Judensau

"Judensau" (German for "Jews' sow") is a derogatory and dehumanizing image of Jews in obscene contact with a large sow (female pig), which in Judaism is an unclean animal, that appeared during the 13th century in Germany and some other European countries. Its popularity lasted for over 600 years and was revived by the Nazis.

=Background and

. [Schreckenburg, Heinz, "The Jews in Christian Art", p.331-337, 1996, Continuum, New York, ISBN 0826409369. Cologne illustrated p. 332, Frankfurt pp. 335-7]

This is an example of antisemitic propaganda used by the authorities to ostracize the Jewish minority.

In the Spanish language, "marrano" means "Christianized Jew", "pig" and "dirty".

As an unrelated development, "Judensau" was also an insulting appellation in German, common in the Nazi period. Although this word is identical in form to the name of the image, it is historically separate and morphologically opposite, and would be translated "Jewish sow" rather than "Jews' sow".

"Vom Schem Hamphoras"

"Vom Schem Hamphoras" was a book written by Martin Luther in 1543 which made reference to the Judensau sculpture at Wittenberg:

Here in Wittenberg, in our parish church, there is a sow carved into the stone under which lie young pigs and Jews who are sucking; behind the sow stands a rabbi who is lifting up the right leg of the sow, raises behind the sow, bows down and looks with great effort into the Talmud under the sow, as if he wanted to read and see something most difficult and exceptional; no doubt they gained their Shem Hamphoras from that place...

Partial list

Some of these sculptures can be found at some churches today.

*Aarschot (Notre Dame Church)
*Bamberg (Cathedral)
*Basel in Switzerland (Cathedral)
*Brandenburg (Cathedral)
*Cadolzburg
*Colmar (St Martin Cathedral)
*Eberswalde
*Erfurt (Cathedral)
*Gniezno (Cathedral) Fact|date=March 2008
*Heilbronn (Cathedral)
*Cologne, underside of a choir-stall seat in the Cathedral (probably the earliest example) and in Church of St. Severin)
*Lemgo (St Marien)
*Magdeburg (Cathedral)
*Metz in France (Cathedral)
*Nuremberg (St Sebaldus Church)
*Regensburg (Cathedral)
*Remagen (Gate post)
*Uppsala in Sweden (Cathedral)
*Wiener Neustadt in Austria
* Wimpfen (Church of St. Peter)
*Wittenberg (Town church)
*Xanten (Cathedral)
*Zerbst (St Nicolas Church)

Image gallery

References

ee also

*History of antisemitism
*Martin Luther and Judaism
*Vom Schem Hamphoras

External links

* [http://alt.wittenberg.de/en/seiten/virtuell/vir_sf08.html Infamous 15th century Judensau carved at Lutherstadt Wittenberg] with a plaque that warns against forgetting history and repeating past mistakes.
* [http://www.christen-und-juden.de/index.htm?html/judensau.htm Christian and Jew (in German)]