Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

A Jew Must Die

by Jacques Chessex, Donald Wilson (Translator)

3.49 of 5 stars 3.49 · rating details · 98 ratings · 31 reviews

Praise for A Jew Must Die:

“Chessex, our new Flaubert, has no equal when describing horror without flinching, screaming sotto voce and exploring guilt in taut prose.”—Le Nouvel Observateur

“A masterpiece. Beauty of the world, ubiquity of evil, God’s silence, it’s all there, delivered like a slap to the face.”—Le Point

“A great author explores a nightmare not as anachronistic...more

Paperback, 92 pages

Published April 1st 2010 by Bitter Lemon Press (first published 2009)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 183)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 05, 2010 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: french, too-sexy-for-maiden-aunts, history-and-biography

This short book, the last that Chessex wrote, reminded me of Duras's L'Amant, which I read a few weeks earlier. In both, we have the author, knowing they were near death, trying to make sense of something which had haunted their dreams since their childhoods. For Duras, it was her first affair, when she was a rebellious 15 year old school-girl wearing gold-lamé shoes and a man's hat. For Chessex, it was a particularly horrible murder, which happened in his village when he was 8. Both authors ado...more This short book, the last that Chessex wrote, reminded me of Duras's L'Amant, which I read a few weeks earlier. In both, we have the author, knowing they were near death, trying to make sense of something which had haunted their dreams since their childhoods. For Duras, it was her first affair, when she was a rebellious 15 year old school-girl wearing gold-lamé shoes and a man's hat. For Chessex, it was a particularly horrible murder, which happened in his village when he was 8. Both authors adopt similar solutions. They don't moralize, wring their hands, or express indignation. They just give you the facts, in as simple and straightforward a way as they can. As with Duras, the result is moving and disturbing.

The action takes place in Chessex's little Swiss village, in early 1942. World War II is in full swing. Switzerland has managed to stay neutral, but it looks as though that's not going to last. As far as people can tell, Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union is going according to plan. Once the Russians have capitulated, Germany will tidy up a few odds and ends, of which Switzerland is one. The local Nazi sympathizers are already thinking about how to land the best jobs in the new regime.

In Chessex's area, the two most important Nazis are a right-wing priest, Lugrin, and a youngish mechanic, Ischi. Lugrin is the Party intellectual, who supplies the ideas and stirs up racial hatred in his sermons. Ischi is the man of action, who has assembled a small gang of toughs out of the people who use his garage. He dreams of becoming the local gauleiter after the inevitable Anschluss, and meanwhile consoles himself with a series of sadistic extra-marital affairs:

Pour se détendre bien au calme de ses responsibilités, très souvent, en plein nuit, Fernand Ischi réveille la jeune Annah, qu'il terrorise en lui infligeant des mises en scène cruelles.

- A genoux, Annah. On va faire comme si tu étais juive. A genoux, Annah. Tu es juive, Annah.

- Vous êtes complètement fou, dit Annah.

Elle est nue. Elle obéit en tremblant.

Le ceinturon siffle, entame le dos de la jeune fille. Le sang jaillit. A genoux lui aussi, Ischi lèche le sang qui a coulé, "ton sang de juive, Annah, ton sang de truie".

Lugrin has decided that it's not enough just to spread Nazi propaganda. They need to make an example of a prominent Jew, to show what's coming. Ischi suggests Arthur Bloch, a 60 year old cattle merchant. He sells horses to the Swiss Army; many people dislike the idea of a Jew profiting from this kind of commerce. They agree that Bloch is ideal. The date is set for April 16, four days before Hitler's birthday. On top of everything else, it will be a thoughtful birthday present for the Fuehrer! A little surprise from his Swiss friends.

On the 16th of April, Bloch is attending a cattle fair. Ischi comes up to him, and says he has a fine cow he'd like to sell. Bloch suspects nothing. He comes with Ischi and his friends to a barn a few streets away. They haggle over the price, and can't agree. Bloch says he won't go down to 2000, and leaves. Ischi's friends wonder what he's doing. But Ischi says the guy will be back, and he's right. They continue to haggle, and still can't agree. Bloch leaves a second time. When he, incredibly, comes back a third time, Ischi strikes. Or, more exactly, one of his lieutenants, Ballotte, sticks his gun in the ribs of solidly-built Joss, the least senior member of the group, and tells him to do it. Joss hits Bloch over the head with an iron bar. Ballotte finishes him off with his revolver as he lies on the ground. Then the corpse is cut into pieces, to make it easier to transport. Chessex spares us nothing:

Dévêtu, le corps du mort est tenu à quatre membres, et cisaillé, scié, découpé, les mains d'abord, et les bras, les épaisses jambes, puis la tête qui donne du fil à retorde parce que les fibres cervicales ne veulent pas lâcher et il faut l'arracher à quatre mains du gros tronc.

The group put the hacked-up body parts in three large pails, and carry them down to the lake. Then they attempt to burn Bloch's clothes.

They haven't been careful, and Bloch's wife hires a good private detective. (The police are not being helpful). It only takes him a couple of weeks to piece it all together. Ischi and his men are arrested, and the trial date is set for early 1943. In the court, Ischi is cold and contemptuous. They would be well advised not to annoy his powerful friends. He doesn't know that the tide of war has now turned in favour of the Allies. The judge gives him, Ballotte and Joss life sentences, and 15 to 20 years for the other members of the gang.

The priest, Lugrin, has long ago fled the country and sought asylum in Germany. He spends the rest of the war there; when the Allies invade, he's caught and sent back to Switzerland. He also gets 20 years, and serves about two-thirds of it. One day, after he's been released, the author sees him at a café. He goes and sits down opposite him. Lugrin asks him what he wants. Chessex said he wanted to take a good look at the man who ordered the death of Arthur Bloch. Lugrin has lost none of his bravado; he tells Chessex that he'll mind his own business if he has any sense.

Bloch's widow survives him by five years. She has a stone erected over the grave where his mutilated remains lie buried. It says, in German and French,

GOTT WEISS WARUM
Dieu sait pourquoi

God knows why. She dies of madness and grief.

The author's classmates included one of Ischi's children, and the daughter of the judge who presided over the trial. It was impossible not to hear all the details. He had nightmares about it for the rest of his life.

It's the smallest Holocaust novel I've ever read, but one of the most effective ones.
(less)

like 4 likes · see review

Nov 12, 2012 Pete Young rated it 4 of 5 stars

Chessex continued to look into the dark corners of Switzerland’s past right up to this, his last-but-one novel. It looks at the 1942 murder of Arthur Bloch, a well-to-do Jewish cattle dealer in Payerne by some Swiss Nazi sympathisers, meant as an offering to the Führer just a few days before Hitler’s birthday. It wasn’t just a random murder – how the teenage killers also disposed of the body was particularly gruesome. This short novel was not well received in Switzerland, possibly because the Na...more

like · see review

Jul 02, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This devastating short novel by the late Swiss writer Jacques Chessex concerns the actual murder of a Jewish cattle merchant in Switzerland in 1942. Chessex alternates between a terse, factual third person voice and, through the use of free indirect discourse, the horribly anti-semitic voices of the Swiss right-wing killers. The result is a chilling account of hate and its ghastly results. Toward the end of the novel, Chessex steps away from his story to address directly the question of whether...more

like · see review

Nov 08, 2010 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book blew me away. I picked it up at the library, drawn to its bizarre title. Based on a true story, author Jacques Chessex recounts his memories of the brutal killing of a butcher in his home town of Payerne Switzerland. From the age of 8, when the crime planted seeds of guilt in his young mind, it took a lifetime for him to let this writing come to the surface.

He refers to the words of French philosopher Vladimir Jankelevitch, whom I had to research further. Moral, philosophical and reli...more

like · see review

Aug 22, 2012 Alessandro Kostis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Penso che basti citare le prime righe per far capire come ci si trovi davanti a uno scrittore davvero bravo: "E i faggeti, i macchioni arieggiati, i boschetti di pini, le siepi profonde, le piante rade dei boschi cedui che coronano le colline di Grandcour. Ma il male si aggira. Un pesante veleno si insinua. Oh Germania, Reich dell'infame Hitler. Oh Nibelunghi, Wotan, Valchirie, Sigfrido scintillante e cocciuto, mi chiedo quale furia trapianti quei fantasmi vendicativi della Foresta Nera nella do...more

like · see review

Oct 08, 2011 Abria Mattina rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was really looking forward to this book, but didn't feel satisfied when I finished reading. I've read fiction and nonfiction on the topic of WWII and the Holocaust before, but ,A Jew Must Die is different. It doesn't get into the viewpoint of a single character, allowing you to experience his or her humanity through the struggles of that difficult era. A Jew Must Die follows the life of a Swiss town from 1939 to 1942, and a crime committed by five of its residents against a Jewish cattle trade...more I was really looking forward to this book, but didn't feel satisfied when I finished reading. I've read fiction and nonfiction on the topic of WWII and the Holocaust before, but ,A Jew Must Die is different. It doesn't get into the viewpoint of a single character, allowing you to experience his or her humanity through the struggles of that difficult era. A Jew Must Die follows the life of a Swiss town from 1939 to 1942, and a crime committed by five of its residents against a Jewish cattle trader. There are plenty of villains and no real heroes, and the fact that there is no main character makes the book hard to relate to, especially as someone who didn't live through the war years.

Chessex's narrative style presents another difficulty. A Jew Must Die reads like a slightly poetic newspaper article, reporting on people and events but never allowing the reader to get close to them. He tells his audience about energetic Nazi meetings, but doesn't let the reader into the meeting room. We're told of the town of Payerne's unemployment problems and desperation, but never allowed to walk its streets.

Everything about the town and its residents must be inferred from secondhand description.

The one scene where the reader is allowed a closer perspective is during the murder and disposal of Arthur Bloch, the Jewish cattle trader chosen by Payerne's Nazi sympathizers to be made an example of. Then, the audience gets a detailed description of every moment of that heinous act.

In the early chapters of the novella, while Chessex is setting the scene and introducing characters with much description, he's prone to writing in long, rambling sentences such as this one:

"Of medium height--"but Adolph Hitler's exactly", as he reminded anyone willing to listen--and already balding at the temples at thirty, but with a barrel-like chest, broad shoulders and biceps that bulge beneath his brown shirt, he makes quite an impression and, although married and the father of a boy and two girls, has developed a reputation as a Don Juan that makes up for his social failure" (25).
That's a long, convoluted train of thought to follow, and A Jew Must Die is loaded with these, at least until the action picks up, and then his writing becomes staccato and claustrophobic.

A Jew Must Die tells an interesting story, but I didn't find it particularly moving or enjoyable to read.(less)

like · see review

Oct 11, 2011 France rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

L’auteur a écrit un récit très personnel car il avait huit ans et vivait à Payerne quand les événements décrits dans le livre se sont produits. C’est une histoire de haine profonde envers des gens associés à tort aux problèmes sociaux et financiers de l’Europe et de l’Allemagne en particuliers. Un juif, Arthur Bloch, sera assassiné et dépecé par une bande de lâches, fascinés par Adolf Hitler et par la promesse d’une Europe débarrassée des juifs. Le drame se passe en Suisse en 1942 – les accusés...more

like · see review

Jul 24, 2011 Fruchtfleisch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Payerne 1943. Der Autor war damals 8 Jahre alt und dort ansässig; dass sich die Ära Hitler mit all ihren Konsequenzen zu seinen Lebzeiten ereignen konnte, das lässt ihn sein Leben lang nicht los.

Von der Naziideologie infizierte Männer morden und schlachten damals "als Exempel" einen jüdischen Viehhändler, die Tat soll allen offenbaren, was die Zukunft bringen wird. Jacques Chessex gelingt es, die Unvorstellbarkeit, zu welchen Greueltaten die Menschen in der Lage sind, in Worte zu fassen.

Ich muss...more

like 1 like · see review

Sep 20, 2010 Edward rated it 3 of 5 stars

this looked interesting, but I suppose after majoring in history and having read a lot about the holocaust, I suffer from "seen it all before." Sadly, there is nothing remotely surprising about a small Swiss town allowing Nazi sympathizers among them to kill a Jewish businessman as "an example." I loved how Chessex used language - I would read his other stuff for that reason alone, but he did not do a good job creating anything unique or that particularly resonated with me.

like · see review

Jan 06, 2011 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book one day randomly in the library. I'd never heard of it, never heard of the author, but it won Le Prix Goncourt so I figured why not. Reading cover to cover might have taken 45 minutes. The language is incredibly sparse, the plot brutal and the style that of a realist. Not something I would say rush out and purchase, but if you happen to come across anything Chessex has written (en anglais ou en francais), might be worth your time.

like · see review

Jan 14, 2013 Shadira rated it 5 of 5 stars

Vivid and beautifully crafted 'A Jew Must Die' is at times shocking in its depiction of the ordinariness of evil. A horrifying masterpiece.
There are no plot twists here and no sensationalism either, just a harrowing and thought-provoking picture of fear and prejudice that will stay with you long after you finish this small but intensely powerful book

Chessex leaves readers to wonder why God tolerates acts of intolerance in his name!!

like · see review

Jan 01, 2013 Lesley Green rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: got-from-public-library

This is the English translated version of this book and I am thinking it lost some of its effectiveness in translation!
Its about a crime that happened in Sweden during the Hitler era! Some Swiss Nazis sympathetizer murdered a Jewish cattle tradesman on Hitler's birthday! This part of history is shameful and yes anti-semitic views were part of history but still very hard to read!

like · see review

Oct 22, 2010 Stoic rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: holocaust

A short, stark study of political and human evil, A Jew Must Die peers into the void for all of 92 pages. This reminded of Wiesel's Night, only with a shifted perspective. Detailing events of an awful, anti-semitic crime which occurred during the author's childhood, this is a phenomenal meditation on darkness, guilt and the human tragedy.

like · see review

Aug 25, 2011 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Swift and short. Mixing horror imagery with "just the (horrible) facts, Mme." And at the end, with your heart in your throat, you take a breath along with the author and somehow you are clinging to your faith and maybe crying a little.

Based on a true story. Packed such a wallop I'm going to try it in the original French.

like · see review

Aug 14, 2010 Lev Raphael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: thrillers

Amazing short novel about crazed Swiss Nazis determined to make a splash for Hitler's birthday by killing a well-known Jewish cattle merchant in a small town. You will not believe what happens, the author's involvement in the case, or that this is a translation from French. It reads beautifully!

like · see review

Mar 18, 2011 Sherri rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure really liked it is the correct phrase for this compelling novella.
It was a difficult read especially when you realize it is a novel based on a
true story. The writing is somewhat stacatto. I'm not sure if that is the style
or the fact it was translated from French.

like · see review

Jan 27, 2012 AC rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fascism, novels-french-writers

I didn't find this either terribly interesting or effective. Perhaps it sounds better in French than in translation - but it lacks plot, character, there is no development, it is essayistic but its reflections are not terribly original or memorable.

like · see review

Feb 28, 2012 Margi rated it 3 of 5 stars

The horrific event this story is based on is fact, the story is told as fiction. Another despicable act of terror committed against a Jewish man. Chessex has a great way with words and his fact into fiction always opens the readers eyes.

like · see review

Nov 09, 2012 Maxine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: europe

A novella that made me feel numb and cold, chilled by something that was done to and by people the author knew. I didn't enjoy reading it, which is why it has two stars, but it's a powerful story and should be read.

like · see review

Jun 12, 2012 andone rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, ch, fiction, history, murder, nazis, read-2012, read-in-german, war

this book is like a wind gust, written at very fast pace and very short.

what makes it most impressive is the story behind it, namely that mr. chessex has lived at the time of it at the very same village in switzerland and feels it's his duty to let people know what happened.

what i don't agree with is that retelling such cruel facts means complicity.

like · see review

Sep 27, 2011 Enka-Candler Library rated it 4 of 5 stars

An extremely well-written little book about a terrible thing. It only takes about an hour or so to read, but it's still a hard subject. Recommend to readers of Holocaust stories.
~Leisa

like · see review

Jul 28, 2011 CVV added it · review of another edition

« Il est presque onze heures dans la violente lumière du dehors quand le pas lourd d’Arthur Bloch se fait entendre Rue-à-Thomas. Pour la troisième fois, à la stupeur des trois hommes, Arthur Bloch est dans l’étable, signant là son arrêt de mort. »

like · see review

Jun 15, 2010 Scott rated it 5 of 5 stars

A book based on a true story during World War II in Switzerland where a group of Nazi sympathizers are determined to a kill a Jew living in their mall town. They do kill a Jew.

like · see review

Feb 05, 2011 Thomas Andrikus rated it 2 of 5 stars

I liked this book for its brevity, despite harrowly describing in detail a WW2 experience.

like · see review

May 26, 2012 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Jun 24, 2010 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

http://thebookwormslibrary.com/?p=2685

like · see review

Mar 26, 2012 Shannon Rickert rated it 1 of 5 stars

ok i so didnt like this book

like · see review

Aug 23, 2012 Val rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: world-tour

Any European countries which managed to remain neutral during WW2, did it by reaching some level of accommodation with fascism. Switzerland was surrounded by actively fascist countries, German occupied countries and countries cooperating with Germany and its allies.
This book is very short, but packs a lot of power into its few pages.
The author takes an incident and uses it to examine the various levels of accommodation with fascism within Switzerland, both pragmatic and ideological.

like · see review

Aug 03, 2011 Marion rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dans ma lancée de lectures sur fond de 2ème guerre mondiale et shoah, j'ai fini par ce très court roman de Jacques Chessex, qui dépeint la montée de l'antisémitisme en Suisse, pays très peu évoqué pendant cette période que cela soit dans les romans, films, ou livres d'histoire. Très intéressant car même si c'est un roman, on devine une toile de fond bien réelle.

like · see review

May 06, 2010 !Tæmbuŝu marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, en-francais, switzerland, ebook-available

ePagine

Reviewed by The Complete Review, The Independent

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (7)

More editions...

Genres

World War II > Holocaust

7 users

War

2 users

History > World War II

2 users

Literature > Jewish

2 users

Historical Fiction

2 users

See top shelves...

About Jacques Chessex

Jacques Chessex was a Swiss author and painter.

Born in Payern, Switzerland Sheseks is a poet, writer and artist. He is among the most important writers who write in French. In 1973, he received international recognition when he became the first Swiss to win the biggest French literary prize - "Goncourt" for his novel "L` Ogre ". The same model was the first foreigner awarded the prestigious award....more

More about Jacques Chessex...

Books by Jacques Chessex

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About A Jew Must Die

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: A Jew Must Die
avg rating	preview: A Jew Must Die Goodreads rating: 3.49 (98 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7516064-a-jew-must-die?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354903052l/7516064.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7516064-a-jew-must-die?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Jew Must Die by Jacques Chessex[/url]

A Jew Must Die

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (7)

Genres

About Jacques Chessex

Books by Jacques Chessex

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About A Jew Must Die

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (7)