Ebook The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town
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The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town
Ebook The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town
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Review
“[A] pioneering study, at once tightly focused and broadly conceived…This is a lucid exemplar of social and cultural history at its best.†- Peter Gay“Smith brilliantly pursues the many clues in the case, tracing the transformation of lies, gossip, spurious facts, and the reporting of the anti-Semitic press into conviction.†- Barbara Fisher, Boston Globe“As absorbing as a mystery novel…stimulating, thoughtfully argued, informative and eye-opening.†- Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times“Chilling…reads like a thrilling true-crime story.†- The Forward“This powerful volume will appeal to true-crime readers and anyone interested in the dynamics that can turn a peaceful community into a place of hatred and violence.†- Publishers Weekly“A disturbing and often downright frightening examination of how easily 'civilized' societies can succumb to their prejudices and cross over into hysterical barbarism.†- Jay Freeman, Booklist
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About the Author
Helmut Walser Smith is the Martha Rivers Ingram Chair of History at Vanderbilt University.
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Product details
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (November 17, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393325059
ISBN-13: 978-0393325058
Product Dimensions:
5.5 x 0.7 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.3 out of 5 stars
23 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#352,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The book primarily deals with, or focuses on the unsolved murder of an Ernst Winter in Konitz, Germany, a place that actually doesn't exist anymore, at least not in the way it did at all in the 19th century, when the murder occurred. After WWI it became part of Poland. It shows how the town fell to pieces, egged on by anti-Semites, mostly journalists from outside the town, but also those in outlying communities. This too easily stirred up the inhabitants of Konitz, and of course at that time, forensics wasn't even on anyone's mind, and incompetent or corrupt officials could easily squash a potential arrest, indictment, or even investigation, perhaps as today.Things were worse then as far as police investigations, general education, and the justice system. Oh, how they could have used a real Sherlock Holmes, but they probably wouldn't have accepted his findings anyhow. The townspeople were all too eager and willing to blame the whole thing on the Jews, in particular one especially unfortunate family, the Lewy's.I do like reading something like this book though because it did read a lot like a novel. Mostly it focuses on how the community fell to pieces, and the Jews were further victimized by hatred and racism. It seems there is too much of that in history. The Jewish people seem often scapegoated because their religion is not the same as Christians, and their traditions are a little different. Most of all, however, later in the book the author explains how very often corrupt local officials approved of hate crimes against the Jews, pogroms, torture, and general intimidation and bullying, or outright assault, or murder, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of Jewish people were rounded up by townspeople, as early as the 14th century and on, and they were burned alive.The book generally explains how there were traditions, and legends that helped fuel hatred toward Jewish people. For instance, I never knew that Saint Simon of Trent was probably a fiction, or that he was a martyred child allegedly killed by the Jews, but he very probably never existed, but was just part of the legend, called blood libel, against the Jews. I also have an answer, after reading this book and studying history more of why the Jews so often wandered, or relocated. They did so because they were greatly mistreated, and often their homes were burned, and they had to go, or they were shunned, no one would do business with them or talk to them, or there were more violent threats, and so they just had to go, if they wished to live.I would give it a five star except I personally don't like unsolved crimes. I like there to be an answer, a resolution, but of course this is just my personal peculiarity, and in no way is this book to blame for my personal preferences. It is deeply researched, and truly fascinating. I did find it grew tedious toward the end because there never was a resolution to the murder, and as time went by, or rather the decades passed away, new officials for reasons of their own, usually due to anti-Semitism, refused to allow inspectors and police to follow up on a promising lead, to finally resolve the murder.Oh, I meant to say, one thing that I learned in this book that I have not mentioned, and it deserves mentioning is that one reason the Jews were so often targeted and victimized was because the Jewish people were often money-lenders, or very hard-working, successful tradesmen, and they had amassed an amount of money and goods. The lazy, untalented, covetous townspeople, and the crooked officials would conspire to get the Jews out of the way, to run them out of town or massacre them, so they could steal and loot from the homes and businesses of the Jews they had run out of town, and steal all the bounty for themselves.It is very hard to read a book like this and not have a lot of sympathy for Jewish people, and all outsiders who are scapegoated by bigoted, racist, intolerant, evil people. I am very sorry to say that not only outright racists, ignorant, backward townsfolk, and other ne'er to wells were to blame, but also the Catholic Church and the Protestants were culpable in the terrible injustice and lie known as "blood libel."Anyhow, this whole book is a study on how people actually can turn on one another and victimize innocent neighbors. It shows how otherwise good, seemingly decent neighbors will often turn against "the other" and do absolutely unspeakable things to their neighbors, including slit their throats, burn them alive, and so on. The events in this book are all prior to the Nazi Third Reich, but they were precursors to such an atrocity, which God willing will never happen again. Before the Holocaust, there was long-term hatred, and victimization of innocent Jewish people, and others, town loners and hermits, the mentally ill, and so forth. The author has done some very good research on this.This book is a study on how people can believe the worst about others, often their own neighbors who live trustingly near them, and be persuaded with very little work, to destroy their innocent neighbors, as a group, for no particular reason, and how they can believe the most ridiculous nonsense, based on total fantasy and fiction, and not question, seriously, the absurdity of their collective beliefs. One nationality can utterly victimize another; one religion can do the same, one neighbor can do the same to another, with little to no provocation. The hate crimes can just crop up like wildfire, and the hateful, unreasoning behavior of the perpetrators seems truly hard to understand.I would urge everyone to read this book, actually, who might be interested in history, crime, human nature, religious fanaticism, mob rule, current events, or the long, sad history of the Jewish people. I think also it is a cautionary tale against tolerance toward anti-Semitic people. Well, perhaps they can be tolerated up to a point, but they deserve vigilance by the police, our military, and every honest, aware citizen because their brand of hate and ignorance, and propensity to propaganda and creating unnecessary mayhem and suffering to mankind should not be accepted, anywhere, ever again, but unfortunately it probably will be to one extent or another, but it should not be. It should never be. Blind hatred, greed, corruption, racism, and the like are all unacceptable, degrading vices, and they do not help this become a better world, for anyone.Yes, it is written very well, researched excellently, and when I say it reads like a novel, that is a big compliment. It is not just a bunch of dry facts and figures cobbled together, but a rather amazing book, and I highly recommend it to any curious, intelligent, concerned citizen. This book gives one a lot to think about, and it is mostly quite enjoyable to read, what can be better than that?It covers a lot that is sad about the human condition, in particular the apparent inherent malice, cruelty, and barbarity in people, and how marginal citizens can be scapegoated, all too easily. Although that's a sad topic, it is really important for people to read about these things, and to understand how and why people behave this way, and hopefully to avoid ever treating other human beings in that same, bad way.Often these unfairly accused or abused citizens are guilty of nothing more than being loners, and slightly eccentric outsiders, as was the case most often with the Jews described in Europe, during this historical time frame. I recommend this book.
Provides an in-depth review of anti-semitism in the late 1800s - early 1900s, along with a good review of anti-semitism throughout Europe over the last thousand years or so, along with how anti-semitism has changed and likely causes of those changes. Much of this book does not deal directly with the specific murder, but the atmosphere of that area in that era which impeded the investigation.
The history of anti-semitism has interested me since I was a girl and read The Diary of Ann Frank. It just does;t make sense to me. This book examines how people will lie to convict people of the craziest crimes and have no compunction about it. To me it was just one more example of being envious of Jews and /or looking for scapegoats for their own faults.I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Blood Libel Myth.
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.
Great book for my history class. Interesting to read even outside of educational classes.
This was a really good story that had a good perspective on anti-semitism. It was a very engaging story and was something better to read than your average text book on the same topic.
For historical non fiction crime book? Pretty great. However, it simply isn't my taste. This book was assigned for a 19th cent. European history class along with Hard Times and Dark Heart & I enjoyed reading this much more than the others. (Just a heads up if you considering this book for a class make sure you warn your students that Smith pulls no punches in describing things) But uh yea I would recommend this to someone I thought might be interested in a book of this nature. Its actually one of the better books I've been assigned to read for class. Its not a hard read at all. Especially given the subject matter Smith is able to make this seem like a mystery novel.
Great book
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