On This Day - 9th January

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 9th January

 

On This Day, the 9th of January 1349, in the city of Basel, Switzerland, over 600 Jews were rounded up, put in chains, and then locked inside a barn. The barn was then set on fire. All but a few were killed.

 

The reason: Because the Jews washed every day.

 

Yes, that was pretty much the reason behind the Basel Massacre of 1349.

 

However, at the time, the local population blamed the Jewish residents for the spread of the Black Death, a plague sweeping Europe in the 14th century. They believed, because of the much lower mortality rate amongst the Jewish population, that they were poisoning the wells.

 

Later, experts have put the lower numbers of Jews killed by the Black Death down to their daily washing rituals and greater hygiene.

 

After the Basel Massacre, anyone who was Jewish was banned from settling in the Basel for the following two hundred years.