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The Butcher's Tale Analysis

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The book The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town, written by Helmut Walser Smith, is both an investigative and reflective book. The plot of the book is taken from a real story, and personally I believe that, it is this element that had made the book easy and flowing to read. On March 11, 1900; a young Protestant male, called Ernst Winter, disappeared from a German town named Konitz (Poland today), and four days later on March 15 some parts of his body were found. The body of Ernst Winter was found bloodless and cut perfectly into pieces. The way the body was found made the citizens of Konitz believe that the murderer was a Jewish citizen. From the discovery of the body pieces of Ernst Winter, the life of the Jewish …show more content…

(4.). In conclusion, I believe that The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town, is a book that can be read by both students and adults. The plot of the book is very fluid, so even though the book deals with an important topic as Anti-Semitism, the fluidity that the book presents, renders it also a pleasant reading for almost everyone. The author, Helmut Walser Smith, did a magnificent job with this book, he was able to combine both adventure and investigation, with the analysis of Anti-Semitism and its roots. This book could also be used as a source of information in schools, in order to show the students how Anti-Semitism was rooted in the 19th and 20th centuries, since it demonstrates how this feeling was perceived by both the accusers and the indicted. To conclude, I would recommend this book to everyone who is both interested in further reinforcing its knowledge on Anti-Semitism, but also to who just wants to engage himself with a pleasant reading, maybe under the sun. Overall, I would rate the book with a grade of 9 out of

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