In 1349, a panicked plague conspiracy led to a tragic massacre in Germany
As the Black Death ravaged Europe in 1349, a wave of violent hysteria swept through Erfurt, Germany, leading to one of the most devastating pogroms of the Middle Ages.
During the height of the Bubonic Plague in 1349, terrified citizens in Erfurt sought a scapegoat for the mysterious disease. This panic curdled into a violent conspiracy theory that the local Jewish population was poisoning the wells. On March 21, an angry mob attacked the Jewish quarter, resulting in the deaths of nearly 1,000 people.
There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.
Continue Reading in App
1 more paragraphs · plus a 3-question quiz