The total number of Jewish casualties from the First Crusade is estimated at about 10,000—a far cry from some of the later tragedies our people underwent (most notably the Holocaust). However, the population of Europe in 1096 was less than 10% of what it is today, and the numbers given above represent entire communities that were decimated.
More importantly, the Crusades marked the first organized massacres of Jews in the Christian world. While medieval Jews had been persecuted before, those events were sporadic and contained. With the advent of the Crusades, anti-Jewish sentiments became popularized among the masses, resulting in innumerable blood libels, incarcerations, murders, and expulsions—including the ugly face of Antisemitism we see rising today.
