Jewish HomelandsDiasporaJews expelled from homeland in 600 CE, forced to leave and spread across the globe for 1500 yearsEurope, Africa, Middle East, etc.Keep getting kicked out of the countries they move to—develops different culturesPush FactorsAnti-SemitismChristian nations are hostile towards JewsSeen as “Christ Killers”Believe they are responsible for the crucifixion of JesusBlamed for all the bad things that happenEconomic decline, famine, drought, etc.Think God is punishing them for letting Jews live thereBlamed for the Black PlagueJews didn’t contract it because they have food regulations and wash their hands oftenEconomics“usury”—Christians can’t be involved (it’s the law); profiting off of someone else’s suffering—interestopen to Jews—never made up more than 1% of the population where they’re living1st wave of Jewish immigrationSephardic Jews: move to early America in the formative wave; come from Spain and Portugal; live in a Catholic societyThe Spanish Inquisition (1478-1834): religious persecution against anyone who isn’t Catholic; Jews are officially expelled from“Auto de fe”: act of faith; prayer, memorize scripture—proves your conversion to CatholicismAlhambra Decree: edict of expulsion; passed March 31, 1492; if you converted get out of Spain; Spaniards not trusting convertsNew Amsterdam: New York; where Jews goGerman Jews: came in the first wave (1830s); move to the same place as other Germans; different economic classesPull factor: religious freedomReformed Judaism: from Germany; allows Jews to fit into Christian population; alternative to Orthodox JudaismPeddlers: traveling salesmen; sell things around US; sell goods—high quality, low pricesSecond Wave Immigration (1880-1920)Eastern European Jews: unskilled laborers; do not speak English; come from Eastern and Southern Europe; can not and will not assimilateIndustrial Revolution: causes unskilled Eastern European Jewish laborers to come over to USAshkenazic JewsEarly Europe, central Europe and RussiaSecond Wave migrationDisrupt daily life of Jews in America; large numbers; very visible—do everything wrongSweatshops: opened by other Jews in US so that Ashkenazic Jews can work around the holy day—SaturdayRussia is trying to take over—process of trying to get people to say they’re Russian/turn people into Russians—Russification (state sponsored population elimination)Military service: focus on changing kids—boys must serve in the military starting at age 5 or 8—new law—they’re out of their home and in the military for 25 years—trying to grow these Jews up as RussiansFighting back: Jewish families make their child undesirable to the military—hurt their kids physically to save them from the militaryMarriage laws: Jewish girls cannot marry Jewish boys—marry a Christian/Russian to russify them—make them less JewishPogroms: (1871-1917) state sponsored population elimination by killing people (Jews) who aren’t Russian enoughTsar Alexander II: freed surfs (slave class in Russia); assassinated on March 13, 1881—his son Tsar Alexander III hate the people because they killed his fatherJews are blamed for all of thisOver 100,000 Jews killedEasy to find, lived in ghettos—difficult to get awayFiddler on the Roof: Jews needed to get away/leave homes because the pogroms were coming“New Immigrants”: came in second wave; “new” doesn’t necessarily mean goodEastern European Jews in AmericaAbout 2 million immigrate to the Lower East Side in NYC—settle within 3 blocks of each other; come over with no money; negative stereotypes because they’re different; spoke Yiddish; try to keep their culture—religion and tradition as much as possible—will not acculturateTenament Houses: EE Jews live in these; 10 ppl/300 sq ft; “high rise”Conservative Judaism: emerges in and particular to US; balance between tradition and modern times; generational differencesEastern European Jews in the 20th CenturyWWII (1939-1945)Germany was weak after WWI and were forced to sign The Germany Guilt ClauseNazi Germany=Adolf Hitler“Lebensraum” (living space)—we need more, we need to kick people out of Germany—“Untermensch” (half-humans)—no country letting Jews in—they will die waitingHitler deciding on The Final Solution—Holocaust: kills largest population of Jews in the worldConcentration/Labor CampsExtermination through labor—the willful killing of forced laborers or prisoners through excessive heavy labor, malnutrition and inadequate care“work shall set you free”become death/extermination camps—gas chambers (Zyklon B)—systematic killing—put in mass gravesNazi’s forced prisoners to go on marches until the physically couldn’t and left them to die; usually in freezing weather—death marchesLeo Frank: Jewish American; only Jew to be lynched; war of racismsSonderkommando (special unit): helping Nazis exterminate other Jews; usher people in chambers; dispose of the bodies; cremate bodiesNazi Human ExperimentationMedical torture: changing of eye colors, amputations, head injuries, pregnancyJosef Mengele—had a fascination with twins: Tito and Nino (gypsies)LiberationPost WWII immigration—Jews to the U.S.“New Intellectuals”—Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer—Manhattan Project (creating the atomic bomb)Second KKK: hating anyone who isn’t a WASP; violence against JewsHenry Ford: big anti-semite; had a lot of power in the US; newspaper: The Dearborn IndependentThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion (1920): fake document; says that Jews want to take over the world; actually written by RussiansThe Great Depression: belief that Jews were to blame; was the result of racism/anti-semitismRosenberg Trials: only case of civilians being excecuted for espionage in the US; husband and wife killed for supposedly giving info of atomic bombs to USSR during war timePolitical asylum: safe place from political persecution—USJewish voting blocks: very strong, very liberal—support social equality and protecting civil rightsEastern European Jews after WWIIZionist Movement: political movement to give Jews a homelandGiven Israel on March 14, 1948Reverse diaspora—Jews moving back into a homelandHave to serve their country“Israel as a country”—big political issueConservative Judaism: moves back to old traditions; not so modernized; not so “Protestant”; Sabbath back to Saturday; kosher laws; synagogues; dressing; etc.Jews in America todaySocial
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