?
Why Hitler Did Not Like the Jews: The Folklore Version of the Reasons behind the Holocaust
Based on field data, the article discusses folkloric versions explaining Hitler's hatred of Jews. The texts in question were recorded mainly in the territories that were part of the Pale of Settlement, from older people who either themselves had contacts with Jews, mainly before the World War II, or heard a lot about them from their parents. The versions use one of three explanatory strategies: among the closest relatives of Hitler or his colleagues there was a Jew, who has greatly offended Hitler and for this reason he began to revenge on the entire people, or the hatred was caused by the national features of the Jews themselves, who are (according to the ethnic stereotypes of the Slavs) more intelligent, more cunning, lazier than the Germans and Slavs, and can also understand German. Finally, the Holocaust is explained by the Gospel events. In all three cases, the stories about the causes of the Holocaust use the traditional mechanisms of interpretation the surrounding world: ethno-confessional stereotypes, plot clichés of traditional quasi-historical folklore prose, combined with attempts at individual interpretation.
In book
