Why Do They Hate Us So Much?

Abstract

The background to this period of my life was German anti-Semitism, and this chapter deals with the background of the nineteenth century. Why did they hate us so much? The answer rests in an insightful book by the German historian Götz Aly. In the nineteenth century, Germany went through an economic, social, and political transition, which created much dissatisfaction. At the same time, inspired by the French Enlightenment, there was the emancipation of the Jews, which led to their exceptional success in this changed new world. Hence it led to German jealousy—the “Green- Eyed Monster”—and that was the basis of nineteenth-century anti-Semitism.