How were Jews treated by non-Jews?

Answer 1

Jews have been treated in all sorts of ways by non-Jews over their long history - in fact, they have experienced pretty much the full spectrum of human reactions to other groups in society.

There have always been friends of the Jews, as many people have greatly admired what they see as the strong tradition of education, scholarly study, analytical thought, lawfulness and business expertise often associated with Judaism and as a result there have been times when Jews were given protection by kings and governments. However, and as we all know, there have been very many times when Jews were subjected to the grossest inhumane cruelties, from the times of the ancient Egyptians and Amalekites, the attempt to destroy them in ancient Persia which is remembered every year at the Purim festival and, most notorious of all, the horrors that took place during the Holocaust in the 1930s and 40s; and hundreds of anti-Jewish attacks, pogroms and massacres in-between.