Originally Posted by Mutt

Most of it can be traced back to the Romans and the Roman Catholic Church who taught the masses of Europe that the Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. Which even if it were true still doesn't make sense - it's only through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ that God revealed that Jesus was the Messiah, His Son. The Jews if they were responsible were playing a necessary part written by God to be heels.

Another major reason is that after Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire Jews were treated like shit, banned from most occupations. The Catholic Church prohibited Christians from taking part in usury, which is the loaning of money and charging interest. They allowed Jews to do this, this is the beginning of the stereotype that Jews are money grubbing shylocks. There's some truth to it, the Jews became very adept dealing with money. Of course this also made them more unlikeable, not many people even today have much good to say about bankers.

Then there's the fact that Jews were never interested in assimilating into the cultures of the countries where they lived. They kept to themselves and their unique religious practices and traditions, making themselves mysterious and odd to the non-Jews. Add in that 'Chosen People' thing that the Jewish religion is based on, it makes Jews appear arrogant and many Jews are absolutely arrogant and feel they are superior. That rarely goes over well.

Jews ability to succeed in spite of the obstacles put in their way in business, science, the arts, media, politics upsets people. It threatens them, nobody more than Adolf Hitler. The Jews made perfect scapegoats for all these reasons.