This Blog is a resource tool for the students taking the "FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVES" elective at Westborough High School, Westborough, Massachusetts.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
PERIOD 6: THE LONGEST HATRED
You recently viewed the PBS documentary The Longest Hatred in class. What did you learn that you did not know before watching the film?
19 comments:
Sarah Foley
said...
This video both surprised me and didn't simultaneously. There was a lot that I already knew, namely that the Jews were considered scapegoats for a lot of the turmoil that the world suffered. I also knew previously that Jewish people were thought of as cheap and frugal as a result of only being allowed the job of a lender/loaner of money in the Middle Ages. I did not know, however, that Christians, namely Catholics, blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. I was not raised incredibly religious, so this was news to me. I had no idea that the Jews were seen as satanic and cruel, as they were often depicted in paintings and stories. The hatred for the Jews led to a multitude of false accusations and incredible rumors. Many believed the Jews would kill young Christian children and drink their blood. I just don't understand how people could go from blaming the Jews for killing God to deeming them as satanic cannibals. I also didn't realize how far back persecution of the Jews traced and how long it has persisted throughout history. It's been 2000 years of racism, fear, and hatred towards this one group of people.
After watching the film “The Longest Hatred,” I realized that I didn't know much about Anti-Semitism. I didn't know that Christians believed that the Jews were at fault for the crucifixion of Jesus. Due to this belief, the Jews were associated with the Devil and ate feces in pictures. I also didn't know that because of these beliefs people had, accusations such as Jews would drink Children’s blood as a sacrifice during Passover became popular. I was surprised to learn that the Nazi’s had followed examples from history when they discriminated against Jewish people. For example, the Jews were forced to wear stars of David to show that they were Jewish just like how the Nazi’s made them distinguish themselves from the rest by using the same method. Christians tried to hide the fact that Mary was Jewish because they believed that Jews were “scum” and were “below everyone else” which allowed Hitler to justify this same idea through historical context. I was unaware at how long Jews have been prejudiced against just because a belief became widespread and how that belief almost lead to the complete extermination of a group of people.
While watching "The Longest Hatred" I learned a lot about Anti-Semitism. Previously I didn't even know what it really meant but through this documentary I learned much about the phrase. I hadn't known that Jews were blamed for the killing of Jesus. It surprised me that even after all these years they are still used as scapegoats. I learned that there were many massacres and crusades on the Jews which the Nazi's were influenced by. They also used the Jews as scapegoats to their modern day problems, such as the depression Germany was going through. The Nazi's even used the same idea of marking the Jews with the star of David, much like other Europeans would make the Jews with symbols. I learned that because many people lived under Roman rule that the Romans could not be blamed for much of anything since they had the power at the time. I really had no idea that Jews were persecuted that far back in history but now that I do, the rise of the Nazi's and Hitler and how the holocaust could have happened is coming together. Like the first interviewer of the documentary said, Jews are made to be perceived as everything society doesn't want to be, even though some of the most prominent artists, scientists and writers were Jewish. Jews have been given a very bad place in society for hundreds of years through stereotypes, and individual beliefs being treated as facts which made it possible for them to be suppressed throughout history without just reason
Frankly, while watching the film I was surprised by how unsurprised I was. You wouldn't expect it, but I learned a lot about interreligious history through the process of studying art history. There's a vast period in history during which all art was religious, so in order to put the works in context, it's mandatory to not only learn about the theological beliefs but also about the conditions for people of that religion during the time. But I didn't have a true idea of the extent to which antisemitism went. Well, I knew how widespread it was but not all the specific and astounding details of how it was perpetuated and how horrible feelings of hatred were spread (through propaganda, ridiculous rumors of Jews who committed Satanic or gruesome acts, etc.) I did know that Christians, particularly Catholics, had historically blamed Jews for the death of Jesus Christ, but I thought that era was a bit bygone. Before I moved to Westborough I went to a Catholic school for a few years and went to church regularly with my parents, and neither parties ever referenced the Jews when discussing Christ, and I even recall priests that preached respect for other faiths. My Catholic grandmother even remarried a Jewish man. But that's because we're in an area a tad more liberal in its Catholicism, I assume there are still heavily Christian or Catholic parts of the world that do blame the Jews for Christ's death, which before the film, had never occurred to me before. Nor did I previously see the connections and divergences between more modern 20th century antisemitism and it's precursor. Something that always confused me, I think, was how antisemitism in the 20th century differed from other times. It was obvious it was not necessarily rooted in theological differences, you heard more propaganda and false accusations being spread during the time of the holocaust relating to the qualities of Jews as a race than to Judaism as a faith. I always wondered how that occurred, and the film really delineated to me how antisemitism in that time was more of a form of racism that grew out of skewed race science and social Darwinism than it was a differing of religious beliefs.
One aspect of this film that surprised me was that the Bible was essentially the root of Anti-Semitism. I knew that strong hatred toward the Jews was existent and prevalent even well before the Holocaust, but I had no idea that it was actually written into the Bible. I did not know that the Christians blamed the Jews for killing Jesus Christ, and that this was the reason that this hatred has existed for so long. Another thing that I did not know prior to watching this film is that to this day, the Catholic Church has not condemned Hitler and what he did to the Jews. I am astounded that one of the foremost religious institutions in the world has not come out against such an atrocity.
The Longest Hatred was really descriptive in describing the history of anti-Semitism; I had no idea that it even existed before the Holocaust. I was surprised to learn about the hatred that Christians had toward Jews especially since I am Roman Catholic. I thought it was ridiculous how one group blamed another for something that happened so long ago. I was not aware that Catholics blamed Jews for anything or that the hatred between the two was so intense. The propaganda and torture devices were so random. When people wanted to believe something they would believe it no matter how farfetched it was. The Nazis use of “scientific evidence” and concentration camps came straight from anti-Semitic practices in the past and was just as effective or maybe even more so. I don’t understand why the start of anti-Semitism isn’t as well known as the Holocaust.
Watching this film has enlightened me to the level of oppression that followers of Judaism received and endured over the echos of the ages. The downright ugly and despicable cruelty that certain Christians hundreds of thousands of years ago displayed were not anything new, but just the childish and, honestly, foolish behavior of figures of Christian authority speculating that the jewish religion was why they had problems. The act is just as bad as what they actually did, learning that the Nazi's were not the first to mark people like cattle, having dated back a declaration by the pope in 3rd century to do the same. While the behavior and acts are nothing new to the world I am aware we have lived in, what stuck with me are the continuous and often sickening image of hordes of people, smacking their chest and saluting Adolf Hitler and what he stood for. Each of their waves and tears are shed for a monster, who behind the scene truly defined genocide. That's more horrifying and morbid than any oven or shower you could show me. The fact that this man was actually not only loved, but worshiped. Sickening.
After watching "The Longest Hatred" I learned a lot about anti-semitism that I did not know before. I did not realize how long Jewish people have been alienated, shunned, and persecuted. I did not know that since the start of Christianity, Jews have been the hated minority. I always thought that anti-semitism began later in history, so I was very surprised to learn that it has been going on for thousands of years. It seems that for years Jews have been blamed for countless different things, and people made up rumors so that more people would hate the Jews, which I find ridiculous. I was also surprised to see "scientific evidence" that Jews were inferior, including racist drawings/art work of Jewish people. It disgusts me that a person would depict another human being in such a demeaning, stereotypical way, just because they hated a whole group of people for seemingly no reason at all. The Nazi's even used some of this hatred as basis for their belief that the world would be better off without Jews. This film showed how the long hatred of the Jewish people led to an event as horrific as the Holocaust.
There was a lot I learned from The Longest Hatred. I never knew that the Bible clearly blamed Jews for killing Jesus, and god. Its impressive how many Catholics don’t seem to know this. I never knew because of this belief Jews were depicted as partners with the devil, sometimes shown eating feces. I was also surprised it took thousands of years for the church to forgive Jews of this accusation. I never knew that the Pope at the time of World Was II had declared neutrality, and didn’t publicly condemn Hitler for his actions. I had learned that people believed Jews drank the blood of children, but it still shocks me that people think that could be true. I never knew Nazi’s actually measured the lengths of people’s noses in the streets. I think its insane that people have tried to exterminate the same group of people multiple times, for essentially no crime. Its horrifying that people can reach that level of hatred without knowing why they actually hate someone.
I've learned and discovered a lot from these past few days of video, some of which so extreme it's hard for me to wrap my head around. First of all, I was not aware that Jews had been haunted down and prosecuted for such an immense period of time, or that the bible itself blames them for the killing of Jesus Christ. Neither was I aware that antisemitism is so alive and well in today's society, and some of the beliefs and folk tales people firmly stand by concerning Jewish people (ie the one about them drinking the blood of infants) seem absolutely ridiculous. Another thing I was unaware of was the fact that Martin Luther was quite antisemitic himself, I would havevthought someone like him, being prosecuted by the Catholic Church himself, would be more accepting towards the Jews. Lastly I learned that antisemitism, in the way the nazis practiced it, is almost purely racially based, having little to nothing to do with religion.
Watching this video opened my eyes and it shocked me at how poorly Jews have been treated over centuries. I knew that many people blamed them for the death of Jesus and I knew about the Holocaust. Then again I also knew that Jesus was a Jew and therefore never expected that many Jews were actually exterminated before the Holocaust just for being Jewish. I know that the Jews have been fighting for Israel for a long time now too but it never occurred to me how they have been exiled from many of their homelands. I also didn't know that Christianity broke off from Judaism and they were so closely related as the movie shows they are. "The Longest Hatred" made me feel bad for the Jews that have lived through so much pain just because of they're religious practice. It made me sick to know that people who consider themselves holy and good people hate on others because of they're opinion and believes. My hope is that one day hatred such as this can be wiped off from our daily lives.
After watching the documentary “The Longest Hatred” I learned a lot about the antisemitism against the Jews that went on far before I was born. I never knew how terribly the Jews were treated over time. The massacres that went on because they were Jewish was just wrong, doing it in the first place is wrong as well. I had no idea that Christians treated the Jews so terribly just because the Jews killed Christ. I also was unaware that Hitler got all of his ideas on how to treat the Jews from the past. Not only the marking of the Jews. It wasn't only Hitler that didn't like the Jews it was Martin Luther as well. He was going to be executed, but was instead protected.
Since I don't know much about religion, I was surprised to learn that Christianity was at the root of the hatred toward Jews. I knew that Jesus himself was a Jew but I never knew that the New Testament blamed them for his death. Another thing that was new to me was that the Nazis were not the first to tag Jews by making them wear something to identify them. I always thought this was unique to Nazi culture. After viewing this movie, it comes as no surprise to me that the Nazis were able to do what they did because there was so much existing hatred. It's so unfortunate and horrible that they would take the hatred as far as killing 6 million Jews. It's really appalling and disgusting to think such a thing could have happened relatively recently in history.
As I watched the film The Longest Hatred, I realized that I was not familiar with the anti-Semitic roots in history. Though I had seen many of the posters and propaganda against Jews from World War II, I had never realized that this propaganda and anti-Jewish sentiment extended much farther before I had thought. This documentary was very hard to watch as this long history of this hatred caused alienation and death to the Jewish population. I never knew a lot about the New Testament, and the view that the New Testament was created from Christian belief and opinions that are now taught as fact was surprising. Seeing the older man speak about Jews in a negative light displayed to me that these horrible views are still believed by some; which is surprising due to the progress that the rest of the world has made. Another fact that I learned was that much before Nazi Germany, the Jews were forced to wear an identification mark, such as the Jewish stars much later in Germany. Though this documentary was difficult to view, it gives a good history to the pre-conceived hatred of Jews in Nazi Germany.
I learned many things from the film. The first major thing that I learned was that anti-sematism started a very long time ago. I did not know that it was started by Christians vry long time ago because they believed that Jesus was killed by the Jews, who is the son of God. I also learned that the Nazis were not anything different from history, all they sid was take existing beliefs about the Jews and multiply them on a massive scale. The film really opened my eyes to religion in a different way and it is very good in my opinion for everybody to know this, regardless of the religion.
I found it extremely surprising that the main hatred towards the Jews was from the Christians. I thought it was crazy that when Hitler was starting to gain power no other country's confronted him when he was breaking the treaty. The Jews were basically blamed for the killing of Jesus for no reason and that was completely unfair. I also found out that thousands of Jews were being killed throughout all of Europe not just Germany. It seemed like the concentration camps were a practice of anti-Semitism and they seemed to be extremely affective. It surprised me that the main source of anti-Semitism was actually the bible itself.
By watching The Longest Hatred, I learned one fact that surprised me. I learned that the method of killing off the Jews and other groups by the Nazis was in fact, an very old method. Back in the time of the First Crusade, the Jewish people were brutally attacked by the Catholics because they were said to have been the murderers of Jesus Christ. Because the Romans at the time did not want to be soley blamed for the death of God's son, they blamed the Jews who did not believe what Jesus taught. This is when the brutal killings of hundereds, even thousands of Jews took place. The Holocaust is really a repeat of these murders, but on an even larger scale.
After watching the video The Rise of the Nazis, I learned much about how they came to power and what led to such prejudices. I was also surprised at how much of these prejudices are still present today. For example, one of the men interviewed who actually met Hitler and said he saw “the good side of him”. I was shocked that some people remain so ignorant to the horrific events that occurred and what caused them. Another thing that surprised me was how far back the hatred of the Jews went and that even the Bible itself shamed them for killing Jesus Christ. I myself am Christian and was not aware that many Christians still discriminate against Jews to this day.
19 comments:
This video both surprised me and didn't simultaneously. There was a lot that I already knew, namely that the Jews were considered scapegoats for a lot of the turmoil that the world suffered. I also knew previously that Jewish people were thought of as cheap and frugal as a result of only being allowed the job of a lender/loaner of money in the Middle Ages. I did not know, however, that Christians, namely Catholics, blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. I was not raised incredibly religious, so this was news to me. I had no idea that the Jews were seen as satanic and cruel, as they were often depicted in paintings and stories. The hatred for the Jews led to a multitude of false accusations and incredible rumors. Many believed the Jews would kill young Christian children and drink their blood. I just don't understand how people could go from blaming the Jews for killing God to deeming them as satanic cannibals. I also didn't realize how far back persecution of the Jews traced and how long it has persisted throughout history. It's been 2000 years of racism, fear, and hatred towards this one group of people.
After watching the film “The Longest Hatred,” I realized that I didn't know much about Anti-Semitism. I didn't know that Christians believed that the Jews were at fault for the crucifixion of Jesus. Due to this belief, the Jews were associated with the Devil and ate feces in pictures. I also didn't know that because of these beliefs people had, accusations such as Jews would drink Children’s blood as a sacrifice during Passover became popular. I was surprised to learn that the Nazi’s had followed examples from history when they discriminated against Jewish people. For example, the Jews were forced to wear stars of David to show that they were Jewish just like how the Nazi’s made them distinguish themselves from the rest by using the same method. Christians tried to hide the fact that Mary was Jewish because they believed that Jews were “scum” and were “below everyone else” which allowed Hitler to justify this same idea through historical context. I was unaware at how long Jews have been prejudiced against just because a belief became widespread and how that belief almost lead to the complete extermination of a group of people.
While watching "The Longest Hatred" I learned a lot about Anti-Semitism. Previously I didn't even know what it really meant but through this documentary I learned much about the phrase. I hadn't known that Jews were blamed for the killing of Jesus. It surprised me that even after all these years they are still used as scapegoats. I learned that there were many massacres and crusades on the Jews which the Nazi's were influenced by. They also used the Jews as scapegoats to their modern day problems, such as the depression Germany was going through. The Nazi's even used the same idea of marking the Jews with the star of David, much like other Europeans would make the Jews with symbols. I learned that because many people lived under Roman rule that the Romans could not be blamed for much of anything since they had the power at the time. I really had no idea that Jews were persecuted that far back in history but now that I do, the rise of the Nazi's and Hitler and how the holocaust could have happened is coming together. Like the first interviewer of the documentary said, Jews are made to be perceived as everything society doesn't want to be, even though some of the most prominent artists, scientists and writers were Jewish. Jews have been given a very bad place in society for hundreds of years through stereotypes, and individual beliefs being treated as facts which made it possible for them to be suppressed throughout history without just reason
Frankly, while watching the film I was surprised by how unsurprised I was. You wouldn't expect it, but I learned a lot about interreligious history through the process of studying art history. There's a vast period in history during which all art was religious, so in order to put the works in context, it's mandatory to not only learn about the theological beliefs but also about the conditions for people of that religion during the time. But I didn't have a true idea of the extent to which antisemitism went. Well, I knew how widespread it was but not all the specific and astounding details of how it was perpetuated and how horrible feelings of hatred were spread (through propaganda, ridiculous rumors of Jews who committed Satanic or gruesome acts, etc.) I did know that Christians, particularly Catholics, had historically blamed Jews for the death of Jesus Christ, but I thought that era was a bit bygone. Before I moved to Westborough I went to a Catholic school for a few years and went to church regularly with my parents, and neither parties ever referenced the Jews when discussing Christ, and I even recall priests that preached respect for other faiths. My Catholic grandmother even remarried a Jewish man. But that's because we're in an area a tad more liberal in its Catholicism, I assume there are still heavily Christian or Catholic parts of the world that do blame the Jews for Christ's death, which before the film, had never occurred to me before. Nor did I previously see the connections and divergences between more modern 20th century antisemitism and it's precursor. Something that always confused me, I think, was how antisemitism in the 20th century differed from other times. It was obvious it was not necessarily rooted in theological differences, you heard more propaganda and false accusations being spread during the time of the holocaust relating to the qualities of Jews as a race than to Judaism as a faith. I always wondered how that occurred, and the film really delineated to me how antisemitism in that time was more of a form of racism that grew out of skewed race science and social Darwinism than it was a differing of religious beliefs.
One aspect of this film that surprised me was that the Bible was essentially the root of Anti-Semitism. I knew that strong hatred toward the Jews was existent and prevalent even well before the Holocaust, but I had no idea that it was actually written into the Bible. I did not know that the Christians blamed the Jews for killing Jesus Christ, and that this was the reason that this hatred has existed for so long. Another thing that I did not know prior to watching this film is that to this day, the Catholic Church has not condemned Hitler and what he did to the Jews. I am astounded that one of the foremost religious institutions in the world has not come out against such an atrocity.
The Longest Hatred was really descriptive in describing the history of anti-Semitism; I had no idea that it even existed before the Holocaust. I was surprised to learn about the hatred that Christians had toward Jews especially since I am Roman Catholic. I thought it was ridiculous how one group blamed another for something that happened so long ago. I was not aware that Catholics blamed Jews for anything or that the hatred between the two was so intense. The propaganda and torture devices were so random. When people wanted to believe something they would believe it no matter how farfetched it was. The Nazis use of “scientific evidence” and concentration camps came straight from anti-Semitic practices in the past and was just as effective or maybe even more so. I don’t understand why the start of anti-Semitism isn’t as well known as the Holocaust.
Watching this film has enlightened me to the level of oppression that followers of Judaism received and endured over the echos of the ages. The downright ugly and despicable cruelty that certain Christians hundreds of thousands of years ago displayed were not anything new, but just the childish and, honestly, foolish behavior of figures of Christian authority speculating that the jewish religion was why they had problems. The act is just as bad as what they actually did, learning that the Nazi's were not the first to mark people like cattle, having dated back a declaration by the pope in 3rd century to do the same. While the behavior and acts are nothing new to the world I am aware we have lived in, what stuck with me are the continuous and often sickening image of hordes of people, smacking their chest and saluting Adolf Hitler and what he stood for. Each of their waves and tears are shed for a monster, who behind the scene truly defined genocide. That's more horrifying and morbid than any oven or shower you could show me. The fact that this man was actually not only loved, but worshiped. Sickening.
After watching "The Longest Hatred" I learned a lot about anti-semitism that I did not know before. I did not realize how long Jewish people have been alienated, shunned, and persecuted. I did not know that since the start of Christianity, Jews have been the hated minority. I always thought that anti-semitism began later in history, so I was very surprised to learn that it has been going on for thousands of years. It seems that for years Jews have been blamed for countless different things, and people made up rumors so that more people would hate the Jews, which I find ridiculous. I was also surprised to see "scientific evidence" that Jews were inferior, including racist drawings/art work of Jewish people. It disgusts me that a person would depict another human being in such a demeaning, stereotypical way, just because they hated a whole group of people for seemingly no reason at all. The Nazi's even used some of this hatred as basis for their belief that the world would be better off without Jews. This film showed how the long hatred of the Jewish people led to an event as horrific as the Holocaust.
There was a lot I learned from The Longest Hatred. I never knew that the Bible clearly blamed Jews for killing Jesus, and god. Its impressive how many Catholics don’t seem to know this. I never knew because of this belief Jews were depicted as partners with the devil, sometimes shown eating feces. I was also surprised it took thousands of years for the church to forgive Jews of this accusation. I never knew that the Pope at the time of World Was II had declared neutrality, and didn’t publicly condemn Hitler for his actions. I had learned that people believed Jews drank the blood of children, but it still shocks me that people think that could be true. I never knew Nazi’s actually measured the lengths of people’s noses in the streets. I think its insane that people have tried to exterminate the same group of people multiple times, for essentially no crime. Its horrifying that people can reach that level of hatred without knowing why they actually hate someone.
I've learned and discovered a lot from these past few days of video, some of which so extreme it's hard for me to wrap my head around. First of all, I was not aware that Jews had been haunted down and prosecuted for such an immense period of time, or that the bible itself blames them for the killing of Jesus Christ. Neither was I aware that antisemitism is so alive and well in today's society, and some of the beliefs and folk tales people firmly stand by concerning Jewish people (ie the one about them drinking the blood of infants) seem absolutely ridiculous. Another thing I was unaware of was the fact that Martin Luther was quite antisemitic himself, I would havevthought someone like him, being prosecuted by the Catholic Church himself, would be more accepting towards the Jews. Lastly I learned that antisemitism, in the way the nazis practiced it, is almost purely racially based, having little to nothing to do with religion.
Watching this video opened my eyes and it shocked me at how poorly Jews have been treated over centuries. I knew that many people blamed them for the death of Jesus and I knew about the Holocaust. Then again I also knew that Jesus was a Jew and therefore never expected that many Jews were actually exterminated before the Holocaust just for being Jewish. I know that the Jews have been fighting for Israel for a long time now too but it never occurred to me how they have been exiled from many of their homelands. I also didn't know that Christianity broke off from Judaism and they were so closely related as the movie shows they are. "The Longest Hatred" made me feel bad for the Jews that have lived through so much pain just because of they're religious practice. It made me sick to know that people who consider themselves holy and good people hate on others because of they're opinion and believes. My hope is that one day hatred such as this can be wiped off from our daily lives.
After watching the documentary “The Longest Hatred” I learned a lot about the antisemitism against the Jews that went on far before I was born. I never knew how terribly the Jews were treated over time. The massacres that went on because they were Jewish was just wrong, doing it in the first place is wrong as well. I had no idea that Christians treated the Jews so terribly just because the Jews killed Christ. I also was unaware that Hitler got all of his ideas on how to treat the Jews from the past. Not only the marking of the Jews. It wasn't only Hitler that didn't like the Jews it was Martin Luther as well. He was going to be executed, but was instead protected.
Since I don't know much about religion, I was surprised to learn that Christianity was at the root of the hatred toward Jews. I knew that Jesus himself was a Jew but I never knew that the New Testament blamed them for his death. Another thing that was new to me was that the Nazis were not the first to tag Jews by making them wear something to identify them. I always thought this was unique to Nazi culture. After viewing this movie, it comes as no surprise to me that the Nazis were able to do what they did because there was so much existing hatred. It's so unfortunate and horrible that they would take the hatred as far as killing 6 million Jews. It's really appalling and disgusting to think such a thing could have happened relatively recently in history.
As I watched the film The Longest Hatred, I realized that I was not familiar with the anti-Semitic roots in history. Though I had seen many of the posters and propaganda against Jews from World War II, I had never realized that this propaganda and anti-Jewish sentiment extended much farther before I had thought. This documentary was very hard to watch as this long history of this hatred caused alienation and death to the Jewish population. I never knew a lot about the New Testament, and the view that the New Testament was created from Christian belief and opinions that are now taught as fact was surprising. Seeing the older man speak about Jews in a negative light displayed to me that these horrible views are still believed by some; which is surprising due to the progress that the rest of the world has made. Another fact that I learned was that much before Nazi Germany, the Jews were forced to wear an identification mark, such as the Jewish stars much later in Germany. Though this documentary was difficult to view, it gives a good history to the pre-conceived hatred of Jews in Nazi Germany.
I learned many things from the film. The first major thing that I learned was that anti-sematism started a very long time ago. I did not know that it was started by Christians vry long time ago because they believed that Jesus was killed by the Jews, who is the son of God. I also learned that the Nazis were not anything different from history, all they sid was take existing beliefs about the Jews and multiply them on a massive scale. The film really opened my eyes to religion in a different way and it is very good in my opinion for everybody to know this, regardless of the religion.
I found it extremely surprising that the main hatred towards the Jews was from the Christians. I thought it was crazy that when Hitler was starting to gain power no other country's confronted him when he was breaking the treaty. The Jews were basically blamed for the killing of Jesus for no reason and that was completely unfair. I also found out that thousands of Jews were being killed throughout all of Europe not just Germany. It seemed like the concentration camps were a practice of anti-Semitism and they seemed to be extremely affective. It surprised me that the main source of anti-Semitism was actually the bible itself.
By watching The Longest Hatred, I learned one fact that surprised me. I learned that the method of killing off the Jews and other groups by the Nazis was in fact, an very old method. Back in the time of the First Crusade, the Jewish people were brutally attacked by the Catholics because they were said to have been the murderers of Jesus Christ. Because the Romans at the time did not want to be soley blamed for the death of God's son, they blamed the Jews who did not believe what Jesus taught. This is when the brutal killings of hundereds, even thousands of Jews took place. The Holocaust is really a repeat of these murders, but on an even larger scale.
After watching the video The Rise of the Nazis, I learned much about how they came to power and what led to such prejudices. I was also surprised at how much of these prejudices are still present today. For example, one of the men interviewed who actually met Hitler and said he saw “the good side of him”. I was shocked that some people remain so ignorant to the horrific events that occurred and what caused them. Another thing that surprised me was how far back the hatred of the Jews went and that even the Bible itself shamed them for killing Jesus Christ. I myself am Christian and was not aware that many Christians still discriminate against Jews to this day.
I was not in class this day
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