PERSECUTION PERPETUATED: THE MEDIEVAL ORIGINS

OF ANTI-SEMITIC VIOLENCE IN NAZI GERMANY

Citation: Nico Voigtla¨nder, Hans-Joachim Voth, PERSECUTION PERPETUATED: THE MEDIEVAL ORIGINS

OF ANTI-SEMITIC VIOLENCE IN NAZI GERMANY, QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, Oxford Press

Abstract: How persistent are cultural traits? Using data on anti-Semitism in

Germany, we find local continuity over 600 years. Jews were often blamed

when the Black Death killed at least a third of Europe’s population during

1348–50. We use plague-era pogroms as an indicator for medieval anti-

Semitism. They reliably predict violence against Jews in the 1920s, votes for

the Nazi Party, deportations after 1933, attacks on synagogues, and letters to

Der Stu¨rmer. We also identify areas where persistence was lower: cities with

high levels of trade or immigration. Finally, we show that our results are not

driven by political extremism or by different attitudes toward violence. JEL

Codes: N33, N34, N93, N94, D74.