ABSTRACT
Conspiracy theories have been an important aspect of antisemitism through different historical phases. The representation of the Jew as an evil and disruptive figure, equipped with almost unlimited power, has been a recurrent feature of both premodern, religious anti-Judaism and modern nationalist and racist antisemitism. Although narratives of alleged Jewish conspiracies have been present in anti-Jewish sentiments from the high medieval period (1050–1300) until the present, the character and function of anti-Jewish thoughts and actions have changed considerably over time. Antisemitism is not an ‘eternal hatred’, evolving in a teleological manner from the Crusades to Auschwitz. Rather, anti-Jewish mobilisation in general – and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories in particular – have gained momentum under historical conditions marked by, for example, political polarisation, economic or social crises, or rapid social change. In this sense, the history of antisemitism is conjunctural rather than linear. In certain periods, the relationship between the majority and minority has been relatively calm and stable. In other historical periods, however, the demonisation of Jews has gained support, nourished religious and political mobilisation, and even escalated to mass violence.
