Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Laughter in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times, by Albrecht Classen and Marilyn Sandidge (eds.) 2010. De Gruyter, Berlin, New York

JUDENSAU MAUS. The Inherently Derogatory Image of the Pig

My review is limited to the article of Birgit Wiedl (pp. 325-364) on the JUDENSAU, an artistic product of many centuries of German antisemitism. I compare it to the modern usage of pigs to represent Poles in the classroom-used MAUS.

The sullied image of the pig, as a pejorative representation of some peoples, is long-standing. Wiedl concludes that, “…probably the most successful anti-Jewish image in the German speaking realm: the Jew per se is equal to a sow…” (p. 325).

JUDENSAU MAUS. SIGNIFICANCE OF REPEATED EXPOSURE TO IMAGES OF THE PIG

Wiedl comments, “…in the German-speaking area, the image prevailed in print, literature, and everyday language, the term JUDENSAU developing into one of the most common verbal insults toward Jews.” (p. 349).

What does this tell us of the prevalence of the pig, as a stand-in for Poles, in MAUS? This is especially significant in view of the countless millions of children, and low-information adults, that have been exposed to it.

THE EQUATION OF JEWS WITH PIGS (JUDENSAU) AND POLES WITH PIGS (MAUS) IS SELF-EVIDENTLY NEGATIVE

Art Spiegelman would have us believe that equating Poles with pigs is innocent, and, in his MAUS, no different from equating Jews with mice and Germans with cats. The reality is very different. While the images of other animals have sometimes been used for derogatory purposes, nothing compares to the pig in this regard!

Wiedl thus elucidates the obvious, “Yet the pig as a symbol for filth and dirt was to a great extent self-explanatory: it was visible and smell-able for the majority of people on a daily basis.” (p. 338). She adds that, “…the uneducated spectators…would understand the very mundane association of Jews with filth, stench, and uncleanness.” (p. 337). And now, thanks to Art Spiegelman, the Poles are enlisted in this role.

DOUBLE STANDARDS GOVERN JEWS AND POLES TODAY

The JUDENSAU is not just of historical interest. Wiedl writes, “It is a sad fact that up until today, the equation of Jews with swine is a common means of anti-Semitic propaganda launched by right-wing circles, the example of a pig with a painted-on Star of David and the name of Ignatz Bubis on its back that was herded across Alexanderplatz, Berlin, in 1998 by a group of neo-Nazis (Berliner Zeitung, 9 November, 1998), may serve as one among, unfortunately, all too many examples.” (p. 349).

So why is the image of the pig so horrible when applied to Jews, but perfectly fine when applied to Poles? Does the pig magically change its characteristics when applied to Poles, as opposed to being applied to Jews?