Synopses & Reviews
Jacob Katz here presents a major reinterpretation of modern anti-Semitism, which blends history of ideas about the Jews gradually became transformed and then, around 1879, picked up so much social force as to result in the premeditated and systematic destruction of the Jewish people of Europe.
Mr. Katz revises the prevalent thesis that medieval and modern animosities against Jews were fundamentally different. He also rejects the scapegoat theory, according to which the Jews were merely a lightning rod for underlying economic and social tensions. On the contrary, he argues, there were very real tensions between Jews and non-Jews, because the Jews were a highly visible and cohesive group and so came into conflict with non-Jews in competing for social and economic rewards.
In the late 19th century, Mr. Katz argues, hatred of the Jews shifted from their religion to more essential aspects of their character and behavior. The term "anti-Semitism," he explains, which first came into use around 1870, was meant to describe this change. Thus, ironically, just as Jews were being integrated into the political state, skillfull propagandists such as Theodore Fritzche and Houston Stewart Chamberlain were extraordinarily successful in spreading notions of Jewish racial inferority and its threat to the pure Aryan stock. And so when Hitler came on the scene, the seeds of Jewish race hatred were widely sown.
Review
Profoundly disturbing... In a world in which the disease of anti-Semitism appears to be rising, Katz's work makes compelling reading. Hadassah Magazine
Review
Enables us to discern the history of anti-Semitism with greater clarity than ever before. Commentary
Review
From Prejudice to Destruction contains a wealth of specific information that will be of interest to scholars. The general reader will be drawn to its larger themes. Certainly the most important of these is Katz' contention that modern anti-Semitism is a direct outgrowth of traditional, Christian anti-Semitism. The New Leader
Synopsis
Katz here presents a major reinterpretation of modern anti-Semitism, revising the prevalent thesis that medieval and modern animosities against Jews were fundamentally different.
About the Author
Jacob Katz is Professor of Jewish Educational and Social History, Emeritus, at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Table of Contents
Introduction
PART 1: BACKGROUND, 1700-1780
1. The Christian Tradition: Eisenmenger
2. The Rationalist Reorientation
3. Voltaire
PART 2: GERMANY, 1780-1819
4. Ideological Counterattack
5. Philosophy the Heir of Theology
6. Nationalism and Romanticism
7. Incitement and Riot
PART 3: FRANCE, 1780-1880
8. The Revolutionary Promise and the Catholic Reaction
9. The Socialist Indictment
10. The Liberal Ambiguity
11. Jews and Freemasons
PART 4: GERMANY, 1830-1873
12. The German Liberals' Image of the Jew
13. The Radicals: Feuerbach, Bauer, Marx
14. The Scandal of the Jewish Artist: Richard Wagner
15. The Christian State
16. The Jewish Stereotype and Assimilation
17. The Conservatives' Rearguard Action
PART 5: AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, 1780-1880
18. The Austrian Prelude
19. The Hungarian Prelude
PART 6: THE MOVEMENT
20. The Incubation
21. The Crystallization
22. The Hungarian Variation
23. The Austrian Extension
24. French Anti-Semitism
PART 7: CULMINATION
25. Racism and the Nazi Climax
26. Anti-Semitism Through the Ages
Notes
Index