Since the dawn of time unimaginable atrocities have been committed by the human race against its own kind for many reasons that still to this day have been left unresolved.
One of these unimaginable atrocities is that committed against the Jews. For thousands of years they have been at the centre of discriminatory action and unsubstantiated allegations.
Since the ancient Roman Empire the loyalty and dedication of Jews to their religion and special forms of worship was used as a excuse for political discrimination against them, and very few Jews were allowed to Roman citizenship.
Possibly before the 4th Century AD the Jews have been regarded by Christians as the killers of Jesus Christ. Discrimination against the Jews on religious grounds became universal and systematic with domination of Christianity. During the Crusades, in great numbers Jews were slaughtered and those that were not murdered were more often than not, segregated into living in ghettos, while being forced to wear identifying marks and garments.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries acceptance of the Jews by the non-Jewish majority was superficial and greatly depended on economic and social conditions.
The process of liberating the Jewish community in Germany was completed with the use of legal reforms. Even though they put an end to the discrimination on religious grounds, antagonism, based on racism strongly immerged. Anti-Semitic hostility became justified by the racist theory, which was first developed in Germany in the middle of the 19th century. This theory of racial superiority was used to justify the civil and religious persecution of Jews that had existed throughout history.
However, German's anti-Semitism views were not alone, as in many parts of Europe this pattern could be seen. For example, in Austria, a Christian Socialist Party promoted anti-Semitic programmes. In France, anti-Semitism became an issue in the larger problem of the separation of Church and State and many groups funded newspapers and bulletins expressing anti-Semitism views.
