Anti-Semitism is hatred and discrimination against those of Jewish origins. It is generally linked to the Holocaust, but Helmut Walser Smith's book, The Butcher's Tale, shows the rise of anti-Semitism from a grassroots effect. Smith uses newspapers, court orders, and written accounts to write the history and growth of anti-Semitism in a small German town. The book focuses on how anti-Semitism spread through fear-mongering, class conflict and even the role of government. On March 11, 1900, severed body parts of a human were discovered in a German town called Konitz. Almost immediately the blame fell on the Jews. As Smith points out, anti-Semitism was in steady decline, and anti-Semites were looking for ways to revitalize the movement. The murder was an opportunity for anti-Semites to revive their movement. After the body's identity was revealed to be Ernst Winter, the Staatsburgerzeitung, an anti-Semitic newspaper, printed several articles focusing on Konitz. Using unverified accounts from people in the city, he claimed that the murder was a ritual murder carried out by Jews. The use of scaremongering was affective because the newspaper was a Berlin-based newspaper, so distribution was wide and news of the murder traveled far. A crucial aspect of the rise of anti-Semitism was that anti-Semitic newspapers took stories such as the murder of Ernst Winter and used them to further their cause. One of Smith's sources, the Preuβische Jahrbṻcher, had a printed article written by Heinrich von Treitschke who was a historian; in which one of his quotes was "The Jews are our misfortune." His article was the one that later stimulated the German people's turn from liberalism to......middle of paper......Wolf Israelski. The use of sources such as the Staatsburgerzeitung offers a unique perspective because they reported as soon as these events occurred. They offer the direct opinion of the public and are direct testimonies. In conclusion, aided by newspapers that managed to spread the news throughout the country, the anti-Semitism movement grew. This was largely a grassroots effect that gained momentum from small towns and spread across the nation. While the government played a role, for the most part it only responded to what was happening rather than instigating it. The Butcher's Tale is unique because it shows the bottom-up effect of anti-Semitism versus the subsequent top-down effect that causes what is now known as the Holocaust. Bibliography Smith, Helmut Walser. The butcher's tale. New York and London: Norton WW Norton & Company. 2002.