[Locke]

Originally Posted by Magnum PEI

Usury might have been a reason for anti-semitism in the middle-ages/rennaisance but by the 20th century it was ok for banks to charge interest. The holocaust was mostly because the Nazis brainwashed a whole nation that Jews were to blame for everything, from Germany's defeat in WWI to the depression and hyper inflation that followed.

Before Hitler Germany was actually quite tolerant towards Jews. It had the highest percentage of Jewish-Gentile intermarriage in Eastern/Central Europe. Which makes the the holocaust so baffling because there was almost no violence towards Jews in Germany prior to the Nazis.

Czarist Russia was actually the worst offender for anti-semitism. Jews were only allowed to own land inside the Jewish Pale, which concentrated them in the Western part of the empire and insured that pogroms were common.

I think Usury played a larger part then most people give it credit for. When you're one small nation fighting a war of this caliber, it would be beneficial to have a scapegoat whose assets you can seize that will also galvanize the nation behind you and provide you with a wealth of money and resources while alienating only a small percentage of the population.

In a way it makes sense if you leave the hatred out of it. But theres so much more there.