Anti- Semitism and the Jewish Question in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume III

Modern Anti-Semitism and its Effect on the Jewish Question

The term antisemitism was coined in the late 1870’s/early 1880’s and marked the beginning of modern hatred of the Jews. The Theory of Race was embraced by Eugen Dühring in 1881 and his book is a classic of modern anti-Jewish racism. However, modern antisemitism is based on beliefs of many centuries, such as the murder of Christ by Jews. The Jew was considered accursed from the dawn of the ages until the end of the world. His assimilation would poison the host nations. The most logical solution was to annihilate these vermin. The Nazis did not invent new theories on the Jewish question; they only drew from the theories that originated in 1880.