Scapegoating the Jews

Many Jews fall victim to the “plague pogroms”

The plague, which first appeared in the Mediterranean in 1347, sparked a wave of anti-Jewish pogroms in urban centres across Europe, from south-west Europe to Switzerland. Relations between Jews and Christians had already deteriorated throughout Europe before the epidemic struck, with religious prejudice and indebtedness to Jewish moneylenders causing friction. The epidemic led to rumours that Jews had deliberately spread the disease by poisoning the water supply, and calls to burn Jews increased. Nevertheless, the ensuing pogroms were rarely spontaneous but were often orchestrated from above. Internal conflicts between craftsmen and city councils played a role in this process, as did the involvement of the nobility and clergy. Emperor Charles IV also stoked the violence. Seeking to curry favour with the cities, he promised the citizens of Frankfurt and Nuremberg legal immunity if they were to do away with the Jews.

The first mass slaughter of Jews in a major German city occurred in Strasbourg in early 1349. According to one account, a total of 2,000 Jews were burned over a period of six days in a specially built wooden structure. Only children, beautiful women and those willing to convert to Christianity were spared. The Jewish community in Cologne decided to burn themselves to death in their homes rather than face forced baptism. However, a mob forestalled them by storming the Jewish quarter on the night of 23 August 1349, killing thousands and destroying property. Although the city council condemned the events, it did not intervene or name the perpetrators.

In Nuremberg, Charles IV reinstated the city council, which had been deposed in a revolt led by craftsmen. In an attempt to ease tensions, he granted the citizens permission to demolish the Jewish ghetto in the centre of the town. During this demolition, 562 Jews were killed. His only demand was that a church be built in place of the synagogue.