Unit 1
Jewish life in Europe
1.2 What prejudice did Jews face? Life for Jews was not always easy. For long periods of time, Jewish people across Europe were treated differently by their non-Jewish neighbours. Sometimes there were even violent attacks on Jews.
blamed for crises such as plagues. They became a scapegoat for people’s problems. The rulers of different countries passed laws that were unfair towards Jews. This included stopping Jewish people from doing certain jobs, or making them live separately from nonJews in ghettos. Jews were often forced to wear hats, badges or certain items of clothing to show they were Jewish.
The reasons for this hostility are complicated and go back 2,000 years to Roman times. The relationship between Jews and Romans changed as the Roman Empire grew. When Christianity became the official religion of the Empire in the fourth century, Judaism became a rival religion, and some early Christians wrongly claimed that Jews had killed Jesus.
On numerous occasions throughout history, Jews were forced to leave their country. Every time they were expelled, they had to find another place to settle. This caused great movement of Jewish refugees across Europe and beyond. With the spread of Christianity across the world, it was difficult for Jews to find a welcoming place to live.
By the year 1000 ce, almost everyone in Europe was Christian. Jews, who did not share Christian beliefs, became the target for brutal persecution. Lies about Jews spread and Jews became demonised and wrongly
Jewish life in Medieval England
Violence against Jews spread across the country. One of the worst instances was in York in 1190, when around 150 Jewish people died after being trapped in a tower. For the next 100 years the Jews of England suffered increasing persecution. Finally, in 1290, King Edward I ordered all Jews to leave the country. England became the first European country to expel Jewish people. It was not until 1655 that these laws were removed and Jews returned.
We do not know when Jewish people first came to England. However, after he became King in 1066, William the Conqueror encouraged Jews to settle in the country. Jewish people were given protection by the King. In the 1100s, life for Jews in England changed. Jewish people started to be wrongly accused of murdering Christian children, and anti-Jewish feeling grew.
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9781510480377 KS3 Understanding the Holocaust.indb 16
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