The Judenweg
Der Judenweg is a historical novel by Ruth Weiss published in 2004, set in the 17th century and depicting Daniel Löw's rise from servant to court Jew . For the author, it is above all about showing the deeper roots of anti-Semitism .
Title clearance
At the time of the novel, Jews had to pay many special taxes. In addition to the letters of protection, they had to pay body duty if they wanted to use certain routes. For this reason, wandering Jews established special secret routes that were called Jewish routes to bypass the border posts.
content
At the beginning of the novel, the knights Peter von Hebelein, Raoul von Westernau and the Benedictine Father Toma ride through a landscape marked by the destruction of the Thirty Years' War . You come across the house of the Jewish butcher Löw. Hebelein rapes his wife Esther and his companion offends her son Daniel. Löw kills Westernau, but is struck down a little later by Hebelein. The survivors of the family are able to flee and reach the robber's den of Sepp Unruhs. Esther dies there and the robber gang leader takes on the role of a father for Daniel.
Meanwhile, Löw's brother Nathan takes care of the funeral of his brother and sister-in-law. He is astonished that Father Toma - who wants to protect the Jews from collective punishment - reports the events as an accident. The Benedictine also has the plan to move a relic to Nathan's home village, Walberg. But Lisa, daughter of the saddler Knoll and lover Sepps, places the body of her dead child in the sanctuary, which is why the hate speech of the lay brother Paulus leads to a pogrom against Jews that kills 21 of them. The father takes responsibility for this, rejects Paul and from then on is anxious to make atonement for it. While the population is indulging in their fury of annihilation, Daniel is sent back to his relatives who have not survived because Sepp is moving to the Rhineland. From now on he is a servant to his cousin Jakob, who takes over Nathan’s cattle trading business.
A few years later Daniel Löw had to watch his friend August, a gang member of Sepps, be hanged. Above all, however, the particularly cruel execution of the Jew Lopes caused a great deal of anger in him, which led him to found a Chawrusse ( Yiddish for gang of thieves) with nine others . In memory of the incident at the entrance, he can blackmail Hebelein into receiving ten letters of protection and a location. Daniel also falls in love with Hebelein's stepdaughter Isabella, who, however, soon afterwards has to marry the Count von Grenzlingen, who often rapes her. The gang leader understands this and shows her affection. On the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur , he lets himself be carried away to sin by sleeping with her. She gives birth to a son named Simon, who, however, has to grow up with Sepp because the birth mother dies shortly afterwards. By marrying his childhood friend Judith, Daniel was promoted to court Jew. Hebelein asks him - for the first time in a personal address with "you" instead of "he" - to procure pieces of jewelry that Grenzlingen has given to Isabella and requested back. At the end of the novel, Daniel feels superior to the Count and notices that his life has changed for the better.
Figure overview
literature
- Ruth Weiss: The Jewish Way . Mosse Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-935097-04-2 .