Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Chapter One Introduction: Anti-Semitism in Europe before the Holocaust
- Chapter Two The Religious Root
- Chapter Three The Racial Root
- Chapter Four The Economic Root
- Chapter Five The Political Root
- Chapter Six Conclusion
- Appendix: Coding Instrument – Anti-Semitic Questionnaire for European Press (1899–1939)
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter Six - Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 June 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Chapter One Introduction: Anti-Semitism in Europe before the Holocaust
- Chapter Two The Religious Root
- Chapter Three The Racial Root
- Chapter Four The Economic Root
- Chapter Five The Political Root
- Chapter Six Conclusion
- Appendix: Coding Instrument – Anti-Semitic Questionnaire for European Press (1899–1939)
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This book has focused on a number of issues regarding anti-Semitism in Europe before the Holocaust. I have examined the rise of European anti-Semitism through the lens of the religious, economic, racial, and political roots of anti-Semitism. These four roots of anti-Semitism appear to have been instrumental in the formation of anti-Jewish narratives emerging between 1879 and 1939. The four anti-Jewish narratives gained credence from the effects of declining economic well-being, increased Jewish immigration, growth of leftist support, and identification of Jews with the leadership of the political left. However, popular support for anti-Semitism varied temporally and spatially. Anti-Semitism, as measured by acts and attitudes, reached its highest points between the two world wars, particularly in Germany and Romania. Anti-Semitic levels in both Great Britain and France were significantly lower than those in Germany and Romania. The case of France may come as a surprise to many, in light of France's Dreyfus Affair experience and the oft-cited writings of many of France's rightist intellectuals. The conventional wisdom would have it that France, notably during the mid-1930s, with the circulation of the popular slogan vaut mieux Hitler que Blum (better Hitler than Blum), was a hotbed of anti-Semitism. The empirical data do not support this contention, however, at least as it may apply to the French middle and lower classes. Italy remained relatively untouched by anti-Semitism, at least until 1936.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Roots of HateAnti-Semitism in Europe before the Holocaust, pp. 337 - 354Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003