In the summer of 1614, the city of Frankfurt erupted in one of the darkest chapters of its history. While many of us think of ghettos as a phenomenon of the twentieth century, Frankfurt’s Judengasse had already been in existence for more than 150 years, a crowded street where thousands of Jews lived under strict rules and constant restrictions. It was here that Vincenz Fettmilch, a gingerbread baker turned populist rabble-rouser, led a mob that stormed the gates, plundered homes, and drove every Jewish family from the city.

The Fettmilch uprising was not just about antisemitism, though that was its most violent face. It was also about political corruption, economic resentment, and the way a crowd can be whipped into turning on its weakest neighbors when promised relief from their struggles. In this episode, we uncover how it happened, why it mattered, and why its lessons still echo today.