“At a time when the continent’s total population was approximately 70 million, most of whom could neither read nor write, an estimated 20 million books were now in print.1 That explosion of knowledge encouraged the growth of a movement known… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share Image
“As accusations spread, so did the false belief that Jews routinely engaged in the practice of ritual murder. An accusation made repeatedly tends to… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“Still, by the end of the thirteenth century, most European Jews were forced to wear badges or distinguishing clothing. The aim was to humiliate… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“Mendelssohn’s books on philosophy and literature were hailed throughout Europe. He was described as “exceptional”—an “un-Jewish Jew,” one of a kind, a genius.” — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“135 years later, in 586 BCE, the Babylonians conquered Judea, the southern kingdom. They destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and forced thousands of Jews… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“In Arab nations, many people opposed Zionism because they believed that the UN had no right to establish a Jewish state on what they… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“After the Black Death in the mid-1300s, the persecution of Jews intensified, and many Jews in Europe moved farther east. Some left because life… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“Many Jews in the Byzantine Empire welcomed the Persians. Some saw their arrival as an opportunity to win independence or even just a little… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“In 1255, a five-year-old boy was found dead in a well in Lincoln, England. Many historians today believe that young Hugh accidentally fell into… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“The Greeks and Egyptians in Alexandria understood Flaccus’s announcement to mean that they could now treat Jews as they pleased. After all, people without… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“For hundreds of years, Christians had been trying to convert the Jews, and now, for the first time, they had real success. Suddenly thousands… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“With each new rumor, each new accusation, the way Christians thought about Jews became more and more distorted. Jews were increasingly seen as a… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“The “age of enlightenment” ended some of the isolation, discrimination, and humiliation Jews had experienced in earlier times in Europe. Jews now had more… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“When one group defeated another, the newly conquered people were expected to accept the gods of the victor. After all, the new gods had… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“Antisemitism did not begin in Germany, or anywhere else, in 1918; Jews had been regarded as dangerous outsiders for centuries, and anti-Jewish feeling usually… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
“I first heard of antisemitism only later, when my father told me how Oswald Mosley had fomented riots in the thirties by marching his… — Phyllis Goldstein Copy Share
