Szent Péter muzsikája, avagy a Tüske fogta zsidó
Saint Peter's Violin or The Dance among Thorns

From Children's Folklore to Auschwitz?

Summary/Abstract: It­ is­ a­ cliché­ to­ say­ that­ the­ Holocaust­ did­ not­ start­ with­ the­ railway­ cars,­ but­ much earlier,­ by­ words­ said­ and­ heard.­ Scientific­ literature­ and­ journalism­ generally assumes­ that­ it­ was­ the­ anti-Semitic­ public­ discourse­ at­ the­ beginning­ of­ the­ 20th century­ and,­ among­ others,­ the­ laws­ sprouting­ from­ it.­ In­ the­ opinion­ of­ the­ author of­ this­ study,­ this­ has­ much­ deeper­ psychological­ roots­ which,­ as­ far­ as­ we­ can track­ it,­ stretch­ back­ at­ least­ to­ the­ Middle­ ages.­ Children's­ folklore—various mocking­ verses,­ games­ and­ part­ of­ folk­ tales­ told­ to­ children­ (too)—seem­ to confirm­ this.­ This­ study­ only­ highlights­ a­ small­ slice­ of­ this­ long­ tradition,­ and­ it examines­ the­ roots­ and­ the­ Central­ and­ Eastern­ European­ afterlife­ of­ the­ tale called­ The­ Dance­ among­ Thorns­ (der­ Jude­ im­ Dorn;­ ATU 592)­ also­ included­ in­ the Grimm­ brother's­ famous­ tale­ collection­ entitled­ Children's­ and­ Household­ Tales (Kinder-­ und­ Hausmärchen).­ The­ study­ pays­ particular­ attention­ to­ the­ role­ of­ this tale­ played­ mainly­ in­ the­ Hungarian,­ Slovak­ and­ Czech­ folklore.

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