Anti-semitism

Anti-semitism
   The first use of the term is attributed to Wilhelm Marr, a member of the German Reichstag, in 1879. The term reflects the currents of racism and Social Darwinism that had permeated much of Western Europe and the United States at the end of the 19th century. In his use of the term, Marr intended to distinguish between traditional anti-Jewish attitudes, which were based on Christianity’s aversion to the Jews, and repugnance toward Jews based on race. Marr argued that Jews were of the Semitic race and were not a religious fellowship. Inasmuch as racial theory was widespread in the German universities, it is not surprising that the term “anti-Semitism” caught on among Volkisch and other German nationalists at the end of the century. Increasingly, Jews found themselves defined as Semites as juxtaposed to the true German “Aryans.” The significance of this definition, for Jewish converts to Christianity, was that it negated the assimilative benefits of baptism. Until Adolf Hitler made antiSemitism the primary focus of Nazi ideology, most German Jews continued to believe that the racial definition, which held that racial characteristics were fixed in the “blood,” was the rhetoric of a radical fringe group and not a threat to their place in German life.

Historical dictionary of the Holocaust. . 2014.

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  • Anti-semitism —    anti Jewish prejudice, founded on pseudoscientific spec ulation, that devised a racially based hostility toward Jews.* Although European Jews had endured centuries of religious enmity, they had been free to counter the hostility of Gentile… …   Historical dictionary of Weimar Republik

  • anti-Semitism — (n.) also antisemitism, 1881, from Ger. Antisemitismus, first used by Wilhelm Marr (1819 1904) German radical, nationalist and race agitator, who founded the Antisemiten Liga in 1879; see ANTI (Cf. anti ) + SEMITE (Cf. Semite). Not etymologically …   Etymology dictionary

  • anti-Semitism — ► NOUN ▪ hostility to or prejudice against Jews. DERIVATIVES anti Semite noun anti Semitic adjective …   English terms dictionary

  • anti-Semitism — anti Sem|i|tis|m [ˌæntı ˈsemıtızəm] n [U] hatred of Jewish people ▪ the struggle against fascism and anti Semitism …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Anti-Semitism — An ti Sem i*tism, n. Opposition to, or hatred of, Semites, esp. Jews. The word is sometimes also applied to acts motivated by or evincing antisemitism. {An ti Sem ite}, n. {An ti Sem*it ic}, a. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • anti-Semitism — /an tee sem i tiz euhm, an tuy /, n. discrimination against or prejudice or hostility toward Jews. [1880 85] * * * Hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious group or race. Although the term anti Semitism has wide currency, it …   Universalium

  • Anti-semitism —    The roots of anti Semitism in Russia are deep. In 1791, Catherine the Great instituted the Pale of Settlement, which restricted Jewish residents in the lands of the former Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth from settling in other parts of Russia.… …   Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation

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  • anti-Semitism — [[t]æ̱nti se̱mɪtɪzəm[/t]] N UNCOUNT Anti Semitism is hostility to and prejudice against Jewish people. The extreme right wing National Front promoted anti semitism …   English dictionary

  • anti-semitism — antisemitizmas statusas T sritis Politika apibrėžtis Tautinės, rasinės neapykantos forma, pasireiškianti žydų diskriminavimu ar persekiojimu. Žydų diskriminavimo dėl religinių motyvų (monoteizmo, bendruomenių uždarumo, skirtingų religinių… …   Politikos mokslų enciklopedinis žodynas

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