Articles by Kristen Allen
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Burned for Spoiling Beer: Germany Rehabilitates Its Persecuted ‘Witches’
Kristen Allen – Der Spiegel,
19 Dec 2011
It was mainly women who were targeted, although there were also a surprisingly high number of men as well as a few children. They were accused of not only cavorting with the devil, but also of causing insect plagues, bad weather, ruined harvests and even spoiling the production of beer. “Of course there were no witches, these were all invented crimes,” says Hegeler, who has written 17 books on Germany’s witch trials. “But in hard times it was a good tool for local authorities to place the blame on others for famines and other problems. The witches were a wonderful scapegoat for whenever things went wrong.”
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