본 소고에서는 중세와 근대 유럽의 역사에서 디아스포라 유대인들이 반유대주의의 희생양이 되었던 원인을 비판적으로 고찰하면서 이러한 비극이 다시금 발생하지 않기 위해서는 우리가 어떤 도덕적 태도를 지녀야 할 것인지 그 해결책을 모색하고자 한다.
유대인들이 희생양이 되었던 주요사건으로 중세의 흑사병과 십자군 전쟁, 그리고 근대의 포그롬과 홀로코스트가 대표적이다. 중세 유럽에서 흑사병이 발생했을 때, 유대인들이 우물이나 샘의 근원에 독을 집어넣었다는 소문으로 인해 사람들에 의해 희생당했다. 또한 십자군 전쟁 시에는 수많은 유대인들이 십자군에 의해 약탈당하거나 학살당했으며, 2차 세계대전 당시에는 나치에 의하여 수백만 명의 유대인이 희생되었다.
중세시대 유대인들은 봉건제도의 틈새에서 자신들만의 고유 영역을 구축하기도 했다. 하지만 소수민족으로서 늘 공동체의 주변부에 머물렀던 유대인들은 전쟁이나 폭력이 난무하는 사회 변동기에는 쉽게 표적이 되어 희생양이 되었다. 공동체가 폭력의 소용돌이에 휘말릴 때마다 유대인들은 무자비한 폭력에 무방비상태로 노출된 채 고통을 겪었던 것이다.
유대인들이 희생양이 되었던 주된 원인은 중세 유럽에 널리 퍼져 있었던 반(反)유대주의적 정서 때문이었다. 반유대주의는 종교적 원인, 경제적 원인, 문화적 원인들이 복합적으로 맞물리면서 유대인들에 대한 혐오와 폭력으로 분출되었다. 포그롬과 홀로코스트는 유대인을 악의 원흉으로 이데올로기화하여 이들에 대한 증오가 폭력으로 분출된 된 대표적인 사건이었다.
하지만 유대인 박해를 정당화하는 이데올로기들은 미신적 세계관이나 종교적 편견에 근거한 타자에 대한 경멸이나 혐오가 만들어낸 폭력일 뿐이다. 반유대주의와 같은 비인간화의 하향 나선을 거꾸로 되돌리기 위해서는 첫째, 희생양을 만드는 이데올로기가 지닌 허구와 환상을 해체시켜 극복할 필요가 있다. 둘째, 사회적 약자가 처한 상황을 인식하면서 공감을 확산시킬 필요가 있다. 셋째, 타자의 얼굴이 나에게 명령하는 “죽이지 말라”는 호소에 책임 있게 응답해야 한다. 넷째, 관용을 넘어선 적극적인 환대를 실천함으로써 타자가 공동체의 진정한 구성원으로서 자리매김할 수 있도록 배려해야 한다.
In this paper, I will survey the cause, process, and result of Jew’s persecution from the anti-judaism, and then, I will seek the solution of these problems. The main incident that Jews became scapegoat of anti-judaism is the Black Death, Crusade, Pogrom, and the Holocaust. In the Medieval Europe, when the Black Death broke out, Jews were persecuted because of the rumor that they put poison in food and springs. During the crusade, many Jews were raped and massacred by the crusade soldiers. As we can see the Holocaust, six million Jews were killed by Nazi. In the social whirlpool like war and violence, Jews who accumulated wealth became easy targets by others. The suffering and persecution that Jews experienced was a dark shadow forced by a society. Jews as a minority who remained on the fringes of society suffered from innocent victim every time that the society was drawn into a whirlpool. The main cause that Jews became victims was the sentiment of antisemitism - from the early church to spread throughout European society. The sentiment of antisemitism was interlinked with religious, economical, and cultural causes. These were two reasons that middle age people hate Jews and blame them. First, they crucified Jesus Christ on the cross. Second, they refused to convert to Christianism. During Medieval times, the Jews recognized as a usurer became scapegoat of persecution by falsely accused of bloodsucker, after modern times these sentiment erupted as antisemitism. Antisemitism made Jews become inductor of all evil and effect the mechanism to justify their violence on them. However, these ideologies is only denigration and repugnance toward the others based on the superstitious world-view and religious prejudice. We should make efforts to prevent discriminations and violence towards minority, likewise anti-semitism. To achieve this goal, first, we should overcome the ideology by dissolving it’s fiction and illusion. Second, we should expand the compassion for the weak. Third, we should respond for other’s appeal with responsibility. Lastly, we should make efforts to establish the value of hospitality in our community.
In this paper, I will survey the cause, process, and result of Jew’s persecution from the anti-judaism, and then, I will seek the solution of these problems. The main incident that Jews became scapegoat of anti-judaism is the Black Death, Crusade, Pogrom, and the Holocaust. In the Medieval Europe, when the Black Death broke out, Jews were persecuted because of the rumor that they put poison in food and springs. During the crusade, many Jews were raped and massacred by the crusade soldiers. As we can see the Holocaust, six million Jews were killed by Nazi. In the social whirlpool like war and violence, Jews who accumulated wealth became easy targets by others. The suffering and persecution that Jews experienced was a dark shadow forced by a society. Jews as a minority who remained on the fringes of society suffered from innocent victim every time that the society was drawn into a whirlpool. The main cause that Jews became victims was the sentiment of antisemitism - from the early church to spread throughout European society. The sentiment of antisemitism was interlinked with religious, economical, and cultural causes. These were two reasons that middle age people hate Jews and blame them. First, they crucified Jesus Christ on the cross. Second, they refused to convert to Christianism. During Medieval times, the Jews recognized as a usurer became scapegoat of persecution by falsely accused of bloodsucker, after modern times these sentiment erupted as antisemitism. Antisemitism made Jews become inductor of all evil and effect the mechanism to justify their violence on them. However, these ideologies is only denigration and repugnance toward the others based on the superstitious world-view and religious prejudice. We should make efforts to prevent discriminations and violence towards minority, likewise anti-semitism. To achieve this goal, first, we should overcome the ideology by dissolving it’s fiction and illusion. Second, we should expand the compassion for the weak. Third, we should respond for other’s appeal with responsibility. Lastly, we should make efforts to establish the value of hospitality in our community.
