Persecution of Jews in Germany

Roman Empire
Under Christian emperors, Jews were persecuted in the Roman Empire.

Crusades
The Crusaders were composed of Christians and they massacred and forced Jews to convert to Christianity in multiple towns and destroyed the houses and synagogues of the Jews during the Crusades. They persecuted, forcefully converted, forcefully baptized, and killed Jews in Speyer, Worms, Cologne, Regensburg, Trier, Neuss, Wevelinghofen, Eller, Xanten, Kerpen, Geldern, Ellen, and hundreds of Jews died in Mainz during the Rhineland massacres of 1096.

Emperor Albert II
Holy Roman Emperor Albert II imprisoned, burned, and banished Jews from Austria. He ordered the children of the murdered Jews to be forcibly baptized into Christianity. He bragged: “... I burned my Jews.”

Persecution of Jews during the Black Death
Jews were falsely blamed for the Black Death in Europe during the mid-1300s; Jews were often used by Christians to blame due to their resentment of them considering their belief that Jews are the killers of Christ. Thousands of Jews were murdered in France, Spain, Germany, and Switzerland.

Vienna Gesera
The Vienna Gesera in the early 15th century was persecution against Jewish people that consisted of exile, imprisonment, forced conversion to Christianity, and killings of over 200 Jewish people in Austria.

Emperor Maximilian I
Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I decreed the expulsion of Jews from Styria, Austria. Catholic theologian Johannes Pfefferkorn was authorized by Maximilian to confiscate Jewish books.