Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 that killed millions helped fuel rise of Nazi Party, study finds
A NEW study says that the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 helped fuel right-wing extreme voters, and the rise of the Nazi Party.
The study found that right-wing extremists won more votes in cities that were harder-hit by the pandemic and had a larger number of deaths.
During the 1918 pandemic, it's estimated that from the flu.
Blickle wrote, "...influenza deaths of 1918 are correlated with an increase in the share of votes won by right-wing extremists, such as the National Socialist Workers Party (aka. the Nazi Party), in the crucial elections of 1932 and 1933."
Cities that saw higher deaths as a result of the pandemic spent less money per capita on residents during the 1920s, the study found.
"Moreover, the disease may have fostered a hatred of 'others', as it was perceived to come from abroad," Blickle added.
A study published from Tel Aviv University said that similarly, the global pandemic has sparked a rise in anti-Semitic behavior, the Associated Press reported.
"Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant rise in accusations that Jews, as individuals and as a collective, are behind the spread of the virus or are directly profiting from it,” said Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress.
"The language and imagery used clearly identifies a revival of the medieval ‘blood libels’ when Jews were accused of spreading disease, poisoning wells or controlling economies."
Last month, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio after he blasted a group of thousands of people who gathered for a Rabbi's funeral amid the coronavirus outbreak.
De Blasio had warned of a and threatened that he'd ordered NYPD to arrest people found gathering in groups after the incident.