The Discrimination and Persecution of Jewish Immigrants

The history of the Jewish people is one fraught with discrimination and persecution. No atrocity the Nazis did to the Jews in the Holocaust was original. In England in 1189, a bloody massacre of the Jews occurred for seemingly no reason. Later, the Fourth Lateran Council under Pope Innocent III required Jews to wear a badge so that all would know their race, and then had them put into walled, locked ghettos, where the Jewish community primarily remained until the middle of the eighteenth century. When the Black Death ravaged Europe in the medieval ages, many Europeans blamed the Jews (Taft 7). Yet, the one thing that could be more appalling than such brutal persecution could only be others’ failure and flat-out refusal to intervene. Such is the case with the non-Axis coutries of World War II; these nations failed miserably in their responsibility to grant basic human rights – even the right of life – to Jewish immigrants prior to World War II.

The Jewish people and culture have always been an integral part of western society. Many of society’s core values and outlooks derive from those of the Jews (Cahill 3). Every economy involved the Jews. Some of their most common professions were bankers and doctors; even when one neglects to consider the necessity of these professions, one must consider that just by existing they boosted the economy through commerce (Taft 1). The New York Times recorded that in London in 1902 it was “surprising how quickly they improve[d] their condition and beg[a]n to save money” and were building up a tailoring business to rival Germany (“Jewish Immigration Into London”). According to then-former President Taft, Jews in 1919 were given legal equality in every country except Romania and Russia, a...

... middle of paper ...

...an occupation (the suppressors of their rights). It helped with understanding a good amount of the political and cultural aspects in a key part of Europe.

Zollman, Joellyn. "Jewish Immigration to America - My Jewish Learning." Jewish Immigration to America - My Jewish Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2013. . Joellyn Zollman described three "waves" of Jewish immigration to America. First came the Sephardic settlers from 1654 and several decades on, second the German Jews (mainly to escape oppression and denial rights, even basic human rights) in the 1840s, and lastly the Eastern Europeans after 1880. It provided information on the history of Jewish immigration to the United States, along with the reasons why - these reasons seemed to be part of a trend throughout history.