An American Girl, The Problems of Prejudice / Full Version Video On Anti-Semitism

An American Girl, The Problems of Prejudice (Part I) (1958). This film is based on a true story. A very good movie about an adolescent girl in a small town who finds out the hard way who her real friends are. This film is NOT outdated about the evils of anti-semitism in everyday in America. Production Company: Anti-Defamation League Of B'nai B'rith (public domain).

Antisemitism is a starting place for trying to understand the tragedy that would befall countless numbers of people during the Holocaust.

Throughout history Jews have faced prejudice and discrimination, known as antisemitism. Driven nearly two thousand years ago by the Romans from the land now called Israel, they spread throughout the globe and tried to retain their unique beliefs and culture while living as a minority. In some countries Jews were welcomed, and they enjoyed long periods of peace with their neighbors. In European societies where the population was primarily Christian, Jews found themselves increasingly isolated as outsiders. Jews do not share the Christian belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and many Christians considered this refusal to accept Jesus' divinity as arrogant. For centuries the Church taught that Jews were responsible for Jesus' death, not recognizing, as most historians do today, that Jesus was executed by the Roman government because officials viewed him as a political threat to their rule. Added to religious conflicts were economic ones. Rulers placed restrictions on Jews, barring them from holding certain jobs and from owning land. At the same time, since the early Church did not permit usury (lending money at interest), Jews came to fill the vital (but unpopular) role of moneylenders for the Christian majority. In more desperate times, Jews became scapegoats for many problems people suffered. For example, they were blamed for causing the "Black Death," the plague that killed thousands of people throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. In Spain in the 1400s, Jews were forced to convert to Christianity, leave the country, or be executed. In Russia and Poland in the late 1800s the government organized or did not prevent violent attacks on Jewish neighborhoods, called pogroms, in which mobs murdered Jews and looted their homes and stores.

As ideas of political equality and freedom spread in western Europe during the 1800s, Jews became almost equal citizens under the law. At the same time, however, new forms of antisemitism emerged. European leaders who wanted to establish colonies in Africa and Asia argued that whites were superior to other races and therefore had to spread and take over the "weaker" and "less civilized" races. Some writers applied this argument to Jews, too, mistakenly defining Jews as a race of people called Semites who shared common blood and physical features. This kind of racial antisemitism meant that Jews remained Jews by race even if they converted to Christianity. Some politicians began using the idea of racial superiority in their campaigns as a way to get votes. Karl Lueger (1844-1910) was one such politician. He became Mayor of Vienna, Austria, at the end of the century through the use of antisemitism -- he appealed to voters by blaming Jews for bad economic times. Lueger was a hero to a young man named Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria in 1889. Hitler's ideas, including his views of Jews, were shaped during the years he lived in Vienna, where he studied Lueger's tactics and the antisemitic newspapers and pamphlets that multiplied during Lueger's long rule.

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[parchementandquills]

that was really good!

[rosaryfilms]

@parchementandquills - thank you!

[Erin2018]

I love this short film. Fifty years after this film was made, I conducted my own experiment: I, a non-Jewish person, wore a star necklace for a week. People treated me differently. How many other groups of people do we treat differently?

[rosaryfilms]

Erin2018, thank you for sharing! regards...

[cathpat56]

Thank You Rosary Films It seems today that we have lost all sense of humanity and in that we have lost our heritage. The United States used to stand for all that is good. Now we have so many groups and in those groups we find pluralism because they form alliances which I believe confuses kids. tolerance is okay as long as it cross the lines of prejudice and in that we will once become the land of ALL instead of pro this and pro that ! people use to look to us, we were a moral nation, lets unite!

[rosaryfilms]

cathpat56, thank you very much for your excellent comments!

[doghartdon]

heil hitler!

[commonman80]

What's sad is, The Jews became what they hated. Just look at Palestine, and what they did, and are doing.

[monkey9111989]

@cathpat56 I believe that those groups are full of Horse****. My mom taught me a 90's kid that racism is a big deal when you make it a big deal. I was taught to judge a person on their character not by the color of their skin or nationality.

[TheVportal]

Great Video. Glad I took the time to watch

[doghartdon]

norma was quite fine , i would of like to be alive in those days

[repocooder]

LoL I generally like these 50's educational films because they are tacky and outdated. This one however I like because (in my subjective opinion) the moral is just as relevant almost 61 years later. The acting is decent too, not great but decent. arongogal and HippiesIkill I doubt you care but I don't see how you could feel anyone besides a small percentage of the world population can take your comments seriously. Swearing and using slurs indirectly against women isn't a good way to make a point

[HippiesIkill]

@BrittnyJanay no its more about accepting Jewish people in America.

A Girl that stood up for anti-semitism