The Crusaders and their first Massacre

B"H

The main goal of the Crusades was to Christianize the Holy Land - but there was only one "little" problem: the Muslims.
The plan of the church was getting rid of the Muslims, conquer Jerusalem and turn the whole country into a Christian shrine. Fortunately, all of the Crusades failed but until today we can hear glorifying stories about the "heros", the Crusaders. There are not too many books also mentioning the endless suffering and mass destruction the Crusaders actually caused.

The First Crusade began in 1096. Towards the beginning of the summer, the Crusaders passed Germany on their way to Israel. Wherever they passed through, further Christians fanatics or peasants joined the march. Many of them were even hoping for a better life in the Holy Land. They had nothing to loose and even brought their whole family with them.

Whatever or whoever was in the way of the Crusades got destroyed or killed. Mercy was not such an important attribute in those days.
Of course, it was well – known that there was still a Jewish community in Jerusalem in the year of 1096. Among them were many members of the Karaite sect who denied the validity of the Oral Law, hence the Talmud. However, the Crusaders didn't see a difference and even need to get until Jerusalem in order to satisfy their blood thirst; on their way through Germany, they already killed 100,000 Jews and destroyed Jewish communities in the Rhineland such as Cologne, Speyer, Trier, Mainz, Metz or further away Regensburg and Prague. Wherever the passed through, the Crusaders left a bloodbath. And those massacres remained in the memory of the Jews for the following centuries. A lot of literature was written on the subject and especially the Jewish Philosopher and Rabbi, Rabbi Avraham ibn Da'ud described the terrible events in his book "Sefer HaKabbalah".

A common claim is that until the year 1096, Jews and Christian lived relatively peaceful in Germany. It goes without saying that both populations were divided by two different religious ideologies but, nevertheless, personal contacts and trade existed. However, after the massacres of the First Crusade, things changed rapidly and more and more pogroms followed. The historians Heinrich Graetz and Simon Dubnow state that all the peaceful life before 1096 was nothing but artificially, as there had been lots of hidden hatred for the Jews within the German population. The historians even consider the Third Reich as a parallel to the German massacres of the Crusade. The behaviour of the German population was very similar. Suddenly they bursted out and let all their anti – Semitic hatred out.

When the Crusaders marched towards the German Jewish communities, a very high number of Jews gave up and agreed to convert to Christianity. Anyway, many of them probably followed their Jewish way of life secretly at home. Just like the Spanish Marranos did. To the outside world they behaved like Christians and inside their own house they started lighting Shabbat candles.

On the other hand, many Jews didn't want to give in and either fled or sacrificed (killed) themselves as a "Kiddush HaShem – Sanctification of G – d". Halachically, a forced conversion is not valid and a Jew is always considered a Jew. Even if Jews convert to another religion, the Halacha says that they are still Jewish. No escape from Judaism despite all the ongoing self – hatred.
And especially no escape from G – d !

On the other hand, a Jewish convert to another religion cannot be called up to the Torah. At least not as long he is worshipping idols and doesn't do Teshuva (repentance). This laws also apply to Cohanim (priests).

Years after the massacres, the Rambam (Maimonides) made a Halacha that Jews being forced to convert to another religion (Islam or Christianity) are innocent. In his "Epistle of Martyrdom" he suggests that Jews should rather change their location or country in order to escape forced conversions. German Jews, hoever, didn't have the time for an escape anymore.

When the Muslim Almohad (today's "Al Khaida") conquered Spain in the times of the Rambam and then killed thousands of people rejecting Islam, the Rambam advised the Jews not to sacrifice themselves and die. Although the Almohad killed countless people, after a while the Jews could continue practicing their own religion and weren't forced to convert to Islam. At the times of the marching Crusaders, the Jews didn't have a choice but to convert or get killed.

The author Jeremy Cohen is asking if the Jews have been suffering throughout the times from a "1096 complex".
In the summer of 1971, the Newsweek – columnist Stewart Alsop criticized the Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir for being too hesitant and suspicious in the peace talks of the Middle East. Alsop claimed that this kind of behaviour stems from the exaggerated "Massada Complex" where Jews also preferred to kill themselves rather than to get caught and being forced to worship idols.

Golda Meir had a brilliant response to this claim:
"Yes, it is true. We Jews have a "Massada Complex", we have a "Pogrom Complex" and we have a "Hitler Complex".