THE JEWISH NEWS

pale Sicx

1Fridiy,. Septenab*r 20, 1946

A Recrudescence of Illigoir
alisiits
edie
dv
n
d
The History of the Catholic Church's

Revival of Blood Libel Against

Jews in Poland, Argentina,

Hungary and U. S. Zone of

Occupation in Germany, Re-

sults in Murders Even in 'Civi-

lized' Post-War Era.

Attitude on the Ritual Murder Lk

By PHILIP' SLOMOVITZ

Pope Clement XIV

(Cardinal Lorenzo Ganganelli)

A

RECRUDESCENCE of bigotry and
medievalism is in evidence in this enlightened age. The
most frightful proof that we have not progressed, that
the world is sinking back into a state of fanaticism and
ignorance, came to light a short time ago, when, in
four different countries. the atrocious ritual murder
libel again was revived as a weapon of anti-Semitism.
In Poland, Hungary. Argentina and the American
zone of occupation in Germany this .uperstition was
revived. necessitating the raising of new protests by the
Jewries in these territories against the senseless and
malicious attacks.
Forty-two Jews were murdered by Polish fascicts in
the !rightful July pogrom in Kielce. A rumor started
by a 9-year-old boy was the medium resorted to by
the anti-Semites to harm the small remnant of remain-
ing Jews in Poland.
In Buenos Aires. the Central Jewish organization,
DATA, submitted a memorandum to the government pro-
testing against ritual murder charges made against the
Jews by a professor of history, Benjamin F. Zaccheo, at
Normal School No. 10. Demanding Zaccheo's dismissal,
DAIS's memorandu-in pointed out that this teacher
spoke to his classes of the ritual murder charge as an
established fact and praised the objectives of the Span-
ish Inquisition. The fact that liberal. Catholic and
Peronist newspapers published the DATA memorandum
was an encouragement to the Jewish community.
The ugly blood libel resulted in the death of three
Jews' and the injuring of more than a hundred at Kun-
madaras. Hungary. The straying away from their homes
of ,everal Hungarian children set oft the Spark charg-
ing that Jews had abducted them for ritualistic pur-
poses. Before the children had returned, the serious
damage was done, and there were demonstrations
against. Jews in a numher of Hungarian cities, includ-
ing Budapest.
Spread of rumors giving credence to this horrible
libel in the American zone in Germany added to the
sense of frustration which arose in Jewish ranks over
the revival of medieval superstitions.

• • •
Dr. Roth Pleads for Justice, Truth

IT IS REGRETTABLE that it. should become ne-
ces.sary once again to refute a lie. the effects of which
have been so damaging to the Jews of the world for
several centuries.
One of the most important and most scholarly
works. containing effective data in condemnation of the
ancient calumny, together with a plea for justice and
truth in dealing with the Jewish people, is Dr. Cecil
Roth's - The Ritual Murder Libel and the Jew." published
by Woburn Press. London, and distributed by Edward
Gold.ston of London.
Written on the occasion of the 160th anniversary
of the death of Cardinal Lorenzo Ganganelli who, just
before he became Pope Clement XIV, presented an en-
cyclical in which the ritual murder charge was branded
as infamous and false. Dr. Roth's book is a glowing
_ tribute to the Catholic church, giving recognition to the
Pontiffs who raised their voices in defense of Jewry
and to the general Jewish policy of the Holy See.

• • •

. Tribute to Cardinal Ganganelli

MAIN'rAINING that he considers it a privilege to
offer tribute to the memory of Cardinal Ganganelli.
Dr. Roth writes significally:
111 • n
the
•sra its tasting credit, the Catholic Church re, f . .1

ne,er fate the ..lighteat
first be-
I 1111110,1 tray the Holy

n ight of in•die‘alism .ens at its darkest)

countenance to the caliiinn).

cam•

of it, in the thirteenth century, its rernon%traneea
began. And they continued afterwards i.t unbroken seouenee It
note,orthy that ,otne of the most vehement protests emanated
from the Pontiffs who otherc ise showed therusel‘es le,ot sympa-
thetic tooarde the Jews, their ohjectkity thus being all the more
"I ime after time, when popular fashion bronglit on a
stew •litbreak„ the voice of moderation, sanity and Christian
testing at its truest was heard from Runic. :Never wan the libel
raised udder official auspice.: in the 'shit., of the (•hurrh___a

1 ,11g

n

z Ant

state-

ment applicable to few other part•' of 1-:tirop•. On almost. every
the Papacy resolutely refused to set the seal of official
. pp r ., a t ',p oi...1j,, lor.f
io n sof slIMM ..11 inn% V &file. demanded
tw:, the ignorant. In no respect aloes the polio- of the IToty See
towards the 'dew, essentially humane according to the standard
of the sae .vex when it could not be beneioicat, appear in a
nottlet

THE MASS OF EVIDENCE accumulated in this
very important volume fully justifies Dr. Roth's con-
tention_ The only serious objection that can possibly be
taken to it by Jewish readers is the regrettable fact
that the Catholic Church itself and Catholic lay and
clerical leaders failed to produce this evidence and to
make it a matter of record and public knowledge during
the centuries that intervened from the time Pope
Innocent IV, in the 13th century, established a prece-
dent for Catholic condemnation of this atrocious lie.
Even the least informed person can readily see what
horrors and tragedies could have been avoided had the
Catholic Church come to the front as the defender of
truth by publishing the various documents on record
and by making its condemnation of the calumny a
matter of general knowledge.
The report of Cardinal Lorenzo Ganganelli which
provides the basic contents for Dr. Roth's book is pub-
lished in English for the first time in this volume. True.
references to it have been made by other authors, and in
1888 Abraham Berliner, Italian Jewish historian;trans-
lated it into German. But the mere fact that even
Jewish historians like Dr. Heinrich Graetz and Dr.
Simeon Dubnow make only brief one-paragraph refer-
ences to this report is proof that the complete text
never was generally known until recent years. It
is fortunate that Dr. Roth makes it a matter of record
in his book, both in the Italian original and in the
English translation. But there is a tragic note in Dr.
Roth's volume which proves the irony of attempts by
Jews to disprove this libel when it should be done by
non-Jews who are responsible for spreading it. Dr. Roth
reproduces two illustrations in his book which are part
of the record of the Mendel Beilis Case that was tried
in Kiev, Russia, in 1913. The defense presented docu-
ments to show that various' Popes, including Cardinal
Ganganelli, issued encyclicals proving how baseless the
charge is. The prosecution denied the authenticity of
these encyclicals and even branded them forgeries.
Lord Rothschild of London thereupon, on October 7,
1913. wrote to His Eminence Raphael. Cardinal
Merry del Val. Pontifical Secretary of State, re-
questing verification of the authenticity of these docu-
ments. Cardinal Merry del Val, be it said to his credit.
replied promptly on October 18, 1913, stating that these
encyclicals are "substantially authentic." Of the three
illustrations in this book, two of them reproduce Car-
dinal Merry del Val's letter to Lord Rothschild and the
envelope in which it was mailed. The third photograph
is that of Cardinal Lorenzo Ganganelli ■ Pope Clement.
XIV).
*
*

First Libel Occurred In 1144

THE RITUAL MURDER LIBEL and the Jew./;
although containing a total of only 100 pages, is packe
full of very important data dealing with the _ritual mur-
der charge. It dates back to the first libel made against
the Jews in 1144 when William of Norwich, who died
of a cataleptic fit, was later martyrized as a victim of
the Jews and his name repeatedly invoked thereafter
for the revival of the ritual murder libel. Dr. Roth
reviews the various instances of ritual murder lies
against the Jews leading' up to the recent demonstra-
tions of imbecility in the spread of this calumny by
Julius Streicher in the official Nazi organ of Nuremberg,.
- Der Stuermer." He shows how this charge has been
made against the early Christians during various times
in the past two thousand years, and not so long ago
against Catholic missionaries in China, Japan, and
the monks of Mt. Sinai, leading up to a resume of sad
experiences of the Jews of Poland. Dr. Roth describes
the circumstances under which in 1758 the Jewish com-
munities of Poland took steps to defend themselves by
sending Jacob Selig (Selek) as emissary to Rome td
solicit protection. Pope Benedict XIV' referred the appli-
cation to the Holy Office of the Inquisition and Cardinal
Ganganelli was selected to report on the truth or false-
hood of the charges made against the Jewish people.
Ganganelli's encyclical is a most effective piece of
writing which reveals a great sense of trumor. Dr. Roth
rightfully states that: "Underlying the document there
is a gentle humor: and the demolition of certain argu-
ments brought forward to bolster up the Libel is a
model of ecclesiastical sarcasm.'
What makes Ganganelli's report of extreme sig-
nificance is that it quotes at length from the earlier
encyclicals from Pope Innocent IV as well as from
other Pontiffs and gives the decision such decisive
weight that no doubt can possibly remain relative to
the falsehoods levelled against the Jews. Another sig-
nificant point in Ganganelli's report is the fact that
he refuses to accept the testimony of converted Jews
against their former co-religionists. Quoting from Gan-
ganelli's report: In these neophytes from Judaism
there is wont to occur a certain transport against their
own nation, by reason of which they not seldom go
beyond the limits of truth."
Ganganelli emphasizes in fact that conversion of
Jews to Catholicism will become a most difficult matter
if Catholics will continue to spread libels against them
and thus strengthen the resentments against apostacism.
In the concluding paragraph of his statement he de-
clares: "I therefore hope that the Holy See will take
some measure to protect the Jews of Poland. as St.
Bernard, Gregory IX, and Innocent IV did for the Jews
of Germany and of France, that the name of Christ
be not blasphemed' by the Jews and, moreover, that
their conversion may not become more difficult. I do
not venture, however, to put forward any project to
liberate these unfortunates from such ill-usage, hoping
that Jesus Christ will suggest to his Vicar such means
as shall be honorable to the Christian name and con-
ducive to the conversion of those unhappy ones."

THIS EMINENT Catholic dignitary did not hesi-
tate to go so far as to maintain, in the instance of
the libel which was spread by Monk Rudolph: "It may
be concluded, then, that from the action and conduct
of Brother Rudolph it is impossible to deduce any
fault of the Jews against Christians, but rather of
Christians, led astray by a hermit, against the Jews."

Dr. Roth deserves an expression of gratitude from
Jewish and Catholic communities throughout the world
for this excellent volume which, in addition to the
central theme dealing with Cardinal Ganganelli's report,
includes the following important appendices: The En-
cyclical of Pope Innocent IV; the protests against the
Kiev ritual .murder accusations in 1912 that came from
• dignitaries in Great Britain, France, Germany. and
Russia; and the more recent protests sounded in 1934
in England against the charges in Julius Streicher's
"Der Stuermer," containing the statements by Chief
Rabbi Hertz, the Archbishop of Canterbury and 'others.

The emphatic refutation of the libel as it is pre-
sented in Dr. Roth's book makes this volume one of
great historic significance particularly in view of the
constant grievance repeated by Catholics that Jews
fail to recognize the friendship of the Catholic Church
towards them. The reviewer has before him a copy
of the April 19. 1936. issue of "Our Sunday Visitor"
which is published in Huntington, Ind. Under a streamer
headline entitled "The Popes and the Jews" and - Cath-
olic Church Has Been Their Best Friend." this news-
paper makes the following declaration:

••The Jew should he the Catholic Clearch•ww truest friend,
while as a matter of fact, be has been trained in prejudice
astainst her. Re has boon taught that the Catkolic Churelt per-
secuted the Jew in the past as Hitler is persecuting him in
Germany today. Ife wee in our Good Friday obtiervanee, when
storekeepers in many cities are requested to clone their doors
for three hours, a studied effort to call the worteroi attentiou to
the cruciestion of Jesus by the dews.

"In retaliation he has joined forces with the avowed enemies
of the Catholic Church (I speak not n( the rink and ale of the
Jews, which seems to be very friendly, but of tuna!" ;influential
leaders); he is a deelared enemy of the paroeitiod wheal.

"Now. as a matter of fact. the C:itholic Church, as such,
never persecuted the Jews, although they have been perneented
in so-called Catholic ceuntrie* by elemental which were almost
equally antagonistic to the Catholie ('bureb herself. This has
been true during the last decade in Vienna aad ltnnirh. Hitler
himself, while professing to he a Catholic. has shown himself
quite as hostile to the Catholic Church all to the Jews.

"No instructed Catholic holds that the Jews, as such,
were reapon.ihie for the crucifixion of Christ. The Mile is
very clear on this score. it represents t'hrist basin; bee a
tried at night lest the people might interfere. There were eertain
wielf-appoiuted leaders of the Jews, such as the scribes and pear-
lore*, who are represented as having plotted to take Christ's
life murk earlier, hut they were fearful of the people who
ortnally loved Rim.

"Since Christ Himself. the most lerimatitn1 character is his-
tory, was a Jew; shier Him mother, who is aniversally limed
by all Catholics, was a Jew• stare all 111* Animate,' were Jews;
since the arid convert,. I. the Catholic Church were Jew*: Wiser.
Christ came 'ant to destroy the Old Law hut to fulfill it.' one
would think that the Jew would he art:wally prowl of Him and
not only hr friendly to the Catholic Chaseh, but be more ens-
ceptible than Any other race or people to conversing' to Chris-

isitiVy.

Rabbinical Pronouncement In i807

"lint againot the so-railed Middle Ayr, •hhitorieal charge'
we world like to call the attention at ear Jewish friends to the
following Rabbinical prenotaneenseat made at a celebrated as-
sembly in Paris in tee:, and subscribed to by all the neweinkled
delegate*:
•• 'It is in consequence of the sacred prinriples of emorallaty
that at different times the Romani Pontiffs have protected avid
received into their states the Jews. persecuted - and expatriated
from different parts of Europe. About the middle of the seventh
century St. (4.m.ipiry defended the Jews and proteeted them in
the whole Christina world'. the tenth century the Iliohopo
of Spain opposed' with the greantat energy the people who
wished taw maw arre them. The revaiir Alexander II wrote I.
Ramie hiohopii peaisisur their weenie. St. *erased' defended them
in the Mk Century from the fury et the Crusader*. Iasseitat II
and Alexander Ili' aloe protected them.

'"Iu the 13th (- eatery Geegotry IX preserved them Crum the
great evil* whiek strouseed thefts is teekted, Frastee and Spain;
he forbade. under pain of ezeossasienientihnt, any owe t• inter-
fere with their festivals. Clement V did nacre than protect them;
He enewaraged their mesas sit inotraetion. Clement III gave them
an asylum at *Mason when they were peronistas:11in all the rest
of Pairope. In the renewing 'estuaries 1'44:cholas 11 wrote to the
larsesinfilon to prevent the ?wefts,. of Jews to embrace Chrioillao-
ity. Clement srfr canted the anxiety of parents alarmed at flee
fate of their children, wk. were frequently tors front the breasts
of their mothers.

" 'It would bem easy to gime an initaity of other charitable
actions of which the Israelites had bees at differmat times the
object on the part of eaChraialleraall inntructed is the duties of
men and in these of their religion. The people of Israel, always
unfortsnate sod almost always oppressed, have never had the
means. or the occlude]. to manifest their rettognition for se. many
benefactions. Since tire 1111th Century this great and happy occa-
slow, which we owe tatter sagest emperor, is the only one which
has been given to us to express to the philanthropist* of all
countries, aad notably be the eeelesisetie.s, all the sentiment*
of gratitude with which war hearts are penetrated towards them
and their predeetemori,'

Assembly Records Gratitude

"The assembled delegates passed the following reselutisins:

" 'Resolved, That the deputies from the Empire of Prance
the Kingdom of Italy at the Hebrew Synod penetrated
with ratitntle for the successive benefactions of the Christian
clergy in the past centuries in favor of the Israelites of the
different parts of Europe; full of acknowledgement for the re-
ception which the different Pontiffs and rnaay other ecclesiastics
have given at different times to the" Israelites' of different
countries where barbarity, prejudice and ignorance united, per-
secuted aad expelled the Jews from the bosom of bociety,

and from

•. •Resolved, That the expression of our sentiments shall be
placed on the records of the day, that it may ever remain as ea
authentic testimony of the gratitude of the Israelites of thin
assembly for the hem-factions which the generations which base
preceded them have received from the ecclesiastics of the differeat
countries of Europe.'

,(Continued en Page 71:

