26 Times Jews Were The World’s Punching Bag: Is Antisemitism Hardwired in Us?

Chuvic - April 23, 2025

Throughout history, Jewish communities have endured cycles of persecution that have profoundly impacted global politics, migration patterns, and cultural development. These events tell a sobering story of resilience in the face of recurring prejudice. From ancient Egypt to modern times, here’s a comprehensive look at significant periods of Jewish persecution.

Ancient Egyptian Enslavement

The Book of Exodus describes how Pharaoh feared the growing Hebrew population and enslaved the Israelites. He ordered all newborn Hebrew boys killed, though midwives secretly defied this decree. Moses survived this infanticide attempt and eventually led his people to liberation. This 13th century BCE oppression became a foundational story in Jewish history, establishing early patterns of persecution and resistance.

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Babylonian Exile

Around 605 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem. He forcibly relocated thousands of Judeans to Babylon, targeting them specifically as a distinct cultural group. This exile profoundly disrupted their cultural center and religious practices. The Jewish community adapted to survive away from their homeland. This event transformed Judaism by necessitating new forms of worship without their temple.

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Seleucid Persecution

Under Antiochus IV in 167 BCE, Jewish practices faced outright prohibition. The ruler desecrated the Second Temple and tortured or killed Jews who adhered to their faith. His actions aimed to eliminate Jewish cultural uniqueness through forced assimilation. This triggered the Maccabean Revolt, when Jews fought to preserve their religious identity. Their victory is now celebrated during Hanukkah.

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Alexandria Riots

Roman Alexandria in 38 CE witnessed extreme anti-Jewish violence. Greek residents and authorities attacked Jewish communities throughout the city. Thousands of Jews died in these attacks. Synagogues burned while mobs destroyed Jewish homes and businesses. Economic tensions and religious differences fueled this outbreak of violence. The Romans did little to protect the Jewish population from these brutal attacks.

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First Jewish-Roman War

The Romans crushed a Jewish rebellion between 66-73 CE with shocking brutality. They destroyed the Second Temple, the center of Jewish religious life, and killed or enslaved around a million Jews. Survivors were scattered across the Roman Empire, beginning the long period called the Diaspora (meaning “scattering”). Without their temple or homeland, Jews had to completely reinvent their religious practices, creating synagogue worship and putting greater emphasis on home rituals that could be practiced anywhere.

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Bar Kokhba Revolt

After Jews rebelled again in 135 CE, Emperor Hadrian’s response was severe. He expelled Jews from Jerusalem and renamed it Aelia Capitolina. Jewish religious practices faced outright bans. Hadrian specifically targeted cultural identity and continuity. Jerusalem, once the Jewish spiritual center, became off-limits to them. The revolt’s failure scattered Jewish communities further across the Mediterranean region.

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First Crusade Massacres

In 1096, Crusaders slaughtered Jewish communities throughout the Rhineland. Towns like Worms and Mainz saw thousands of Jews killed. The attackers justified their actions by labeling Jews as “Christ-killers.” These massacres occurred before the Crusaders even reached the Holy Land. Local Christian authorities sometimes tried but often failed to protect their Jewish neighbors from the religious violence.

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Blood Libel Emergence

The first documented “blood libel” occurred in Norwich, England in 1144. This false accusation claimed Jews murdered Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals. It was something strictly forbidden in Jewish law. The lie triggered immediate violence against the local Jewish community. This toxic myth spread across Europe over subsequent centuries, inciting countless attacks. Blood libel accusations became one of the most persistent and deadly forms of antisemitic propaganda throughout history.

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French Expulsion

King Philip II expelled Jews from France in 1182. He seized their property and assets while forcing them from their homes. Greed for Jewish wealth and religious zealotry motivated this action. The pattern of expelling Jews, confiscating their property, and later allowing their return for taxation purposes repeated throughout medieval Europe. France eventually readmitted Jews but subjected them to harsh restrictions.

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English Expulsion

Edward I banished all Jews from England in 1290. This followed years of increasing restrictions on Jewish economic activities. The crown seized Jewish property and assets, effectively using banishment as a wealth transfer mechanism. After enriching itself, the monarchy later allowed Jews to return under harsh taxation, creating a cynical cycle of exploitation. This pattern of expulsion, confiscation, and conditional readmission for economic benefit became common practice throughout medieval European kingdoms.

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Black Death Persecutions

Between 1348 and 1351, as the bubonic plague devastated Europe, Jews faced false accusations of causing the disease. Rumors spread that Jews poisoned wells to kill Christians, despite Jews dying from the plague at similar rates. This scapegoating led to massacres in cities like Strasbourg and Mainz, where entire Jewish communities perished. Some local authorities tried to protect Jews, while others actively participated in the killings. This period shows how disasters often lead to the targeting of minority groups.

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Spanish Massacre

Inflammatory sermons against Jews sparked devastating riots across Spain in 1391. The violence that began in Seville killed thousands and forced many survivors to convert to Christianity under threat of death. Those who converted became “conversos,” forever suspect in their new faith. Jewish communities that had flourished for centuries under relatively tolerant conditions collapsed under this wave of persecution, showing how quickly social conditions can deteriorate when religious hatred is deliberately inflamed.

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Spanish Expulsion

Ferdinand and Isabella expelled approximately 200,000 Jews from Spain via the 1492 Alhambra Decree. Jews refusing conversion to Christianity had to leave their homeland. Many faced violence or forced baptism during the exodus. This expulsion ended centuries of Jewish presence in Spain. The exiles scattered across North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and other more tolerant regions.

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Chmielnicki Uprising

Cossacks under Bohdan Chmielnicki massacred tens of thousands of Jews in Ukraine during 1648-1649. They targeted Jews as economic intermediaries in Polish-Lithuanian territories. Entire Jewish communities disappeared in the wake of these attacks. Survivors fled to safer regions. The scale of destruction rivaled later pogroms. Many Jews worked as tax collectors and managers for Polish nobles, making them visible targets.

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Vienna Expulsion

Emperor Leopold I’s 1670 expulsion of Vienna’s Jews reflected the precarious position of even established communities. Yielding to pressure from religious and commercial competitors, he forced Jewish residents to leave the imperial capital. Fleeing families faced mob violence along escape routes. The prominent Jewish historian Nathan ben Moses Hannover numbered among those who died during this persecution. Though some Jews would later be readmitted, strict limitations on their numbers and activities persisted throughout Habsburg lands.

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Haidamak Massacres

Cossack and peasant uprisings killed thousands of Jews across Ukraine in 1768. The town of Uman saw particularly brutal attacks against Jewish residents. Economic resentment toward Jews as estate managers for Polish landowners fueled the violence. Religious differences heightened tensions between Orthodox Christian peasants and Jewish communities. The brutality shocked even contemporary observers familiar with anti-Jewish violence.

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Russian Empire Pogroms

Between 1821 and 1906, anti-Jewish riots repeatedly erupted across the Russian Empire. Cities like Odessa (1821) and Kishinev (1903) witnessed deadly attacks against Jewish neighborhoods. Thousands died while many more lost homes and businesses. State authorities often tolerated or secretly encouraged the violence. Jews faced blame for economic hardships and revolutionary politics during this turbulent period.

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Dreyfus Affair

French Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus faced false treason charges between 1894 and 1906. His case exposed widespread antisemitism in French society and institutions. Public opinion divided sharply over his guilt or innocence. The trial and subsequent controversy revealed how deeply antisemitism persisted even in supposedly enlightened France. Theodor Herzl, witnessing the affair, concluded Jews needed their own state.

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Post-Russian Revolution Pogroms

The chaos following World War I and the Russian Revolution created opportunities for unprecedented violence against Jews. Between 1918 and 1921, various military factions killed between 30,000-70,000 Jews across Ukraine and Belarus. White Army forces, Ukrainian nationalists, and Polish troops attacked Jewish communities already suffering from war. The violence exceeded even the worst Tsarist-era pogroms in brutality and scale. These attacks devastated the vibrant Jewish culture of Eastern European shtetls.

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The Holocaust

The Nazi regime’s systematic genocide between 1933-1945 represents the deadliest chapter in Jewish history. Six million Jews perished as persecution escalated from initial boycotts and Nuremberg Laws to ghettos, deportations, and industrialized murder at extermination camps. Kristallnacht in 1938 marked the transition from legal discrimination to open violence. Jewish communities that had existed for centuries vanished from much of Europe. The Holocaust demonstrates how quickly modern bureaucracy and technology can amplify ancient hatreds to genocidal levels.

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Iraqi Farhud

Baghdad’s Jewish community, dating back to Babylonian times, faced a devastating pogrom in June 1941. Approximately 180 Jews died in violence fueled by Nazi propaganda and rising Arab nationalism during World War II. Hundreds of Jewish homes and businesses were looted or destroyed in attacks that shattered centuries of coexistence. German Arabic-language radio broadcasts had inflamed local antisemitism for years. This violence marked the beginning of the end for Iraq’s ancient Jewish population, showing how quickly established communities can become vulnerable.

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Libyan Riots

Over 140 Jews died in anti-Jewish riots across Tripolitania in 1945. These attacks occurred in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Local tensions and growing anti-Zionist sentiment fueled the violence. The once-thriving Jewish communities of Libya began a rapid decline after these riots. British authorities failed to adequately protect the Jewish population during these deadly attacks.

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Kielce Pogrom

Even the Holocaust’s full revelation didn’t end European antisemitism. In July 1946, Polish townspeople killed 42 Jews in Kielce after blood libel rumors claimed Jews had kidnapped a Christian child. The violence occurred despite the presence of police and soldiers, showing official complicity. Coming after the Holocaust, this attack convinced many surviving Jews that Europe remained unsafe despite Nazi defeat. This pogrom accelerated Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe to Palestine and elsewhere.

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Middle Eastern Jewish Expulsions

Between 1948 and 1967, over 800,000 Jews fled or faced expulsion from Arab countries. Nations like Iraq, Egypt, and Yemen enacted discriminatory laws after Israel’s founding. Ancient Jewish communities dating back millennia disappeared almost overnight. Jews lost homes, businesses, and assets worth billions. These refugees largely resettled in Israel, nearly doubling its early population. Their exodus remains less recognized than the Palestinian refugee crisis.

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Tripoli Pogrom

The 1967 Six-Day War triggered a final wave of violence against Libya’s Jewish community. Mobs attacked Jewish neighborhoods, burning synagogues and killing 18 people while authorities stood idle. Fearing for their lives, Libya’s remaining Jews fled en masse, primarily to Israel and Italy. Most escaped with only the clothes they wore, abandoning generations of property and possessions. This violence effectively ended the 2,300-year Jewish presence in Libya, erasing a unique cultural heritage that had survived Romans, Arabs, and Ottoman rule.

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Recent Antisemitic Surge

Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, antisemitic incidents spiked globally. The Anti-Defamation League reported 8,873 cases in the US during 2023, up 140% from previous years. Assaults, vandalism, and harassment targeting Jews increased sharply. Much of this antisemitism is connected to anti-Israel sentiment. Jewish students faced particular hostility on college campuses across North America and Europe.

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Understanding Persecution Patterns

Jewish persecution typically stems from their perceived status as religious, cultural, or economic “outsiders.” Throughout history, various triggers have sparked anti-Jewish violence. Religious prejudice cast Jews as “Christ-killers” or heretics. Economic stereotypes led to scapegoating during crises. Political leaders exploited antisemitism to unify followers. Race-based ideologies like Nazism labeled Jews biological threats. These patterns continue to evolve but remain recognizable across centuries.

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Conclusion

This sobering timeline reveals how persecution of Jewish communities has persisted across continents and millennia. From ancient religious prejudice to modern racial hatred, the forms change while the fundamental patterns remain disturbingly similar. Understanding this history helps us recognize warning signs and remember that vigilance against hatred remains essential. The resilience of Jewish communities despite these repeated tragedies stands as a testament to human endurance in the face of persistent prejudice.

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