Blood libel

With this English edition of Surviving the Ghetto, Serena Di Nepi traces the troubled and compelling history of the birth of the ghetto in sixteenth-century Rome. From the arrival of the Sephardim to the Italian wars, and the incredible story of an accusation of ritual homicide that was never made, the research sketches a picture of Jewish society, its institutions and its ruling class during the first fifty years of segregation. How did Jews react to the ghetto? Did their institutional organization change, and how? What was the impact of the restrictive laws regarding their professions and their working environment? What was the role of the rabbis in such a problematic moment? What became of Rome’s Jewish bankers? This book addresses these questions.

The Jewish origin of Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, one of the greatest modern Polish writers, has remained a taboo in Poland for years. The Jewish thread was never significantly
thematised in his work. The strength of dismissal of this matter from his consciousness as a writer—together with the panic caused within the Polish literary milieu by the confirmation of rumours about his “foreign origin”—speaks for itself and indirectly illustrates the attitude to otherness that still prevails in mainstream Polish literature. In this article, I would like to explore the author’s literary/biographical strategy, which is outlined in two stories set in the Late Middle Ages. Both of them are based on the so-called blood libel in its early variant, which consisted of accusing Jews of desecrating the host.

Taken from my recent book “The De-Judaization of the Image of Jesus of Nazareth (the Virgin Mary) at the Time of the Holocaust: Ensoulment and the Human Ovum” (Thomas Blüger, Xlibris 2021). This paper follows the image of the Virgin Mary in relationship to the Jewish people from the early beginnings of Christianity till just before the papal encyclical on Mary Ineffabilis Deus in 1854.

Abstrakt: Artykuł dotyczy opowiadań średniowiecznych Gustawa Herlinga Grudzińskiego, w których poja-wia się wątek legend o krwi. Mimo deklarowanej sympatii dla żydowskich ofiar legendy, oświetlany jest on wybiórczo, wyłącznie z chrześcijańskiego punktu widzenia. Autorka rozważa przyczyny mogące do-prowadzić do podobnej deformacji recepcji legend, odnajdując je w opresji państwa narodowego, które pisarzowi pochodzenia żydowskiego nie pozwala być jednocześnie pisarzem polskim. Wyrażenia kluczowe: Gustaw Herling-Grudzinski; blood libel; koncepcja żydowskiej samonienawiści w ujęciu Sandera L. Gilmana; żydowski pisarz a polski nacjonalizm Na ostatnim Festiwalu Brunona Schulza we Wrocławiu w październiku 2014 roku zorganizowano debatę pod tytułem Czy istnieje obowiązek bycia pisarzem żydowskim?, dotyczącą Gustawa Herlinga-Grudzińskiego. Tytułowe pytanie, w domyśle piętnujące ów rzekomy przymus jako oparty na rasistowskich przesłankach, było próbą uniknięcia problemu rzeczywistego poprzez odwrócenie jego perspektywy. W istocie problem sta-nowiła bowiem ukształtowana przez przedwojenne polskie państwo narodowe niemoż-ność bycia jednocześnie Żydem i pisarzem polskim. Wykluczenia tego doświadczył Gu-staw Herling-Grudziński i to właśnie ono ukształtowało jego skomplikowaną tożsamość artystyczną, która będzie przedmiotem moich rozważań.

En este artículo se analizan dos adaptaciones modernas de la novela histórica Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII (1877-1879) del escritor católico Francisco Navarro Villoslada, donde la pérdida de España en el año 711 es el resultado de un complot judaico. La película de Luis Marquina (1952) simplifica las implicaciones teológicas del complejo argumento de la novela, a favor de una brutal estigmatización del pueblo hebreo, favorecida probablemente por las tensas relaciones entre España e Israel a comienzos de los años 50. Al contrario, el cómic de Rafael Ramos, publicado en 1981, elimina casi por completo las referencias estructurales al tema de la conjura, del que quedan pocas alusiones descontextualizadas. Por último, se pone de relieve cómo dos libelos antisemitas, Los judíos a través de los siglos (1939) y Complot contra la Iglesia (1962), incorporan algunos elementos ficcionales de Amaya elevándolos a verdades históricas.

This paper analyses two modern adaptations of the historical novel Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII, published by the Catholic writer Francisco Navarro Villoslada between 1877 and 1879, in which the 711 loss of Spain is the result of a Jewish conspiracy. Luis Marquina’s movie (1952) simplifies the theological implications of the original plot in favour of a brutal stigmatization of the Israelites, possibly facilitated by the tense relationship between Spain and Israel in the early ’50′s. On the contrary, Rafael Ramos’ 1981 graphic novel almost completely discards the structural references to the conspiracy theme, leaving only a few decontextualized allusions. Finally, the paper highlights how two anti-Semitic libels, Los judíos a través de los siglos (1939) and The Plot against the Church (1962), subsume some of Amaya fictional elements promoting them to historical truths.

The Music Libel Against the Jews is a wide-ranging study of the historical Christian exclusion of the Jews, accused as producers of noise in a musical universe dominated by harmonious sounds.  Associating harmonies with divine grace, Christians interpreted "Jewish noise" they heard in medieval synagogues as a sign of divine abandonment. Ruth HaCohen traces the manifestations and roots of the noise accusation to a variation on the famous blood libel that spread in Europe during the Crusades, alleging that Jews kill singing Christian boys in order to silence their “intolerable” hymns and canticles. Stemming from two diametrically opposed performing practices of handling sound in ritual space, the book argues that the noise accusation records the two adversarial communities’ reciprocal rejection of each other’s sonic world.

Surprisingly, a focused study of the subject from historical, musical, aesthetic or theological perspectives has never been undertaken. Nor was it even diagnosed as a pervasive cultural phenomenon that may account for a host of texts, contexts, and subtexts addressing the mutual perceptions of Jews and Christians, in various domains and periods. Thus the book examines the dissemination and impact of this music libel from  medieval through modern times, in a variety of artistic and political contexts. Transcending the confines of church and synagogue, this study investigates the opening up of the musical sphere towards the Jews' inclusion in the wake of the Enlightenment. Acculturated Jews indeed made great efforts to integrate in that sphere, but as it turned out, they were not actually so welcomed, as old libels began to resurface. Pivotal to the Jews' struggle for aural accession are certain art works—musical, literary and pictorial—created by both "invaders" into that common audial space and by those considered its privileged "inhabitants. “ From Bach through Lessing, Handel,  Mendelssohn, and Heinrich Heine, to Richard Wagner, George Eliot, and many others, expressions and rebuttals of the noise accusation are traced and compared.  No less crucial to the story of the “noisy Jews” are modern ethnographic records of synagogues’ vocalities, by both Jews and Christians.  These records are analyzed against the massive reshaping of synagogal practices in both reform and traditional communities, all through the 19th century, in Germany and beyond. Simultaneously, the often intuitive Jewish project to emancipate noise and dissonance in the sphere of art, is viewed in this study as an integral part of European literature and music, consummated by Arnold Schoenberg, Franz Kafka and other creators of Jewish origin. The noise accusation reached a peak in Nazi propaganda films which also marks its final historical stage. The book exposes the often neglected, however crucial, role of the sonic in shaping modes of religious, communal and ethnic experience, self-perception and perception of the Other, which reinforce, if not determine, major political trends in human culture.

The accusation case of Santo Niño de la Guardia in 1490 has caused the
persecution of many Jews and conversos around the region of Logroño. A couple of chains of
accusations, concerning the legend of ritual murder, were present all over Europe in the end of
the fifteenth century. In this legend, the Jews were accused of kidnapping a child, mainly in
Easter, to kill her for ritual purposes. However, in the Guardia’s case, differently as the Simon
of Trent’s case (1475), there was no crime body to confirm a murder. There was
only the rumor that resulted in a known process of inquisition. Soon after the boy was
nominated, by some clerics, as a saint and martyr and a local devotion to the boy remained in
the following centuries.

After the Second World War, using culture – such as theater, film, and writing – to promote Austria as a separate nation became a helpful strategy for Austrians and the Allied Forces alike. In this context, the role of Jews and Jewish difference in revising Austrian self-definitions was particularly fraught. Antisemitic prejudices persisted after the Holocaust, even though Austrian Jews were now largely absent. However, in the early postwar years, antisemitism was more likely to rear its head via code words or backhandedly, in efforts to deny its very existence. This article investigates the presence and consequences of this 'invisible' antisemitism in postwar Vienna by juxtaposing two films made at roughly the same time: Der Prozeß (1948), a film about antisemitism that takes place in a nineteenth-century village over 300 miles away and features only innocent rural Jews and diabolical antisemites, while The Third Man (1949) features an urban tale of the black market and poisoned children set in post-1945 Vienna that does not mention either Jews or the reasons for their absence. This comparison suggests that the simultaneous repression and evocation of Jewish difference that characterized the creation of culture in Vienna before the Holocaust persisted in the immediate postwar era.

From its beginnings, Greece was founded and based on the principle and constitutional dictate of full emancipation and freedom of Religion for all its citizens.  Greece was attacked by Italy in 1940 and beat her in the field.  The German Reich invaded and occupied all of Greece on April 1941.  The country was divided in 3 occupation zones:  German, Italian (up to September 1943) and Bulgarian.  The Quisling governments supported the Jewish Greek citizens, albeit with no success.  The Church supported fully the Jews.  Also many were saved by joining the Resistance in the mountains.  The overwhelming majority of the non-Jewish population was sympathetic to the plight.  The Holocaust proceeded differently in various localities and not simultaneously.  In smaller cities-communities full integration of the Jews into them coupled also with historical tolerance was instrumental in rescue.

János Major (1934–2008) was a major figure of the Hungarian neo-avantgarde, member of the so called IPARTERV generation that emerged in the sixties. This catalogue is dedicated to one characteristic segment of his oeuvre: works connected to death and demise, the world of tombs and cemeteries. The study offers one possible narrative for Major’s art; it does not aspire to be a short monograph, yet it is more than mere topical analysis. The chosen perspective is relevant for every period of the artist, therefore it can be considered as the common segment of his artistic production. Through a limited number of works, the catalogue offers an authentic, pars pro toto introduction to János Major’s world.
Works presented here can also be understood as attempts to process traumatic experiences. Namely the Holocaust that effected Major’s family, the 1956 revolution and the Tiszaeszlár blood libel, which caused great social disturbance at the end of the nineteenth century. In all of these cases Major found a way to use tragic events as sources of inspiration. The title to this publication, “Leading the Dead” – borrowed from a famous Hungarian poet, Endre Ady – serves here to describe this artistic strategy.
The value of Major’s art lies in its singularity, as it builds upon specifically East-Central-European, Hungarian and Jewish experiences. His oeuvre is important not only from an artistic point of view, but it also helps to understand the whole period – especially the sixties and seventies – better and more deeply.

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Major János (1934–2008) a magyar neoavantgárd kiemelkedő alakja volt, tagja a hatvanas években induló IPARTERV-generációnak. A katalógus életművének egy jellemző szeletét járja körül: a halálhoz, elmúláshoz, sírkövek és temetők világához kapcsolódó műveket. A tanulmány Major munkásságának egy lehetséges narratíváját nyújtja: nem kismonográfia, mégis sok tekintetben több egyszerű, tematikus elemzésnél. A választott nézőpont a művész minden alkotói periódusa szempontjából releváns, így az oeuvre legkisebb közös többszörösének tekinthetjük. A kötet korlátozott számú művön keresztül, pars pro toto jelleggel hiteles bevezetést nyújt Major János világába.
A bemutatott művek sora értelmezhető traumát jelentő élmények feldolgozásaként is. Legyen szó a Majort és családját is érintő holokausztról, az 1956-os forradalomról, vagy éppen a társadalmat felkavaró tiszaeszlári vérvádról, a művész minden esetben megtalálta a módját annak, hogy a tragikus eseményeket művészetének ihletforrásaként használja. Erre a művészi stratégiára utal az Adytól kölcsönzött cím is.
Major művészetének értéke annak sajátságos jellegében rejlik, hiszen specifikusan kelet-közép-európai, magyar és zsidó élményanyagra épít. Oeuvre-je nem pusztán művészeti szempontból jelentős, de fontos adalékkal szolgál a korszak, különösen a hatvanas-hetvenes évek jobb megértéséhez is.

The Beilis affair is one of many examples showing the dangerous consequences of fanaticism coupled with hatred and ignorance in conjunction with political interests and manipulation by the media. It also shows how fragile and insecure the position of minorities can become, especially at times of radical social, economic, and political
changes like those taking place in Russia after the 1905 Revolution. On the other hand, the coverage of the trial and its context by Filastin is also a demonstration of the strong character of its editors and especially its editor-in-chief. Despite his openly anti-Zionist stance, Yusuf al-‘Isa unfalteringly defended Judaism, the Jewish community, and Beilis
as an individual against the accusation of blood libel and unequivocally condemned what he called “the disgrace of the twentieth century.”

This dissertation has two aims: contextualizing the formation and the spread of the legends of ritual murder and blood libel on the Medieval Western, and demonstrating - by the examples from two incunabula, which are called Die geschicht und legend von dem seyligen kind und marterer genannt Symon e Geschichte des zu Trient ermordeten Christenkindes - how the case of Trent (1475) was spread during the decade of 1470. The first book, which was analyzed is part of the Library of Congress’ collection and the second one from the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. By a comparative image and textual analyze from both incunabula, it aims to demonstrate how the Simon of Trent’s cult has manifisted itself and how its hagiographic narrative could change, in some details, according to the region.

En febrero de 2007, se pudo encontrar, en los estantes de las librerías italianas, un nuevo libro de historia: Pasque di sangue. Ebrei d'Europa e omicidi rituali (Pascuas de sangre. Judíos de Europa y homicidios rituales) . El título, a primera vista, no generaba tanta atención y se encuadraba en los estudios sobre la multisecular acusación de crimen ritual que, desde el siglo XII, había azotado recurrentemente a los judíos europeos generando espirales de violencia en distintas ciudades. Lamentablemente para los historiadores, la aparición de una obra de historia no suele producir demasiado revuelo. Sin embargo, para el 14 de febrero, el libro escrito por Ariel Toaff no solo había recibido múltiples críticas (y algunos apoyos), sino que también había llegado a diarios y noticieros italianos generando una polémica tal que el autor y la editorial decidieron sacarlo de circulación temporalmente

The theoretical difficulties faced by folklorists in the "Perspectives on Contemporary Legend" seminars (University of Sheffield 1982-88) were similar to those encountered a generation before by scholars discussing the impact of urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa.  The paper shows that the concept "myth" and "legend" were used interchangably in a vague way to mean a belief that an Other had that could be shown was actually untrue.  However, both in the 1960 African meeting and in the Sheffield seminars of the 1980s, this definition proved impossible to defend in the face of the extreme instability of texts and the subjectivity of "truth" (or the lack thereof) as a defining trait.  The paper focuses on the role of sociologist William H. Friedland in the 1960 conference, during which he became the first academic to use the term "urban myth" in print.

This thesis will explore the emergence and development of the narrative that Jews ritually killed Christian children in twelfth and thirteenth century England. The role that these accusations played in ‘demonising’ Jews did not diminish during the following centuries but instead grew in popularity. The accusations that gave rise to these narratives have their origin in the specific social, cultural, and religious environment of twelfth century England. Historians have long treated the accusations of ritual murder as separate events and analysed them as such. However, the power of these accusations lies in their ability to be constructed as narratives and to spread through adaption into different communities and societies. This adaption is due to the ability that these narratives have to incorporate other narratives that are popular in different communities. Hagiographical elements, Marian tales, and biblical stories that manipulation of the innocence of children were incorporated into the narratives of ritual murder which served to elicit a specific emotive response and engagement with their audience. This development in the nature of the ritual murder narratives is a reflection of both English society and the changing nature of the Anglo-Jewish relationship during the central Middle Ages.  This thesis will add to the evolving discussions surrounding the emergence of ritual murder and the subsequent spread of the blood libel accusation. By tracing the accusations back to their origin in England, and analysing how it evolved during the space of two centuries, an increasingly comprehensive understanding of the narratives can be constructed. By utilising hagiographical material, chronicle accounts, and literature created in post-expulsion England, this thesis aims to present a cohesive analysis of different narrative strands that were woven together to construct and develop the accusations of ritual murder.

Lucinda Martin’s article reviews attitudes toward Jews in eighteenth-century German Pietism, focusing especially on Halle Pietists and their periodical, Bau des Reichs Gottes. Pietists believed that Jews would convert en masse before the Second Coming of Christ. Those who wanted to hasten Christ’s return thus promoted Jewish conversion to Christianity. Pietists sought contact to their Jewish neighbors and urged regents to improve conditions for Jews. In their writings, Pietists maintained that good Christians should behave kindly toward Jews, and they portray Jews as learned and good people – unusually positive images for the period. At the same time, Pietists made Anti-Judaic assumptions: that Jews “sinned” in not recognizing Jesus as the Messiah and that they could stop persecution against Jews by "repenting." Nonetheless, Pietist publications spurred a public debate about the role of Jews in society, the scope of contact between Christians and Jews, and the rights of Jews. Martin sees in this discussion a productive intermingling of religion and Enlightenment discourses that helped Europeans make the slow but major shift away from blaming Jews for Jesus’ crucifixion to conceiving of a world where Jews and Christians might co-exist.

The Fifth Passover Cup is mentioned in a textual variant of a baraita in Tractate Pesaḥim of the Babylonian Talmud (118a), attributed to Rabbi Ṭarfon and another anonymous Palestinian tanna. Scholars have demonstrated that the variant is primary in talmudic manuscripts and among the Babylonian Geonim. Following a nineteenth-century proposition of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, it is argued that the fifth cup was instituted in Babylonia due to concern for magical evil spirits aroused by even-numbered events [zugot]. Objections to Levinsohn’s theory can be allayed by critical source analysis: the Talmud’s attribution of the fifth cup to the Palestinian tanna Rabbi Ṭarfon in a baraita is pseudoepigraphic, based upon Rabbi Ṭarfon’s teaching regarding the recitation of Hallel ha-Gadol in Mishnah Ta‘anit 3:9. A special appendix is devoted to Levinsohn’s separate study on zugot in the ancient and medieval world.

This study aims to reconstruct and analyse the anti-Semitic visual reception history of the Tiszaeszlár blood libel case from the time of the affair (1882–83) up until today. It examines images created in connection with the blood libel together with their usage and function as instruments of anti-Semitic propaganda. It underlines the power of images by highlighting their role in the establishment and institutionalisation of an anti-Semitic, pseudo-religious cult centred around the figure of the alleged victim of the ritual murder accusation. Furthermore, the study identifies the main actors, their motivations, objectives and strategies, while also exploring the economical aspect of the phenomenon: the production, circulation, multiplication and distribution of anti-Semitic imagery. The Tiszaeszlár affair occurred in Hungary, but it received immediate attention in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy as well as beyond. As for the anti-Semitic, artistic reception history of the case, it is a transnational phenomenon as it involves material and sources from a myriad of countries ranging from Russia to the United States.

Il ghetto di Roma nacque nel 1555, secondo quanto stabilito da papa Paolo IV con la bolla Cum nimis absurdum. Si trattò di una rivoluzione, che sconvolse la società ebraica al termine di un periodo difficile, iniziato nel 1493 con l’arrivo degli ebrei espulsi dalla Spagna e culminato nel 1553 con il rogo del Talmud in Piazza Campo de’Fiori. Attraverso l'esame delle fonti cristiane ed ebraiche a disposizione, la ricerca si dipana tracciando un quadro della società ebraica, delle sue istituzioni e della sua classe dirigente nel periodo precedente l’inaugurazione del ghetto e nei decenni successivi. A guidare la riflessione, una serie di interrogativi sulle strategie di sopravvivenza grazie alle quali, nonostante tutto, il gruppo riuscì a resistere a più di tre secoli di reclusione e aggressivo proselitismo. Quale fu la reazione degli ebrei? Se e come cambiò la loro organizzazione istituzionale? Quale fu l'impatto delle norme restrittive sulle professioni esercitate e sul mondo del lavoro? In un momento così difficile i rabbini svolsero o meno un ruolo? Che fine fecero i banchieri ebrei di Roma? I rapporti con la società cristiana maggioritaria restarono in piedi? E come? E quelli con i neofiti?

In 1555 Pope Paul IV established the ghettos in the Church State. It was a revolution that shook the Jewish society, coming at the end of a difficult period since the arrival of Jews expelled from Spain in 1493. It should be noticed that in 1553, the Jews regarded to the burning of the Talmud in Campo de 'Fiori as a clue of a further expulsion even from Rome. Thanks to a deeply investigation of archival sources both Jewish and Christian, the essay draws a picture of Jewish society, its institutions and its ruling class in the period before the enclosure in the ghetto and in the following decades. Many questions conduct the reflection. Which survival strategies were adopted by the group? How it was possible that the Jews were able to withstand more than three centuries to a so aggressive proselytism? What was the reaction of the Jews? Whether and how they changed? What about institutional organization? What was the impact of restrictive rules? What did change in the profession? What happened to the role of the Rabbis? How were the relationships with Christians and Neophytes?

The central concern of this article is why research on depictions of Jews was almost non-existent in Old Norse-Icelandic Studies until just a few years ago, while in the analogous field of Middle English Studies it has flourished. In addition to surveying the research culture in both disciplines, I consider tangible connections between the medieval English blood libel tradition and the Norwegian-Icelandic cultural elite, with the myth of Kvasir from Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda suggested as an example of how future research based on such connections might look.

(see the English abstract below - the original, English version of the paper is forthcoming)

A tanulmány a tiszaeszlári vérvád antiszemita képzőművészeti, illetve vizuális recepciótörténetét tárja fel és elemzi 1882-től napjainkig. A vérváddal összefüggésben keletkezett képeket azok használatával együtt vizsgálja, mint az antiszemita propaganda eszközeit. Rámutat ezeknek a képeknek az erejére azáltal, hogy jellemzi azoknak a vérvád állítólagos áldozata köré szerveződött antiszemita, a pszeudo-vallásos kultusz létrejöttében és intézményesülésében játszott szerepét. A tanulmány azonosítja a főbb szereplőket, motivációjukat, céljaikat és stratégiájukat, feltárja emellett a jelenség gazdasági vonatkozásait is; jellemzi az antiszemita alkotások előállítását, cirkulációját, sokszorosítását és terjesztését. A tiszaeszlári vérvád és per Magyarországon zajlott le, azonban már saját korában figyelem övezte az Osztrák-Magyar Monarchiában és azon túl is. A vizsgált alkotások és a rájuk vonatkozó források számos országból származnak, Oroszországtól az Egyesült Államokig, ezzel összefüggésben az eset antiszemita, vizuális recepciótörténete transznacionális jelenségként írható le.
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This study aims to reconstruct and analyse the anti-Semitic visual reception history of the Tiszaeszlár blood libel case from the time of the affair (1882–83) up until today. It examines images created in connection with the blood libel together with their usage and function as instruments of anti-Semitic propaganda. It underlines the power of images by highlighting their role in the establishment and institutionalisation of an anti-Semitic, pseudo-religious cult centred around the figure of the alleged victim of the ritual murder accusation. Furthermore, the study identifies the main actors, their motivations, objectives and strategies, while also exploring the economical aspect of the phenomenon: the production, circulation, multiplication and distribution of anti-Semitic imagery. The Tiszaeszlár affair occurred in Hungary, but it received immediate attention in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy as well as beyond. As for the anti-Semitic, artistic reception history of the case, it is a transnational phenomenon as it involves material and sources from a myriad of countries ranging from Russia to the United States.

Accusations of Jewish ritual murder have persisted into the modern era, but the medieval origins of the accusation reflect the society from which it emerged. Between 1066 and 1290 the perception and position of the Jewish population in England changed. This period also witnessed
the origins of the ritual murder accusations. In 1144 the accusation was dismissed by a majority of the population; by 1255 it was accepted by the Christian community and the Jews were the first place they turned when the body of the child was found. By locating the changing position of the Jewish community, and then comparing the development of the ritual murder accusations between the case of William of Norwich and Hugh of Lincoln, it allows the Jewish community to be viewed from a different vantage point. This dissertation will also critique Gavin Langmuir’s conception of medieval anti-Semitism, by exploring the alleged ‘irrational’ nature of the ritual murder accusation. The argument will be made, that they are also based in rational financial and
societal concerns, and thus not the ‘irrational’ manifestations that Langmuir outlined. By the murder of Hugh in 1255, these accusations had passed into folk legend and taken on a more malevolent form but still had a rational financial underpinning. The accusation became part of the general perception of the Jews, and lasted long after the Jews were expelled. The development of the rituals, is key to understanding the way that the position of the Jews was changing in English
society

Des dessins et des photos, d'abord-dont on sait l'efficacité redoutable-Et d'abord, cette caricature antisémite parue dans la revue palestinienne Intifada du 14 décembre 2000, accompagnée d'une prière délirante, traduite par PMW: Palestine crucifiée, à la grande joie des Juifs 'assoiffés de sang'-comme toujours… 1 Texte mis en ligne sur mon site personnel en mars 2004. A la suite des propos du Président de l'ONU, Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, il m'a semblé utile de remettre sous les yeux de nos internautes quelques documents que j'ai consacrés, au fil des années passées, à l'illustration d'une hystérie mystico-politique blasphématoire-non dénoncée par les autorités religieuses chrétiennes. Certes les propos évoqués sont infiniment moins désaxés, mais ils appellent subtilement à la diffamation d'Israël, en l'accusant de mener une politique d'apartheid (Menahem Macina)....

In 1979, Greek Orthodox monk Philoumenos Hasapis (Khassapis) was violently murdered in Jacob’s Well Church in Nablus. His death was described as a ritual murder performed by a fanatical Jewish-Israeli group. Philoumenos was later sanctified by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The story gained publicity in Orthodox Christian communities around the world and was endorsed by various NGOs and scholars. However, the factual basis of the event dismissed any ritualistic motives or collective accusations for the murder. In this article, the development patterns of the popular narrative are assessed against the backdrop of similar accusations levied against medieval Jewish communities in Europe, as well as contemporary framing of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the media. The conclusions suggest reasons for the wide publicity that the narrative received, based on the cultural context of its target audience, the interests of the Orthodox Church, and the role of the political actors involved. The utilization of the popular narrative by various actors demonstrates a link between the medieval Christian antisemitism and the New Antisemitism of the 21st century

This article explores the representation of the Antisemitic libel that Jews ritually murder Christian
children in illustrated books and comics for children that were published in twentieth-century
Spain. Focusing on the stories of Dominguito de Val and the Holy Child of La Guardia, it
examines why both these two medieval ‘boy martyrs’ whom the Jews were accused of murdering
became the subjects of literature for children in the twentieth century as well as the messages that
these works wanted to inculcate in their young readers and what they reveal about the survival of
this Antisemitic legend in Spanish society and culture. The stories of Dominguito and the Holy
Child of La Guardia were frequently recast in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to fit into
the more common Blood Libel narrative in which the Jews were accused of consuming Christian
blood. Moreover, the Jews themselves were adapted to represent not only quintessential ‘others’ as
opponents of Christianity but also opponents of ‘Hispanicity’ (Hispanidad) during the years of the
Franco dictatorship.

In the blood libel – especially in non-Jewish sources – myth and history are dangerously intertwined. There have been countless studies on the subject in the fields of history, an- thropology and literature. In addition to “external sources”, such as legal records of ac- cusations brought against Jews, and research on Christian anti-Judaism, there are extant “internal sources” as well. These are the written accounts by Jews in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, which detail the various forms of persecution they suf- fered on account of accusations of ritual murder, and also present their defence against the false claims. In this paper I wish to present a story in Yiddish from the sixteenth century, which is connected with written and oral traditions about the blood libel. In it, memories of historical events blend with legendary Jewish figures and motifs from Medieval German literature. I propose that this story can also be regarded as an illustration of one of the forms devised by Jewish “historiographic creativity”.

This article examines the history of the child murder libel – the claim
that Jews abducted and murdered Christian children for religious or
magical purposes – in the Iberian Peninsula before the expulsion of
the Jews from the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon in 1492. After
analysing the documentary evidence and the number of alleged
cases from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, this article
seeks to answer the following questions: Are the medieval Iberian
child murder libel narratives just bland retellings of narratives
found elsewhere in Europe, as has been argued, or did they
develop peculiarities that set them apart?