ABSTRACT
Antisemitism is hatred, discrimination or prejudice which is directed towards Jews on account of their religion, culture or heritage. Although the word only originated in 1879, antisemitism has existed for many millennia and continues to occur today. Prejudice against Jews has taken many forms throughout the centuries including expulsion, ghettoisation and pogroms. Many attacks against Jews were sparked by accusations of blood libel – the idea that the blood of Christian children was being used for Jewish rituals and practices. Historically, European antisemitism had strong Christian connections, with Jews being blamed for the death of Christ and thus being guilty of deicide. Throughout the nineteenth century, the emergence of nationalism led to new forms of antisemitism which were racially based and accused Jews of being disloyal to the new nation states as well as a threat to the purity of the Aryan race. This particular form of antisemitism, which was the type manifested in Nazism, played on traditional myths of Jewish global conspiracies and built on long-established stereotypes.
