The Konitz affair marked the worst outbreak of antisemitic violence in Wilhelmine Germany, driven by a false ritual murder accusation.
Key Facts
- Date of murder
- March 11, 1900
- Victim
- Student Ernst Winter
- Jewish population decline
- 28% drop in Konitz Jews, 1900–1903
- Appeals court ruling
- June 4, 1902: all accusations against Jews baseless
- Two Jews tried for murder
- Both acquitted despite prosecution
- Anti-Semites elected to Reichstag
- Bruhn, Bötticher, and Krösell elected in 1903
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The unsolved murder and dismemberment of student Ernst Winter in Konitz in 1900 provided an opening for antisemitic leaders, who exploited the case by encouraging and bribing locals to testify against Jewish inhabitants, reviving the medieval accusation of Jewish ritual murder despite jealousy being the probable actual motive.
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in Konitz and several nearby towns as accusations spread. Two Jews were brought to trial for the murder and acquitted, while multiple Jews faced prosecution for their roles in riot-related incidents and received harsher sentences than their attackers. The government felt compelled to investigate implausible claims implicating Jews despite exonerating physical evidence.
On June 4, 1902, a superior court ruled all accusations against the Jews baseless. The publisher and editor of the antisemitic Staatsbürgerzeitung were convicted of libel, and Pastor Krösell was forced from the ministry. Nevertheless, antisemitic sentiment persisted: Bruhn, Bötticher, and Krösell were all elected to the Reichstag in 1903.