The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town

by Helmut Walser Smith

Book Overview

In 1900, in a small Prussian town, a young boy was found murdered, his body dismembered, the blood drained from his limbs. The Christians of the town quickly rose up in violent riots to accuse the Jews of ritual murder--the infamous blood-libel charge that has haunted Jews for centuries. In an absorbing narrative, Helmut Walser Smith reconstructs the murder and the ensuing storm of anti-Semitism that engulfed this otherwise peaceful town. Offering...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393325059
• ISBN13: 9780393325058
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

reads like a novel!

Once I started to read this facinating book, I couldnt put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an in depth view at how anti semitism flourished in those times, and how destructive it was. I was amazed at how the author gathered so many details, interviews, photos, etc. Very impressed- and for someone who preffers fiction over non, that means alot!!

A Case Study of Anti-Semetism in a German Town before WWI

Helmut Walser Smith's The Butcher's Tale analyzes a town's (Konitz Germany)involvement in anti-Semetic activity in 1900. At the turn of the century Germany is experiencing great progress in the arts, sciences, and they are considered the most literate in the world. Although the education system is the envy of other modern nations during the period, the government unfortunately continues to see the nation's minorities as a problem. Although the Jewish minority has been fully emancipated since Napoleon's invasion, anti-Semitism is still prevalent in Germany. Anti-Semitic sentiments have made their lives difficult, nevertheless, the Jewish community has been able to assimilate themselves into German society and have a voice in larger cities such as Berlin. However in Konitz on March 13, 1900 body parts of a murder young man are found strewn throughout town. Immediately the Jewish community is suspected and anti-Semetic events take place. Walser Smith in The Butcher's Tale investigates the murder of the young man and how it tore the community of Konitz apart. Furthermore, Walser Smith illustrates to his readers the history of anti-Semetism, the place of anti-Semetism in Germany during 1900, and how anti-Semetic sentiments would evolve in Germany's future (particularly under the Third Reich). The book is written extremely well which makes it an easy read (it sucks you into the historical plot much like a novel). In addition, for anyone looking to gain knowledge of how anti-Semetism evolved in Germany or the roots of anti-Semetism this is an excellent opportunity.

One if the best history books

I was recently assigned to read this book for a World Civilizations history course in college, and I was surprised by how interesting it turned out to be. The author offers historical facts and evidence of a supposed 'ritual murder' in Konitz, a German town. But it reads like a suspense story that makes you want to keep reading to know what happened.I strongly recommend this book to those interested in anti-Semitism and history.

A History Of An Hysteria

The Butcher's Tale is on the surface the story of the murder of an 18 year old boy in an obscure town in a backwards corner of Germany in 1900. The parts of the book which deal with the discovery of the body and the subsequent investigations read like any report of a murder might, with heavy emphasis on detail and comparisons of witness testimony, etc.The most important parts of the book deal, however, with the reaction of the townspeople to the murder: an upsurge in anti-Semitic hysteria which eventually forced the government to send troops to keep order. Smith does a good job of analyzing the roots of anti-Jewish prejudice in Germany and Central Europe and provides a fascinating history of the beginnings of the so-called blood libel and desecration of the Host stories, belief in which accounted for much of the anti-Jewish feeling in Central and Eastern Europe from the Middle Ages on. Smith also draws some interesting parallels with the behavior of the German government in 1900, when it actively protected its Jewish citizens, and then in the 1940s, when the Third Reich actively sought to massacre those same citizens.This book is important because it gives us precious insights into the tendency of human beings, even well educated, civilized humans, to lapse into hysteria and believe the most unbelievable stories about people they once trusted and accepted. Read this book, and remember it the next time you hear rumors about child molesting day care workers, or secret covens of Satanists among us, or other widespread, previously unsuspected, conspiracies.

excellent look at a historical true crime incident

In March 1900 in Konitz, Prussia, two townsfolk find a package containing the upper body of a missing young man. Other body parts wrapped inside packing paper typically used for meat are subsequently found throughout the town. Though the authorities believe the local Christian butcher killed the lad, rumors abound even way beyond the town's borders that the Jews performed an ancient ritual using the blood of Christians in the baking of Passover matzo. Taken seriously by many Christians, riots and other violent acts against the Jewish community occurred.THE BUTCHER'S TALE is an excellent look at a true crime incident that led to unproved accusations followed by anti-Semitic rioting and acts of violence against the Jewish population. Dr. Helmut Walser Smith provides deep insight into the historical evidence, especially collected in minute detail by the police and uses this anecdotal case to prove the "process" of turning personal bias and local quarrels into a structured vicious attack on a weaker relation in this case the Jews. Generalizations can be drawn from this powerful work that takes a specific medieval belief applied at the beginning of the twentieth century and yet the use of accusing a scapegoat seems so commonplace throughout the world of today.Harriet Klausner