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

“The Jews in Konitz have slaughtered a Christian boy and have baked the Matzo in blood.”

A schoolboy taunt that the German Jewish writer Ernst Toller remembered hurled at him by his classmates. The quote sums up the substance of the ritual murder charge, and specifically the myth that Jews used Christian blood in their religious ceremonies.

“Argue as much as you like and about whatever you like, but obey!”

Philosopher Immanuel Kant’s characterization of the Prussian political mindset. The Prussian government was “monarchial constitutionalism,” a semi-democratic model of rule. The Kaiser, the chancellor, and the parliament all depended on each other to govern Prussia; yet ultimately the chancellor answered to the Kaiser, not to the parliament. This form of government forms the background to the Wilhelmine period of German history reflected in the book.

“Sometimes, as we know, antisemitism remains abstract. In earlier eras, as well as today, people talked about ‘the Jews.’ In Konitz, however, antisemitism became painfully concrete, as Christians denounced the Jews they knew.”

Smith presents the story of Konitz as a case study of antisemitism in action. The murder of Ernst Winter brought latent antisemitism out into the open, wreaking havoc on the lives of many Jews.