Why did Ezra Pound hate Jews?
Ezra Pound hated Jews because he believed they controlled financial markets and banks. He thought they were responsible for wars due to the exercise of such economic power. Such views were not uncommon in the early to mid 20th Century. His brilliant poetry notwithstanding, Pound’s racist views toward Jews and his support for the Axis during WWII in radio broadcasts led to his arrest for high treason at the end of the war. He wrote the Pisan Cantos in the Gorilla Cage under the brutal sun during his imprisonment. Many consider this the best section of the Cantos and he was awarded the Bollingen Prize while awaiting trial for treason. He never was tried as he was found unfit to stand trial due to insanity. He was sent to St. Elizabeth’s Insane Asylum for 12 years where he held court and instructed some of the greatest young poets of the 50’s like Charles Olson and reactionary pundits like Eustice Mullins. He was finally released and returned to Italy to live his final years in Venice, vi
