Jewish History Ever since the Jews were driven from their homeland (now known as Israel) they have faced discrimination and prejudice, mainly due to their beliefs and culture. They spread across the world and in some countries they were welcomed and enjoyed periods of peace with their neighbors, however in Europe the population was predominantly Christian and Jews found themselves branded as outsiders. The reason why the Jewish and Christian populations could not get along was due to different religious beliefs and for many years the Church taught how it believed the Jews killed Jesus, however in modern times this view has been discredited by many historians . In Russia there has been a long history of anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe, highlighted by the Chmielnicki massacres during an eight-year period, from 1648 to 1656. More than 100,000 Jews were murdered during the massacres and many more were tortured and injured . At the end of the 19th century, about four million Jews lived in Russia. Many of them were located in the "Settlement Palace", a specially designated area where Jews had been confined. In Jewish communities, Jews suffered persecution and violence, such as looting of property and smashing of windows of Jewish-owned shops. These “pogroms,” from a Russian word meaning a violent mass attack against a section of the community, were often condoned and encouraged by the Russian government, which was more than happy to see someone else take the blame for their economic failures. Waves of pogroms broke out in 1881 and 1882, and again between 1902 and 1905. This historical period was a test... middle of paper... men and Austrians were alarmed by the sudden rise of the political power of the working class. Everyone looked for a scapegoat and the Jewish population became the obvious choice, as has happened so many times in history, once again the Jews were resented, this time mainly due to religious tolerance being replaced by ideas of racial superiority. The Jews found themselves accused of dominating and polluting Germany's culture and affairs. They had to deal with being called an alien race and being told why they needed to be increasingly removed from society. Famous figures in the public eye began to propose ideas that the Germans were racially superior to the Jews and how they wanted them to leave Germany for the good of the German race. An example of this was the famous composer Richard Wagner.