Questions from Understanding prejudice and discrimination: Chapter VI: Anti-Semitism

  1. Briefly trace the historical treatment of Jews in the centuries before Hitler up until World War II, using the short readings in the beginning of this chapter.
The Destruction of the European Jews: Dehumanization and Concealment
  1. List as many terms as you can find, and their meanings, that were used to disguise what was done to the Jewish population.

Supply Orders for Nazi Experiments

  1. What was happening in this correspondence?

Jewish Expulsion Orders During the U.S. Civil War

  1. How was the suggested treatment of Jews by Ulysses S. Grant similar to racial profiling today?

Anti-Semitism in America

  1. How was the fictional book, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, used to encourage prejudice and discrimination, and outright extermination, of the Jewish people?
  2. How and why did Henry Ford?s anti-Semitism grow, and what actions did this lead to on this part? (This question has a detailed answer)
  3. How were Jewish students treated at colleges in the United States in the 1900s?
  4. How were Jewish faculty treated at Universities during the same time period?

While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy

  1. How many Jews in Europe did Hitler plan to destroy?
  2. What was the true purpose of the Evian Conference?
  3. What two countries agreed to accept Jewish Refugees?

We Can Delay

  1. How did President Roosevelt plan to stop Jews seeking refuge in the United States during WWII?

U.S. Immigration During the Holocaust

  1. What year was there the lowest rate of immigration? Why? (The answer to why is found in earlier parts of the chapter?

Postwar German Attitudes About Jews and White American Attitudes About Blacks

  1. Keeping in mind what was said in the beginning of this chapter, ?This section includes a comparison of 1940s German Public Opinion toward Jews with White American public Opinion towards Black. Such cross-cultural comparisons can be instructive as long as their limitations are kept in mind (for example, German Citizen at that time may not have felt as free as Americans to express their views) (what stands out for you in this comparison?

A Jewish Perspective on Anti-Semitism

  1. Why might Jews still fear being treated badly in the United States?

ADL 2000 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents

  1. There was a rise in anti-Semitic violence at the end of 2000. What was suggested as the cause for this? What are some statistics on this increase?
  2. What is the most popular and growing form of harassment and spreading hate towards the Jewish population?
  3. What percentage of hate crimes perpetrated on the basis of religion was directed against Jewish people? 

Anti-Semitism in the Middle East

  1. What trends do you see in the statements made in this section?