, and confessor, born in Treuenbrietzen, Brandenburg on November 9, 1522, the day before Martin Luther had been born in 1483. ... Bach in a 1748 portrait by Haussmann Places in which Bach resided throughout his life Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced ) (21 March 1685 O.S. – 28 July 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer and organist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the... Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (September 6, 1711, Einbeck, Germany – October 7, 1787, Trappe, Pennsylvania), originally Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, was a Lutheran clergyman who is viewed as the founder of the Lutheran Church in the United States. ... Lars Levi Laestadius (1800-1861) Lars Levi Læstadius (October 1, 1800 - February 21, 1861) was a Swedish Lutheran pastor of Sami ancestry. ... Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm (C.F.W.) Walther (October 25, 1811 - May 17, 1887), was the first President of the Lutheran Church _ Missouri Synod. ...
Book of Concord
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Luther's attitude toward the Jews changed over his life. In his earlier period, until around 1536, he expresses concern for their situation and is enthusiastic at the prospect of converting them to Christianity. In his later period, he denounces them and urges their harsh persecution and even murder.^[13] Year 1536 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ...

Michael Berenbaum writes that Luther's reliance on the Bible as the sole source of Christian authority fed his later fury toward Jews over their rejection of Jesus as the messiah.^[14] For Luther, salvation depended on the belief that Jesus was the son of God, a belief that adherents of Judaism do not share. Early in his life, Luther had argued that the Jews had been prevented from converting to Christianity by the proclamation of what he believed to be an impure gospel by Christians, and he believed they would respond favorably to the evangelical message if it were presented to them gently. He expressed concern for the poor conditions in which they were forced to live, and insisted that anyone denying that Jesus was born a Jew was committing heresy.^[14] Michael Berenbaum is an American scholar, professor, writer, and film-maker, who specializes in the study of the memorialization of the Holocaust. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (Hebrew: , Standard  Tiberian  ; Arabic: ,  ; Aramaic:  ; the Anointed One) at first meant any person who was anointed with oil on rising to a certain position among the ancient Israelites, at first that of High priest, later that of King and also that of a prophet. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... Look up Heresy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Luther's first known comment on the Jews is in a letter written to Reverend Spalatin in 1514: George Spalatin, the name taken by George Burkhardt (January 17, 1484 - January 16, 1545), an important figure in the history of the Reformation, who was born at Spalt (whence he assumed the name Spalatinus), near Nuremberg, where his father was a tanner. ... 1514 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Conversion of the Jews will be the work of God alone operating from within, and not of man working — or rather playing — from without. If these offences be taken away, worse will follow. For they are thus given over by the wrath of God to reprobation, that they may become incorrigible, as Ecclesiastes says, for every one who is incorrigible is rendered worse rather than better by correction. ^[15] Ecclesiastes, Qohelet in Hebrew, is a book of the Hebrew Bible. ...

Graham Noble writes that Luther wanted to save Jews, in his own terms, not exterminate them, but beneath his apparent reasonableness toward them, there was a "biting intolerance," which produced "ever more furious demands for their conversion to his own brand of Christianity" (Noble, 1-2). When they failed to convert, he turned on them.^[16]

In 1519, Luther challenged the doctrine "Servitus Judaeorum" ("Servitude of the Jews"), established in Corpus Juris Civilis by Justinian I in 529. He wrote: "Absurd theologians defend hatred for the Jews. ... What Jew would consent to enter our ranks when he sees the cruelty and enmity we wreak on them—that in our behavior towards them we less resemble Christians than beasts?" ^[17] Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ... Justinian I depicted on a mosaic in the church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy The Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law) also known as Codex Justinianus is a fundamental work in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. ... (Latin: Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus, Greek: Ιουστινιανός;) commonly known as Justinian I, or (among Eastern Orthodox Christians) as Saint Justinian the Great; c. ... For other uses, see number 529. ...

In his commentary on the Magnificat, Luther is critical of the emphasis Judaism places on the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament . He states that they "undertook to keep the law by their own strength, and failed to learn from it their needy and cursed state." ^[18] Yet, he concludes, that God's grace will continue for Jews as Abraham's descendants for all time, since they may always become Christians. ^[19] "We ought...not to treat the Jews in so unkindly a spirit, for there are future Christians among them." ^[20] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... “Tora” redirects here. ...

In his 1523 essay That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew, Luther condemned the inhuman treatment of the Jews and urged Christians to treat them kindly. Luther's fervent desire was that Jews would hear the Gospel proclaimed clearly and be moved to convert to Christianity. Thus he argued:

If I had been a Jew and had seen such dolts and blockheads govern and teach the Christian faith, I would sooner have become a hog than a Christian. They have dealt with the Jews as if they were dogs rather than human beings; they have done little else than deride them and seize their property. When they baptize them they show them nothing of Christian doctrine or life, but only subject them to popishness and monkery...If the apostles, who also were Jews, had dealt with us Gentiles as we Gentiles deal with the Jews, there would never have been a Christian among the Gentiles ... When we are inclined to boast of our position [as Christians] we should remember that we are but Gentiles, while the Jews are of the lineage of Christ. We are aliens and in-laws; they are blood relatives, cousins, and brothers of our Lord. Therefore, if one is to boast of flesh and blood the Jews are actually nearer to Christ than we are...If we really want to help them, we must be guided in our dealings with them not by papal law but by the law of Christian love. We must receive them cordially, and permit them to trade and work with us, that they may have occasion and opportunity to associate with us, hear our Christian teaching, and witness our Christian life. If some of them should prove stiff-necked, what of it? After all, we ourselves are not all good Christians either. ^[21] The word gentile is an anglicised version of the Latin word gentilis, meaning of or belonging to a clan or tribe. ...

In August 1536, Luther's prince Elector of Saxony John Frederick issued a mandate that prohibited Jews from inhabiting, engaging in business in, or passing through his realm. An Alsatian shtadlan, Rabbi Josel of Rosheim, asked a reformer Wolfgang Capito to approach Luther in order to obtain an audience with the prince, but Luther refused every intercession. ^[22] In response to Josel, Luther referred to his unsuccessful attempts to convert the Jews: "... I would willingly do my best for your people but I will not contribute to your [Jewish] obstinacy by my own kind actions. You must find another intermediary with my good lord." ^[23] Heiko Oberman notes this event as significant in Luther’s attitude toward the Jews: "Even today this refusal is often judged to be the decisive turning point in Luther’s career from friendliness to hostility toward the Jews." ^[24] Year 1536 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Portrait by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1531 Johann Friedrich I, Elector of Saxony (30 June 1503 - 3 March 1554), called John the Magnanimous, was head of the Protestant Confederation of Germany (the Schmalkaldic League), Champion of the Reformation. He was the son of John the Steadfast of Saxony and born... (New région flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Bas-Rhin Haut-Rhin Arrondissements 13 Cantons 75 Communes 903 Statistics Land area1 8,280 km² Population (Ranked 14th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... A shtadlan, also known as the court Jew, was an intercessor figure who represented interests of the local Jewish community (such as of a towns ghetto), and worked as a lobbyist pleading for the safety of Jews with the outside authorities of Medieval Europe. ... Josel (Joselmann, Joselin, Yoselmann) of Rosheim or Joseph ben Gershon Loanz (c. ... Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (or Köpfel) (1478 - November 1541), German reformer, was born of humble parentage at Hagenau in Alsace. ... Heiko Oberman Heiko A. Oberman (1930-2001) was a historian and theologian who specialized in the study of the Reformation. ...

Paul Johnson writes that "Luther was not content with verbal abuse. Even before he wrote his anti-Semitic pamphlet, he got Jews expelled from Saxony in 1537, and in the 1540s he drove them from many German towns; he tried unsuccessfully to get the elector to expel them from Brandenburg in 1543."^[25] Paul Johnson (born Paul Bede Johnson on 2 November 1928 in Manchester, England) is a British Roman Catholic journalist, historian, speechwriter and author. ... Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DED Capital Dresden Minister-President Georg Milbradt (CDU) Governing parties CDU / SPD Votes in Bundesrat 4 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  18,416 km² (7,110 sq mi) Population 4,252,000 (11/2006)[1]  - Density 231 /km...   (Lower Sorbian: Bramborska; Upper Sorbian: Braniborska) is one of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). ...

On the Jews and Their Lies

In On the Jews and Their Lies, written in 1543 three years before his death, Luther recommends that Jews be deprived of money, civil rights, religious teaching, and education, and that they be forced to labor on the land, or else be expelled from Germany and possibly killed.

I had made up my mind to write no more either about the Jews or against them. But since I learned that these miserable and accursed people do not cease to lure to themselves even us, that is, the Christians, I have published this little book, so that I might be found among those who opposed such poisonous activities of the Jews who warned the Christians to be on their guard against them.^[26]

Luther stated in his introductory remarks that he was writing in response to a pamphlet, unidentified by historians, written by an unidentified Jew or Jews, sent to him by Count Wolfgang Schlick of Falkenau:

Dear sir and good friend^[27], I have received a treatise in which a Jew engages in dialog with a Christian. He dares to pervert the scriptural passages which we cite in testimony to our faith, concerning our Lord Christ and Mary his mother, and to interpret them quite differently. With this argument he thinks he can destroy the basis of our faith.^[28]

He refers to Jews as "a brood of vipers and children of the devil" (from Matthew 12:34), "miserable, blind, and senseless," "truly stupid fools," "thieves and robbers," "lazy rogues," "daily murderers," and "vermin," likens them to "gangrene"; and recommends that Jewish synagogues and schools be burned, their homes razed and destroyed, their writings confiscated, their rabbis forbidden to teach, their travel restricted, that lending money be outlawed for them, and that they be forced to earn their wages in farming. Luther advised "[i]f we wish to wash our hands of the Jews' blasphemy and not share in their guilt, we have to part company with them. They must be driven from our country" and "we must drive them out like mad dogs." // Matthew is a male given name. ... A synagogue (from ancient Greek: , transliterated synagogē, assembly; Hebrew: beit knesset, house of assembly; Yiddish: , shul; Ladino: , esnoga) is a Jewish house of worship. ...

In conclusion, he wrote:

There is no other explanation for this than the one cited earlier from Moses — namely, that God has struck [the Jews] with 'madness and blindness and confusion of mind.' So we are even at fault in not avenging all this innocent blood of our Lord and of the Christians which they shed for three hundred years after the destruction of Jerusalem, and the blood of the children they have shed since then (which still shines forth from their eyes and their skin). We are at fault in not slaying them. Rather we allow them to live freely in our midst despite all their murdering, cursing, blaspheming, lying, and defaming; we protect and shield their synagogues, houses, life, and property. In this way we make them lazy and secure and encourage them to fleece us boldly of our money and goods, as well as to mock and deride us, with a view to finally overcoming us, killing us all for such a great sin, and robbing us of all our property (as they daily pray and hope). Now tell me whether they do not have every reason to be the enemies of us accursed Goyim, to curse us and to strive for our final, complete, and eternal ruin! ^[29] Goy (Hebrew: גוי, plural goyim גוים) is a transliterated Hebrew word which translates as nation or people. // A page from Elia Levitas Yiddish-Hebrew-Latin-German dictionary (16th century) contains a list of nations, including word גוי, translated to Latin as Ethnicus In the Hebrew Bible, goy and its variants appear over...

Luther advocated an eight-point plan to get rid of the Jews either by religious conversion or by expulsion: Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religious identity, or a change from one religious identity to another. ...

1. "First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. ..."
2. "Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. ..."
3. "Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them. ..."
4. "Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. ..."
5. "Fifth, I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. ..."
6. "Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them. ... Such money should now be used in ... the following [way]... Whenever a Jew is sincerely converted, he should be handed [a certain amount]..."
7. "Seventh, I commend putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow... For it is not fitting that they should let us accursed Goyim toil in the sweat of our faces while they, the holy people, idle away their time behind the stove, feasting and farting, and on top of all, boasting blasphemously of their lordship over the Christians by means of our sweat. No, one should toss out these lazy rogues by the seat of their pants."
8. "If we wish to wash our hands of the Jews' blasphemy and not share in their guilt, we have to part company with them. They must be driven from our country" and "we must drive them out like mad dogs." ^[30]

Luther's arguments and accusations: Luther's first argument is that all races are equal, therefore the Jews should not boast about their lineage. ^[31]

• "there is no difference whatsoever with regard to birth or flesh and blood, as reason must tell us. Therefore" neither Jew nor Gentile should boast "before God of their physical birth . . . since we both partake of one birth, one flesh and blood, from the very first, best, and holiest ancestors. Neither one can reproach or upbraid the other about some peculiarity without implicating himself at the same time." (148).

In On the Jews and Their Lies, Luther made a number of accusations against the Jews:

• "In the first place, they defame our Lord Jesus Christ, calling him a sorcerer and tool of the devil.^[32] This they do because they cannot deny his miracles. Thus they imitate their forefathers, who said, 'He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons' [Luke 11:15]."^[33]

After On the Jews and their Lies

Vom Schem Hamphoras

Several months after publishing On the Jews and Their Lies, Luther wrote Vom Schem Hamphoras, in which he equated Jews with the Devil: Image File history File links Size of this preview: 365 × 598 pixelsFull resolution (1123 × 1841 pixel, file size: 799 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Einblattdruck mit Darstellung der Wittenberger Judensau (Wittenberg: Wolfgang Meissner 1546) - Quelle: Schöner, Judenbilder, 2002, 200 Abb. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 365 × 598 pixelsFull resolution (1123 × 1841 pixel, file size: 799 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Einblattdruck mit Darstellung der Wittenberger Judensau (Wittenberg: Wolfgang Meissner 1546) - Quelle: Schöner, Judenbilder, 2002, 200 Abb. ... Satan frozen at the center of Cocytus, the ninth circle of Hell in Dantes Inferno. ...

Here in Wittenburg, in our parish church, there is a sow carved into the stone under which lie young pigs and Jews who are sucking; behind the sow stands a rabbi who is lifting up the right leg of the sow, raises behind the sow, bows down and looks with great effort into the Talmud under the sow, as if he wanted to read and see something most difficult and exceptional; no doubt they gained their Shem Hamphoras from that place." and "When Judas hanged himself and his bowels gushed forth, and, as happens in such cases, his bladder also burst, the Jews were ready to catch the Judas-water and the other precious things, and then they gorged and swilled on the merd among themselves, and were thereby endowed with such a keenness of sight that they can perceive glosses in the Scriptures such as neither Matthew nor Isaiah himself . . .would be able to detect; or perhaps they looked into the loin of their God “Shed,” and found these things written in that smokehole ...

The Devil has eased himself and emptied his belly again — that is a real halidom for Jews and would-be Jews, to kiss, batten on, swill and adore; and then the Devil in his turn also devours and swills what these good pupils spue and eject from above and below ...

The Devil, with his angelic snout, devours what exudes from the oral and anal apertures of the Jews; this is indeed his favorite dish, on which he battens like a sow behind the hedge ... ^[34]

The influence of Luther's views

16th and 17th century

In 1543, Luther's Prince, Elector John Frederick of Saxony, revoked some of the concessions he gave to Josel of Rosheim in 1539. Johann of Küstrin, Margrave of Neumark, repealed the safe conduct of Jews in his territories. Philip of Hesse added restrictions to his Order Concerning the Jews. No ruler attempted to enact all of Luther's recommendations. ^[35] Philip I of Hesse Philip I of HESSE, (13 November 1504 - 31 March 1567), was a leading champion of the Reformation and one of the most important German rulers of the Renaissance. ...

In the 1570s, Pastor Georg Nigrinus published Enemy Jew, which reiterated Luther's program in On the Jews and Their Lies, and Nikolaus Selnecker, one of the authors of the Formula of Concord, reprinted Luther's Against the Sabbatarians, On the Jews and Their Lies, and Vom Schem Hamphoras. Paul Johnson writes that Luther's followers sacked Berlin in 1572 and the following year the Jews were banned from the entire country.^[25] Nikolaus Selnecker Nikolaus Selnecker or Selneccer (December 5, 1532, Hersbruck–May 24, 1592, Leipzig) was a German musician and theologian. ... (1577). ... Paul Johnson (born Paul Bede Johnson on 2 November 1928 in Manchester, England) is a British Roman Catholic journalist, historian, speechwriter and author. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ...

Luther's treatises against the Jews were reprinted again early in the 17th century at Dortmund, where they were seized by the Emperor. In 1613 and 1617, they were published in Frankfurt am Main in support of the banishment of Jews from Frankfurt and Worms. These editions were the last popular publication of these works prior to the 20th Century.^[36] Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. ... For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... Wormser Dom Worms (pronounced ) is a city in the southwest of Germany. ...

Influence on modern antisemitism

Antisemitism History · Timeline · Resources Racial · Religious · New AS Antisemitism around the world Arabs and antisemitism Christianity and antisemitism Islam and antisemitism Nation of Islam and antisemitism Universities and antisemitism Anti-globalization and antisemitism Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed at Jews[1] as a religious, racial, or ethnic group. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1518x1372, 1426 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Star of David Yellow badge Talk:List of Jewish American journalists User:RolandR Metadata This file contains additional... This does not cite its references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This is a list of resources analyzing antisemitism in the alphabetical order of authors name. ... Racial antisemitism is hatred of Jews as a racial group, rather than hatred of Judaism as a religion. ... An example of state-sponsored atheist anti-Judaism. ... New antisemitism is the concept of a new 21st-century form of antisemitism emanating simultaneously from the left, the far right, and radical Islam, and tending to manifest itself as opposition to Zionism and the State of Israel. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article is about the relationship between Islam and antisemitism. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Nation of Islam. ... 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Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ... Publications On the Jews and their Lies The Protocols of the Elders of Zion The International Jew 1992 Russian language imprint, adapting Eliphas Levis portrayal of Baphomet image The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Russian: , see also other titles) is an antisemitic text that purports to describe a Jewish plot to achieve world domination. ... The International Jew: The Worlds Foremost Problem is a four volume set of books originally published and distributed in the early 1920s by Henry Ford, an American industrialist, automobile developer and manufacturer. ... Persecutions Expulsions · Ghetto · Pogroms Judenhut · Judensau · Yellow badge Inquisition · Segregation Holocaust · Nazism · Neo-Nazism This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 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Compulsory Jewish badge under the Nazi occupation of Europe: the Star of David with the word Jew inside (this one in German) A yellow badge, also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a mandatory mark or a piece of cloth of specific geometric shape, worn on the outer garment... Saint Dominic (1170 – August 6, 1221) Presiding over an Auto-da-fe, by Pedro Berruguete, (1450 - 1504). ... The Pale of Settlement (Russian: Черта оседлости - cherta osedlosti) was a western border region of Imperial Russia in which permanent residence of Jews was allowed, extending from the pale or demarcation line, to near the border with eastern/central Europe. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... Organizations fighting AS Anti-Defamation League Community Security Trust EUMC · Stephen Roth Institute Wiener Library · SPLC · SWC · UCSJ Anti-Defamation League Logo The Anti-Defamation League (or ADL) is an advocacy group founded by Bnai Brith in the United States whose stated aim is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. ... A 2005 CST report into anti-Semitism in the UK The Community Security Trust (CST) is an organization established to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community in Britain (UK). ... Location: Vienna, Austria Formation: - Signed - Established 1994/1998 Superseding pillar: European Communities Director: Dr Beate Winkle Website: eumc. ... 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UCSJ, or the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, is a collection of Jewish human rights organisations working in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ... Categories Antisemitism · Jewish history v • d • e

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in an essay on Lutheran-Jewish relations, observed that "Over the years, Luther’s anti-Jewish writings have continued to be reproduced in pamphlets and other works by neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan."^[37] This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

The prevailing sentiment among historians is that "On the Jews and Their Lies" and other antisemitic writings by Luther laid the groundwork for the modern "racial" form of antisemitism — that is, the persecution, deportation, or even genocide of Jews because of their ethnic traits (and not merely their religious views).^{[citation needed]} Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed at Jews[1] as a religious, racial, or ethnic group. ...

Writing in Lutheran Quarterly in 1987, Dr. Johannes Wallmann stated:

The assertion that Luther's expressions of anti-Jewish sentiment have been of major and persistent influence in the centuries after the Reformation, and that there exists a continuity between Protestant anti-Judaism and modern racially oriented anti-Semitism, is at present wide-spread in the literature; since the Second World War it has understandably become the prevailing opinion.^[38] An example of state-sponsored atheist anti-Judaism. ...

Robert Michael, Professor Emeritus of European History at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, has observed that "Luther wrote of the Jews as if they were a race that could not truly convert to Christianity. Indeed, like so many Christian writers before him, Luther, by making the Jews the devil's people, put them beyond conversion". Michael noted that in a sermon of September 25, 1539, "Luther tried to demonstrate through several examples that individual Jews could not convert permanently, and in several passages of The Jews and Their Lies, Luther appeared to reject the possibility that the Jews would or could convert."^[39] Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is a multi-college university, part of the state wide university system of the University of Massachusetts, located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, not to be confused with Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. ... is the 268th day of the year (269th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 30 - In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal to find gold. ...

Franklin Sherman, editor of volume 47 of the American Edition of Luther's Works in which On the Jews and Their Lies appears,^[40] states in response to the claim that "Luther's antipathy towards the Jews was religious rather than racial in nature" that Luther's writings against the Jews are not "merely a set of cool, calm and collected theological judgments. His writings are full of rage, and indeed hatred, against an identifiable human group, not just against a religious point of view; it is against that group that his action proposals are directed." Sherman argues that Luther "cannot be distanced completely from modern antisemites." Regarding Luther's treatise, On the Jews and Their Lies, the German philosopher Karl Jaspers wrote: "There you already have the whole Nazi program").^[41] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Other scholars assert that Luther's anti-Semitism as expressed in On the Jews and Their Lies is based on religion. Bainton asserts that Luther's position was "entirely religious and in no respect racial. The supreme sin for him was the persistent rejection of God's revelation of himself in Christ. The centuries of Jewish suffering were themselves a mark of the divine displeasure. They should be compelled to leave and go to a land of their own. This was a program of enforced Zionism. But if it were not feasible, then Luther would recommend that the Jews be compelled to live from the soil. He was unwittingly proposing a return to the condition of the early Middle Ages, when the Jews had been in agriculture. Forced off the land, they had gone into commerce and, having been expelled from commerce, into money lending. Luther wished to reverse the process and thereby inadvertently would accord the Jews a more secure position than they enjoyed in his day."^[42] Zionism is a political movement that supports a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, where Jewish nationhood is thought to have evolved somewhere between 1200 BCE and late Second Temple times,[1][2] and where Jewish kingdoms existed up to the 2nd century CE. Zionism is... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

Paul Halsall argues that Luther's views had a part in laying the groundwork for the racial European anti-Semitism of the nineteenth century. He writes that "although Luther's comments seem to be proto-Nazi, they are better seen as part of tradition [sic] of Medieval Christian anti-semitism. While there is little doubt that Christian anti-Semitism laid the social and cultural basis for modern anti-Semitism, modern anti-Semitism does differ in being based on pseud-scientific notions of race. The Nazis imprisoned and killed even those ethnic Jews who had converted to Christianity: Luther would have welcomed their conversions."^[43]

In his Lutheran Quarterly article, Wallmann argued that Luther's On the Jews and Their Lies, Against the Sabbabitarians, and Vom Schem Hamphoras were largely ignored by anti-Semites of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He contended that Johann Andreas Eisenmenger and his Judaism Unmasked, published posthumously in 1711, was "a major source of evidence for the anti-Semites of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries" and "cast Luther's anti-Jewish writings into obscurity." In this 2000 page tome Eisenmenger makes no mention of Luther at all.^[38] Johann Andreas Eisenmenger: Anti-Jewish author; born in Mannheim 1654; died in Heidelberg Dec. ...

The Nazis

The line of "anti-Semitic descent" from Luther to Hitler is "easy to draw," ^[44] according to American historian Lucy Dawidowicz. In her The War Against the Jews, 1933-1945, she writes that both Luther and Hitler were obsessed by the "demonologized universe" inhabited by Jews, with Hitler asserting that the later Luther, the author of On the Jews and Their Lies was the real Luther. ^[44] Lucy S. Davidowicz (June 16, 1915 – December 5, 1990), was a American historian, and an author of books in modern Jewish history in particular the Holocaust. ... Title page of Martin Luthers On the Jews and their Lies. ...

Dawidowicz writes that the similarities between Luther's anti-Jewish writings and modern anti-Semitism are no coincidence, because they derived from a common history of Judenhass, which can be traced to Haman's advice to Ahasuerus, although modern German anti-Semitism also has its roots in German nationalism and Christian anti-Semitism, a foundation she says was laid by the Roman Catholic Church and "upon which Luther built." ^[44] Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed at Jews[1] as a religious, racial, or ethnic group. ... The Punishment of Haman, by Michaelangelo. ... Ahasuerus or Ahasverus (Hebrew אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ, Standard Hebrew Aḥašveroš, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĂḫašwērôš) is a name used several times in the Hebrew Bible and related legends and apocrypha. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

Professor Robert Michael, Professor Emeritus of European History at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, has argued that Luther scholars who try to tone down Luther's views on the Jews ignore the murderous implications of his antisemitism. Michael argues that there is a "strong parallel" between Luther's ideas and the anti-Semitism of most German Lutherans throughout the Holocaust. ^[45] Like the Nazis, Luther mythologized the Jews as evil, he writes. They could be saved only if they converted to Christianity, but their hostility to the idea made it inconceivable. ^[45] Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is a multi-college university, part of the state wide university system of the University of Massachusetts, located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, not to be confused with Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. ...

Luther's sentiments were widely echoed in the Germany of the 1930s, particularly within the Nazi party. Hitler's Education Minister, Bernhard Rust, was quoted by the Völkischer Beobachter as saying that: "Since Martin Luther closed his eyes, no such son of our people has appeared again. It has been decided that we shall be the first to witness his reappearance ... I think the time is past when one may not say the names of Hitler and Luther in the same breath. They belong together; they are of the same old stamp [Schrot und Korn]". ^[46] Bernhard Rust (1883--May 1945) was Minister of Education in Nazi Germany. ... One of the last editions of the Völkischer Beobachter (April 20, 1945) hails Adolf Hitler as man of the century on the occasion of his 56th birthday, ten days before his suicide. ...

Hans Hinkel, leader of the Luther League's magazine Deutsche Kultur-Wacht, and of the Berlin chapter of the Kampfbund, paid tribute to Luther in his acceptance speech as head of both the Jewish section and the film department of Goebbel's Chamber of Culture and Propaganda Ministry. "Through his acts and his spiritual attitude, he began the fight which we will wage today; with Luther, the revolution of German blood and feeling against alien elements of the Volk was begun. To continue and complete his Protestantism, nationalism must make the picture of Luther, of a German fighter, live as an example above the barriers of confession for all German blood comrades." ^[47] Hans Hinkel (born 22 June 1901 in Worms; died 8 February 1960 in Göttingen) was a German journalist and ministerial official in Nazi Germany. ... The Luther League is a religious association for young people in the United States of America. ... The Kampfbund was a league of patriotic fighting societies and the German National Socialist party in Bavaria, Germany in the 1920s. ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ) (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      Protestantism encompasses the forms...

According to Daniel Goldhagen, Bishop Martin Sasse, a leading Protestant churchman, published a compendium Luther's writings shortly after Kristallnacht — which Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church in the University of Oxford argued Luther's writing was a "blueprint" for ^[48] — in which Sasse "applauded the burning of the synagogues and the coincidence of the day, writing in the introduction, "On November 10, 1938, on Luther's birthday, the synagogues are burning in Germany." The German people, he urged, ought to heed these words "of the greatest antisemite of his time, the warner of his people against the Jews." ^[49] Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (born 1959) is an American political scientist. ... Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom[1] against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria on November 9–November 10, 1938. ... Diarmaid MacCulloch is Professor of the History of the Church in the University of Oxford (at St Cross College, Oxford. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ...

William Nichols, Professor of Religious Studies, recounts, "At his trial in Nuremberg after the Second World War, Julius Streicher, the notorious Nazi propagandist, editor of the scurrilous antisemitic weekly, Der Stürmer, argued that if he should be standing there arraigned on such charges, so should Martin Luther. Reading such passages, it is hard not to agree with him. Luther's proposals read like a program for the Nazis." ^[50] It was Luther's expression "The Jews are our misfortune" that centuries later would be repeated by Heinrich von Treitschke and appear as motto on the front page of Julius Streicher's Der Stürmer. The Süddeutsche Zeitung announces The Verdict in Nuremberg. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Julius Streicher at the Nuremberg Trials. ... 1943 Stürmer issue: Satan Der Stürmer (literally, The Stormer) was a weekly Nazi newspaper published by Julius Streicher from 1923 to the end of World War II in 1945, with brief suspensions in circulation due to legal difficulties. ... Heinrich von Treitschke (September 15, 1834 - April 28, 1896), German historian and political writer, was born at Dresden. ... A motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization. ...

Some scholars have attributed the Nazi "Final Solution" directly to Martin Luther.^[51]. Others refute this point of view, pointedly taking issue with the thesis advanced by Shirer and others. ^[52]

Luthertag

In the course of the Luthertag (Luther Day) festivities, the Nazis emphasized their connection to Luther as being both nationalist revolutionaries and the heirs of the German traditionalist past. An article in the Chemnitzer Tageblatt stated that "[t]he German Volk are united not only in loyalty and love for the Fatherland, but also once more in the old German beliefs of Luther [Lutherglauben]; a new epoch of strong, conscious religious life has dawned in Germany." Richard Steigmann-Gall wrote in his 2003 book The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919-1945:

The leadership of the Protestant League espoused a similar view. Fahrenhorst, who was on the planning committee of the Luthertag, called Luther "the first German spiritual Führer" who spoke to all Germans regardless of clan or confession. In a letter to Hitler, Fahrenhorst reminded him that his "Old Fighters" were mostly Protestants and that it was precisely in the Protestant regions of our Fatherland" in which Nazism found its greatest strength. Promising that the celebration of Luther's birthday would not turn into a confessional affair, Fahrenhorst invited Hitler to become the official patron of the Luthertag. In subsequent correspondence, Fahrenhorst again voiced the notion that reverence for Luther could somehow cross confessional boundaries: "Luther is truly not only the founder of a Christian confession; much more, his ideas had a fruitful impact on all Christianity in Germany." Precisely because of Luther's political as well as religious significance, the Luthertag would serve as a confession both "to church and Volk." ^[53] This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Nazi propaganda poster. ...

Lutheran Church response in the 20th century

The anti-Semitic content of this book and other writings has been repudiated by various Lutheran churches throughout the world.

In 1983, The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod denounced Luther's "hostile attitude" toward the Jews. In 1994, the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America publicly rejected^[54] Luther's anti-Semitic writings, saying "We who bear his name and heritage must acknowledge with pain the anti-Judaic diatribes contained in Luther's later writings. We reject this violent invective as did many of his companions in the sixteenth century, and we are moved to deep and abiding sorrow at its tragic effects on later generations of Jews." LCMS redirects here. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

In 1995, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada^[55] made similar statements, as did the Austrian Evangelical Church in 1998. In the same year, the Land Synod of the Lutheran Church of Bavaria issued a declaration^[56] saying: "It is imperative for the Lutheran Church, which knows itself to be indebted to the work and tradition of Martin Luther, to take seriously also his anti-Jewish utterances, to acknowledge their theological function, and to reflect on their consequences." The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) (French: Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne au Canada) is Canadas largest Lutheran denomination, with 182,077 baptized members in 624 congregations. ...

Luther's words and scholarship

Anglican Luther scholar Gordon Rupp wrote:

Luther's antagonism to the Jews was poles apart from the Nazi doctrine of "Race". It was based on medieval Catholic anti-semitism towards the people who crucified the Redeemer, turned their back on the way of Life, and whose very existence in the midst of a Christian society was considered a reproach and blasphemy. Luther is a small chapter in the large volume of Christian inhumanities toward the Jewish people. ^[57] ... "Needless to say, there is no trace of such a relation between Luther and Hitler. I suppose Hitler never once read a page by Luther. The fact that he and other Nazis claimed Luther on their side proves no more than the fact that they also numbered Almighty God among their supporters. Hitler mentions Luther once in Mein Kampf in a harmless context. ^[58] Mein Kampf (English translation: My Struggle) is a book by the German-Austrian politician and dictator Adolf Hitler, combining elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitlers political ideology of Nazism. ...

In his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer wrote: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by journalist William L. Shirer was the first definitive history of Nazi Germany in English. ... Shirer after winning a National Book Award in 1961 for his The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, pictured with fellow authors and award winners Conrad Richter and Randall Jarrell. ...

It is difficult to understand the behavior of most German Protestants in the first Nazi years unless one is aware of two things: their history and the influence of Martin Luther. The great founder of Protestantism was both a passionate anti-Semite and a ferocious believer in absolute obedience to political authority. He wanted Germany rid of the Jews. Luther's advice was literally followed four centuries later by Hitler, Goering and Himmler. ^[59]

Roland Bainton, noted church historian and Luther biographer, wrote with reference to On the Jews and Their Lies: "One could wish that Luther had died before ever this tract was written. His position was entirely religious and in no respect racial." ^[60] Richard Marius contends that in making this "declaration," "Roland Bainton's effort is directed towards trying 'to make the best of Luther,' and 'Luther's view of the Jews.'"^[61] Roland H. Bainton (1894-1984) was born in England and came to the United States in 1902. ...

Bainton's view is later echoed by James M. Kittelson writing about Luther's correspondence with Jewish scholar Josel of Rosheim: "There was no anti-Semitism in this response. Moreover, Luther never became an anti-Semite in the modern, racial sense of the term." ^[62] Josel (Joselmann, Joselin, Yoselmann) of Rosheim or Joseph ben Gershon Loanz (c. ...

Paul Halsall ^[63] states, "In his Letters to Spalatin, we can already see that Luther's hatred of Jews, best seen in this 1543 letter On the Jews and Their Lies, was not some affectation of old age, but was present very early on. Luther expected Jews to convert to his purified Christianity. When they did not, he turned violently against them." ^[64] Title page of Martin Luthers On the Jews and their Lies. ...

Gordon Rupp gives this evaluation of On the Jews and Their Lies: "I confess that