Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
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That time 2000 Jews were burned to death for being Jewish.
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On February 14th, 1349, the Strasbourg Massacre of Jews occurred, killing 2,000 Jews on a wooden platform in the Jewish cemetery of Strasbourg, France.
The Jewish community in Strasbourg is believed to have originated in the 12th century, and was one of the largest Jewish communities in the German Empire. Strasbourg was home to nearly 300 Jews by the 14th century. The Black Plague, believed to have been a bubonic plague, spread across Europe with devastating consequences. It killed between 20-50% of Europe’s population between 1347-1352, and incited mass movements of violence against Jews in the German Empire, Spain, France and the Low Lands from September 1348 to 1351.
Jews were falsely accused of partaking in a universal plot conspiring against Christians and poisoning water sources, and the protection offered to them by Pope Clement VI stood no chance against the plague hysteria that spread across Germany. When reports of Jews poisoning wells reached Strasbourg in 1348, city leaders questioned the validity of these claims and continued to protect their Jewish community
The next day, February 13th, the Jews of Strasbourg were arrested. There is no evidence of a trial or any form of procedure to determine their fate. These Jews were simply condemned to death. On February 14th, the Jews of Strasbourg were marched to the Jewish cemetery where a wooden platform was prepared for them. Before being burned to death, the common folk stripped them of their clothing in search of money. Some sources say that this mass execution took six days to complete, during which children and young women were offered the choice of baptism.
Jews were perceived to be deceitful and evil, and their work in money-lending paired with their denial of Christianity made them the perfect target for hostility and violence. The German Empire protected Jews, but the arrival of the Black Plague changed this reality.
