Call for humanity at the commemoration of the Basel pogrom of 1349
Published: Tuesday, Jan 16th 2024, 21:00
Updated At: Tuesday, Jan 16th 2024, 21:00
Back to Live Feed
In the presence of the Basel government and senior representatives of the Christian national churches, the Jewish communities commemorated the Basel pogrom of 1349. It was emphasized several times that in view of the atrocities of the past, the hostile Jewish present should not be forgotten.
The commemorative event in Basel City Hall to mark the 675th anniversary of the mass murder of Jews was organized by the Basel Jewish Community, the Liberal Jewish Community Migwan, the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Basel and the Jewish Museum in collaboration with the Presidential Department of Basel-Stadt.
Basel sees itself as having a special responsibility, said the interim President of the Government Lukas Engelberger (center) in his speech. This was because it was certain that the Basel Council of that time had called for mass murder. The government is in the process of installing a public memorial. A competition for this will be announced, which will be evaluated this year.
In other speeches, however, it was repeatedly emphasized that it is important to show that Judaism is not a chapter in history, but part of the society that currently exists. Anne Sophie Grosz, a young representative of the liberal Jewish community of Migwan, explained this in a particularly impressive way, using a short story to draw a line from the pogrom of that time to everyday Jewish life today.
Hamas pogrom in October before our eyes
The Bishop of Basel, Felix Gmür, said that the pogrom 675 years ago could not be commemorated without remembering the massacre by the Palestinian Hamas in Israel on October 7 last year. The long distance in time to the terrible event in 1349 cannot close our eyes to the fact that anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism are still very present today - even in church circles.
Once again, the perpetrator-victim scheme is being reversed, as has so often happened and continues to happen in the majority's treatment of Jews, said Lukas Kundert, President of the Basel-Stadt Protestant Reformed Church. Together with Gmür, he called for an alliance of humanity and solidarity with fellow Jews.
Hundreds of Jews burned to death
On January 16, 1349, most members of Basel's medieval Jewish community were burned to death on an island in the Rhine. According to various sources, just under a hundred to several hundred people fell victim to the mass murder, which was called for by the Basel Council and in which the non-Jewish citizens actively participated during the anarchic carnival season.
The reason for this barbaric act was to blame the Jews for the rampant plague epidemic. In many places in Europe, they were branded as poisoners of wells. In Basel, the Jews were even killed as a preventative measure, i.e. before the plague had reached the city.
One motive of the mob is said to have been the intention to get rid of creditors with the mass murder. Some of the city's middle classes were in debt to the Jews, as was said at the commemorative event.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic