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Hitler didn’t invent genocide against Jewish people. That shit has been going on for millennia. Between 66 and 135 CE, Jews and Romans fought three wars against each other. The final war ended with the Romans going on a murder spree that forever altered the course of Jewish history.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: August 5, 135--
The First Jewish-Roman War was from 66 to 73, and the Romans did a lot of that death and destruction shit they were known for, followed by saying fuck you guys we’re just gonna leave a big army in Judea to control you uppity Jews. Surprise, the Jewish population wasn’t thrilled about that, and there was a second war from 115 to 117, although that one took place outside of Judea. But the result was similar in that the Romans counterattacked and crushed the rebellion, followed by lots of killing of those involved.
The third one, called the Bar Kokhba Revolt, was where shit got extra nasty. It began in 132 when Roman Emperor Hadrian said hey you know that place that is super holy for Jewish people where they built their temple that we destroyed? Let’s build a temple to Jupiter there. While we’re at it, let’s see if we can wipe out Judaism too. And the Jewish population was all we don’t fucking think so. Asshole.
Simon Bar Kokhba was a Jewish military leader who became a messianic figure as commander of the revolt. The uprising quickly spread beyond the borders of Judea and the initial victories resulted in the establishing of an independent Jewish state covering most of Judea, with Bar Kokhba as ruler. It lasted for three years, but Hadrian wasn’t fucking having it. Rather than just, well, leave them the fuck alone on the land they’d lived on for several centuries, he went all murderous Roman Empire on their asses and pulled in troops from across the empire—roughly half of all its armed forces led by their best general, Julius Severus—to basically obliterate them.
They entered Judea in 134 and it was fucking nasty. The Jewish rebels fought valiantly, and it was a costly victory for the Roman legions, but one by one the Jewish strongholds fell until only the fortress of Betar was left. The Romans laid siege to Betar in the summer of 135, and entered it on August 5, slaughtering people by the thousands.
Over half a million Jews were killed in the war, and many more died from starvation and disease. It was a full-on fucking genocide, but the Romans weren’t done. Hadrian forbade Jews access to Jerusalem, enslaved a shitload of them, exiled many others, made Judaism illegal, executed Jewish scholars, burned their sacred scrolls, and was generally just a giant poodlefucker.
While some did remain in the region, the diaspora led to many Jews resettling across Europe where everyone was tolerant and welcoming. Sarcasm font.
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