d the promised messiah,then something was awry. Either the Jews were right, and Jesus was a falseprophet, or the Christians were right, and the Jews had been led astray. Thistheological impasse provided the initial antagonism between the tworeligions. However, the Christians conceived of their religion assuperseding Judaism. Therefore, Jews...ought to disappear from the Earth.(Goldhagen, 47) Goldhagen continues his historical evolution ofanti-Semitism alluding to the concept of Jews as Christ-killers, as minions ofSatan, as usurers and as malevolent and corrosive members of society. Itwas these church inspired misconceptions of the Jews which would beultimately responsible for the anti-Semitic fervor of the ordinary German Volk. Chapter 3: Eliminationist Anti-Semitism: The Common Sense ofGerman Society During the Nazi PeriodThis chapters discussion deals with the analysis of the relationship ofGerman anti-Semitism during the Nazi period to the measures that theGermans took against the Jews. The concept of the Judenfrage (the JewishProblem) required a solution. Some fundamental change in the nature ofJews or in their position in Germany was necessary and urgent. With therise of the NSDAP, a systematic persecution of Jews began, with the fullsupport from the State. With the adoption of the Nuremberg Laws inSeptember of 1935, this state sanction stripped the Jews of Germancitizenship and forbade them from marrying German citizens. The systematicremoval of Jews from German society had begun. Additionally, Goldhagenrelates German complicity during Kristalnacht. This German complicityculminates in the forced relocation of the remaining German Jews to campsthroughout the German and Polish countryside to await the Final Solution.Part II: The Eliminationist Program and InstitutionsChapter 4: the Nazis Assault on the Jews: Its Character andEvolutionWith the dawn of the Nazi Party, the eliminationist ideology was inherent,but the ...
