The Black Death

The Most Devastating Natural Disaster in European History!

38 Million People Died Between 1347 and 1351.

The Bacteria Yersinia pestis was to blame for the illness

Trail of Death Flea infested Rats

travelling with Trading Caravans brought the Plague to Caffa, on the Black Sea in 1347.

From Caffa the Plague hit Sicily and then Spread North through Europe.

A Dark Nursery Rhyme The symptoms of the

plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (RING AROUND THE ROSIE). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs (POCKET FULL OF POSIES) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies!http://www.rhymes.org.uk/ring_around_the_rosy.htm

The Blood Libel The Dark Myth that

Jews Used Christian Children’s Blood for Religious Rituals.

The myth of the Blood Libel was a religious tension between Christians and Jews even before the plague.

Distrust and Religious Misunderstanding is a Foundation for Anti-Semitic Thought.

The Scapegoat

The Black Death caused chaos through Europe. All the death and destruction made the public look for someone to blame. The Jewish community was the perfect scapegoat. Their wealth and education made them easy targets. The Conspiracy Theory started to swarm that the Jews were poisoning the wells and causing the sickness.

The Confession of Agimet of Geneva, Châtel, October 20, 1348

“Agimet the Jew, who lived at Geneva and was arrested at Châtel, was there put to the torture a little and then he was released from it. And after a long time, having been subjected again to torture a little, he confessed in the presence of a great many trustworthy persons, who are later mentioned.”

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1348-jewsblackdeath.html

STRASBOURG, FRANCEThe virulent out-break of Anti-Semitism took a violent turn in Strasbourg. About 900 of the towns Jews were arrested by a mob on Friday the 13th and then on St. Valentines Day, February 14th, they were burned alive for all the town to see.

BASEL, SWITZERLAND The Jews of Basel

were burned, in a house constructed for that purpose, on an island in the Rhine on Jan. 9, 1349.

Their children were spared from the burning but were forcibly baptized.

Pope Clement VI A Collector of Hebrew

Manuscripts; Pope Clement Tried to Protect the Jews.

The Bull of July 6, 1349, condemned the violence and said those who blamed the plague on the Jews had been "seduced by that liar, the Devil."

The Horror ContinuesThe Black Death was not the last time the Jews were blamed and persecuted. Throughout European History The Jews have been tortured and murdered.

There is a current trend among Historians that the Anti-Semitism and violence during the Black Death was a precursor to the Holocaust.