The well before of the Holocaust began in 1933 when the Jewish community was being punished for their ethnicity and religion for just existing. The territory under the 2nd Reich became a complex area for Jews to navigate as they were often the first accused for crimes and were seen as less than compared to their Christian counterparts. Helmut Walser Smith demonstrates these circumstances in his writing, The Butcher’s Tale. He illustrates the lives of a Jewish community in the year 1900 after a young Christian boy was murdered and the town of Konitz instantly turned against the Jews. The tale of lies, rumors, assaults, and bias demonstrate the life of Jews where a lie against them would carry more weight than the evidence against a Christian. …show more content…
Gustav Hoffmann, the Christian butcher, would go on to explain in detail how he determined the murder of Ernst Winter was done in a kosher manner, “after he has partly opened the stomach, cuts the diaphragm and reaches in with his hand to examine the lung.” (Smith, location 834). However, no one ever questioned if he could have committed the crime in this manner after having that much knowledge of the procedure of kosher slaughter. Even after he was initially suspected due to his daughter’s relationship with Ernst, investigators quickly discredited him because of an alibi and the town’s uproar with threats of lynching the Lewy family for proper justice. This falls within a strange idea coming from a Christian community, as Christians they are to follow their ten commandments just as the Jews are. Documents, however, can support that during this time German Christians may have been following a different ten commandments. Theodor Fritsch published “The Racists’ Decalogue” in 1883 with ten commandments for Germans to be Antisemitic. Fritsch’s last commandment declares “Thou shalt use no violence against the Jews because it is unworthy of thee and against the law”. But if a Jew attack thee, ward off his Semitic insolence with German wrath” (Antisemitic Documents, p. 350). German’s felt it was right to go against their own commandments if a Jew were to harm a Christian, just as those in Konitz
of Poland, the Christians residing in the town lash out by inciting riots and demonstrations. Citing the incident as an act of Jewish ritual murder, better known as blood libel, Christians rendered blame on the Jews. Helmut Walser’s Smith, The Butcher’s Tale, details the murder account and the malicious consequences of superstitious belief combined with slander and exaggerated press propaganda. Foreshadowing the persecution of Jews which would take place three decades later, Smith analyzes and explains