When did Europeans started to hate the Jews?

Answer 1

Almost as long as Europeans have known that Jews existed, there have been problems.

After Alexander the great conquered the Middle East, the Greek "Successor" kingdoms ruled Judea. The Seleucid kingdom eventually kept control but had problems with the Jews, mainly due to religious differences. The Jews were able to briefly break away and form their own kingdom.

Around 60 BC, the Roman Republic took control of Judea and had problems with the Jews as well. There were three major revolts between 65 and 135 AD, all of which were costly wars for both the Romans and the Jews. The Great Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed at the end of the first war. At the end of the third war, the Roman Emperor Hadrian forbade Jews from being in Judea, and Judea was renamed "Syria Palaestina", after the Philistines, an ancient enemy of the Jews.

Jews in the classical and middle ages had cultural and religious differences that set them apart from the rest of Europe. They a tendency to live together in certain parts of towns, away from the rest of the population; and they had a tendency to resist conversion to Christianity, which was (and still is) the major religion of Europe. So they were seen as being some sort of different people, who were considered untrustworthy. Additionally, some Christians accused ancient Jews of having participated in the execution of Jesus. So stories circulated like that Jews were responsible for crops dying or people becoming sick (Jews were often targeted during the Black Death); even worse stories were the infamous "blood libel", that Jews would kill Christian children to perform satanic rituals with their blood.

Another consideration was that during the Middle Ages, there were laws that affected Christians but did not affect Jews. The major example is that, at one point, the Pope issued a proclamation that charging interest on loans was a sin, so Christians were forbidden from doing it. But Jews could. Charging interest is how loan agents (like banks) make money- so Jewish run banks could make a profit and survive while Christian ones had difficulty. Some unscrupulous European kings would take out large loans from Jews and then encourage the population to attack and kill those Jews, thus freeing the king from having to repay that loan.

This all continued for over a thousand years. It culminated in major slaughtering of the Jews in the 1800-1900's, such as the Russian pogroms and Nazi Germany's Holocaust.

Answer 2

Actually the hatred of the Jewish people started since Jesus was crucified. People blamed the Jews for betraying Jesus and causing him to be put to death. Jesus was a Jew himself.

It was not just Hitler. Hatred of Jews started long before Hitler and that is a common misconception. If anything Hitler popularized the hatred of Jews through his campaign and he also caused the Holocaust.

Edited by Mr. Tiger

Additionally

Actually hatred of the Jewish people can be seen far back in ancient Egypt at the time of Moses where the Pharaoh had the Jewish male children killed (Exodus 1) around 1500 B.C. This pattern is again demonstrated in the land of Canaan where the various kingdoms would seek to destroy the people of Israel.