The history of modern antisemitism in Germany is a part of the
history of the difficulties obstructing the achievement of social and
economic stability and political democracy in Germany.

-- Hans-Joachim Bieber, 1979

Contemporary study of the history of antisemitism in Germany is made
difficult by our knowledge of events between 1933 and 1945. Much of
the pre-Nazi history was more or less repeated in other countries, as the
present volume attests. What occurred in Germany to combine in so
deadly a way these almost conventional developments with the unprec-
edented barbarities of the Nazi period still puzzles many. It is insufficient
merely to seek for unusual events as such. We need to discover unique
ties between the seemingly innocent and the blatantly guilty.

Jews lived in Germany since Roman times and in the tenth and elev-
enth centuries began to move into the cities. During the First Crusade,
which began in 1096, Jewish communities were plundered and massa-
cred by crusaders; synagogues were sacked. During the Second Crusade
( 1146-47), writes Simon Dubnov, "the agitation . . . and the flaming fa-
naticism that had engulfed all strata of Christian society placed the Jews
as though on a volcano." ¹ Seeking a refuge, they drifted under formal
protection of rulers who could protect them from these periodic ravages.
By the early thirteenth century, a body of German law--"Jewry law"--
guarded their status as equals in courts of law.

Jews could and did bear arms, using them for protection against at-
tacks; they fought some Crusaders but lost the battles. Jews were subject
to common legal requirements and punishments. Moneylending by Jews
and others was allowed but usury was condemned. The practice of re-
ligion by the Jews was not tampered with and Germany witnessed no

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