Why don't history textbooks mention Luther's abhorrent anti-semitism?

Question

Howcome history textbooks don't mention how anti-semitic Martin Luther was? He wrote a book, called "On the Jews and Their Lies" which painted a horrifically false picture of Jewish culture and laid out a step by step plan for the elimination of the Jews off the face of the earth. Its so similar to the Holocaust its scary. Why is it that we don't learn about this in our history classes?

Here is a trustworthy source for those who aren't convinced:
http://www.flholocaustmuseum.org/history_wing/antisemitism/reformation.cfm

Read carefully! I am NOT talking about Martin Luther King, Jr.

I don't accept wikipedian sources.

Obviously its not because of a lack of space, because my history textbook allows space for his fear of thunderstorms!

hq3, your textbook is the exception. For had I not studied Luther outside of my class I would not have known.

HP G: If Jews and Chinese rule America, then why have all of the presidents in the history of the US been white Christians?

Just because anti-semitism was culturally acceptable during Martin Luther's day doesn't make it right. And it is not an excuse for being anti-semitic or racist or sexist. If we all used that logic then many people would still be oppressed, and nothing would ever change.

And instead of downplaying and hiding these -isms of history, textbooks could teach students about it and how to prevent it in the future, lest history repeat itself.

Answer 1

I find history lessons to be culturally defined. When living in a country where the Anglican/Protestant religion prevails, you won't be told this during history classes.
About 17 years ago, I took 2 years of Turkish evening classes: the teacher also taught us a bit of Turkish history. It gave me another outlook on the crusades and I first learned about a Turkish mystic called Mevlana!

Answer 2

Text books DO mention it!
I distinctly remember reading about Luther's attempts to bring Jews over to his side(he wrote an easy called "That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew"). But when Jews turned out to be as reluctant to convert to Protestantism as to Catholicism he turned on them and published the diatribe that you have mentioned.[1]
Then again in 1500's(when Luther lived[2]) pretty much everyone was antisemitic
P.S.
1. The fact that antisemitism was acceptable does not make it RIGHT. But, if the text book mentions that antisemitism was prevalent, say in crusades section, there is hardly a reason to repeat that every single individual was antisemitic as well.

2. It is to bad you do not accept wikipedia sources, because they point out Luther's antisemitism very clearly. So, if a person still has some questions about Luther after class -- a quick look at wikipedia will reveal this information very quickly.

Answer 3

If you look at the culture of Europe during the Reformation you'll find that Martin Luther's views were not so foreign and perhaps a widely accepted view. This runs right along the lines of the Spanish Inquisition. I am not justifying his view. I'm offering a culturally relative example.

Answer 4

I imagine it goes unmentioned because it's not one of the most remarkable things about Martin Luther.

Lots of people have been rabid anti-Semites. Not a lot of people have created their own branch of Christianity.

Just as Hitler's painting is incidental to his real historical legacy, Luther's attitudes towards Jews have very little bearing on his importance as a reformer.

Answer 5

Well said! The answer I suppose is that our Christian culture does not want to be officially linked with the holocaust. But there are plenty of examples of censorship by omission. Why are we all not horrified by Mrs Thatcher sending troops to train the Khmer Rouge to plant land mines - after the holocaust they carried out? Why do we never hear about the heinous crimes committed in the setting up of the glorious state of Israel? Or about the wonderful work done by the highest echelons of the Catholic church in helping Nazi mass murderers to escape justice, or about the shares the Church of England had in Arms manufacturing companies until very recently, or about......the list is pretty big!

Answer 6

Sorry this isn't an answer.
I did an essay on Martin Luther about 11 years ago and I wasn't aware of his writings about Jews either - I have downloaded the web page.
Thanks for enlightening me.

Answer 7

You are probably confusing people here. It was Martin Luther and not King who wrote the book. Check following link for more details.

Answer 8

The old adage "the winners write the history books" applies very well here. If the WASPs are writing the history books, they're not going to add that their hero was anti-Semitic.

Answer 9

And we'll also need to know Hitler's favorite color, how many socks Norman Schwarzkopf went through in a year, yada yada. Unless you want textbooks with twice as many pages and costing twice as much, important details are what go in...

Answer 10

in reality, Jews are LIKE that. who owns America now? If not the Chinese, the Jews