History of the Jews, Vol. 5 (of 6)Graetz, Heinrich
History
History of the Jews, Vol. 5 (of 6)
Graetz, Heinrich
Jews -- History
He compiled a venomous book in two volumes, the title of which in
itself was an invitation to Christians to massacre the Jews, and was
synonymous with a repetition of earlier scenes of horror for the Jews.
"Judaism Unmasked; or a Thorough and True Account of the Way
in which the Stubborn Jews frightfully blaspheme and dishonor
the Holy Trinity, revile the Holy Mother of Christ, mockingly
criticise the New Testament, the Evangelists, the Apostles, and
the Christian Religion, and despise and curse to the Uttermost
Extreme the whole of Christianity. Much else besides, either
not at all or very little known, and Gross Errors of the Jewish
Religion and Theology, as well as Ridiculous and Amusing
Stories, herein appear. All proved from their own Books.
Written for the Honest Information of all Christians."
Eisenmenger intended to hurl Wagenseil's "fiery darts of Satan" with
deadly aim at the Jews. If he had merely quoted detached sentences
from the Talmudical and later Rabbinical literature and anti-Christian
writings, translated them, and drawn conclusions from them hostile
to the Jews, he would only have proved his mental weakness. But
Eisenmenger represented most horrible falsehoods, as Wagenseil had
called them, as indisputable facts. He adduced a whole chapter of
proofs showing that it was not lawful for Jews to save a Christian
from danger to life, that the Rabbinical laws command the slaughter
of Christians, and that no confidence should be placed in Jewish
physicians, nor ought their medicines to be taken. He repeated all
the false stories of murders committed by Jews against Christians, of
the poisoning of wells by Jews at the time of the Black Death, of the
poisoning of the elector of Brandenburg, Joachim II, by his Jewish
mint-master, of Raphael Levi's child-murder at Metz--in short,
all ever invented by saintly simplicity, priestly fraud, or excited
fanaticism, and imputed to Jews. That the martyrdom of little Simon
of Trent was a fabrication had been clearly proved by the doge and
senate of Venice on authentic documents. Not only the Jewish writers
Isaac Viva and Isaac Cardoso, but also Christians, like Wülfer and
Wagenseil, recognized these documents as genuine, and represented the
charge against the Jews of Trent as a crying injustice. Eisenmenger
was not influenced by that, declared the documents to be forged, and
maintained the bloodthirstiness of Jews with fiery zeal and energy.
One would be justified in ascribing his proceedings against Jews
to brutality or avarice. Although very learned in Hebrew, he was
otherwise uncultured. He was willing to be bribed by solid coin into
silence with regard to the Jews. But for the honor of humanity one
would rather impute his course to blindness; he had lived a long time
at Frankfort-on-the-Main, formerly the center of hatred to Jews in
Germany, and he may there have imbibed his bitter animosity, and have
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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