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

In January 1901, Ernst Winter’s bloodstained clothes—including vest, jacket, pants, coat, and handkerchief—begin to turn up in various places in town. Investigators discover semen stains on the pants and vest, indicating that Winter was killed while engaging in sexual activity. Theories about a sexual murder begin to circulate, including that Winter frequented sex workers or was assaulted by male pederast. The police make inquiries among the Konitz underworld—with particular attention to a triangle involving Marie Sawischewski and her lovers Johann Gast and August Pikarski—but find no definite links to Winter.

A handkerchief that was discovered in the ditch along with Winter’s head leads in the direction of a schoolteacher named Weichel. A strong man with an alcohol addiction and a violent streak, Weichel shows a suspicious interest in the case and, during a drinking bout in a bar, even confesses that he was the murderer. However, the police interpret this as merely a ploy for attention by a desperate man.

A new detective, Inspector von Kracht, is appointed to lead the investigations. Unlike Inspector Braun, he is a believer in the ritual murder myth and fixes his attentions back on the Lewys, theorizing that the sack in which Winter’s torso was found made its way to