The Quarterly Journal of Economics· 2012Q1
Persecution Perpetuated: The Medieval Origins of Anti-Semitic Violence in Nazi Germany*
- 650citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2012year
Short summary
Medieval pogroms targeting Jews during the Black Death (1348-50) reliably predict anti-Semitic violence and Nazi Party support in 1920s Germany, demonstrating cultural continuity over 600 years.
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Key points
- Medieval pogroms during the 1348-50 Black Death are used as an indicator of historical anti-Semitism.
- Medieval anti-Semitism predicts violence against Jews in the 1920s, Nazi Party votes, and post-1933 deportations.
- Areas with higher trade or immigration showed lower persistence of anti-Semitic violence.
- Results are not explained by political extremism or general attitudes toward violence.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract How persistent are cultural traits? Using data on anti-Semitism in Germany, we find local continuity over 600 years. Jews were often blamed when the Black Death killed at least a third of Europe’s population during 1348–50. We use plague-era pogroms as an indicator for medieval anti-Semitism. They reliably predict violence against Jews in the 1920s, votes for the Nazi Party, deportations after 1933, attacks on synagogues, and letters to Der Stürmer . We also identify areas where persistence was lower: cities with high levels of trade or immigration. Finally, we show that our results are not driven by political extremism or by different attitudes toward violence.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2012 · DOI ↗
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Field: Demography
DemographySocial Sciences