FOOTNOTES

“Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains, and a world to gain.”

The president of this publication is S. Block, a Jew. The article in question, entitled “Chicago Workers Plan Big May Day Demonstrations,” deals with the arrangements for the May Day Parade of the Chicago radical labor organizations in 1919. It enumerates some of the organizationswhich were represented in the conference which planned the demonstrations:

Indeed, it can scarcely be denied that the Jewish labor organizations as enumerated by this Socialist publication itself were in complete control of the whole May Day parade in one of the biggest cities in the United States.

One more fact of importance which should be mentioned is that four Anarchists, who were convicted and sentenced to terms of twenty years by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, were Jews. Their names are: Jacob Abrams, Samuel Lippman, Hyman Lachowsky, Mollie Stimer.

Finally, we refer to the well-known activities of Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, both of whom are Jews, and who were deported on the Soviet Ark “Buford.”

Of course, it is significant that the radical labor movement is largely controlled by Jewish internationalists, but still more significant appears the fact that recently several rabbis have taken a definite stand in support of the Red movement. We shall refer here to two instances. On October 25, 1919, theNew YorkTribunestated that Rabbi Judah L. Magnes had publicly announced that “he was a Bolshevik and in full sympathy with their doctrines and ideals.” The article referred to is entitled “Bolshevik Talk Forces Magnes Out.” Therein it is revealed that on account of his public announcement that he was in full sympathy with Trotzky, Rabbi Magnes was forced to resign from the American Jewish Committee. It is important to bear in mind that at that time Rabbi Magnes was one of the most honored members of the Jewish community. Rabbi Magnes was deputed in 1916 to represent in Europe the American Jewish Relief organization, The Joint Distribution Committee, which, among other activities, solicited and distributed money and supplies to the Jews in territories occupied by the Central Powers. Whenever there is a great mass meeting Rabbi Magnes appears as the chief spokesman on behalf of the Jews in New York City, as has happened several times since his expulsion from the American Jewish Committee. Rabbi Magnes was one of the founders of the People’s Council, which was dissolved by the United States Government during the war. Here is a tentative enumeration of Rabbi Magnes’s activities as stated in theTribunearticle above referred to:

“Dr. Magnes was one of the organizers of the American-Jewish Committee which has been engaged in philanthropic work among the Jews for the last fifteen years. Most of the work of the committee was confined to countries where the people were oppressed. Dr. Magnes has held many important posts and at one time was Rabbi of the Temple Emanu-El. Shortly after we entered the war he became a strong pacifist and was active in the People’s Council.“There was a movement started on the East Side early in the summer to make Dr. Magnes the Socialist candidate for Congress. The persons who attempted this move are now supporting Congressman London for reëlection. Dr. Magnes is chairman of the American Jewish Kehillah.”

“There was a movement started on the East Side early in the summer to make Dr. Magnes the Socialist candidate for Congress. The persons who attempted this move are now supporting Congressman London for reëlection. Dr. Magnes is chairman of the American Jewish Kehillah.”

The other instance is that of Rabbi Maxwell Silver of Temple Shaari Zedek, Brooklyn, who, on January 8, 1920, was ousted by his congregation early in January, 1920, because of alleged radical utterances. “It was charged that he drew class lines and spoke of the rich as oppressors.” (See New YorkTimes, January 8, 1920.) This fact alone might not be of great importance, but the action of the New York Associationof Reformed Rabbis, as reported in the New York daily press, is significant:

“After the dismissal of Rabbi Maxwell Silver, of Congregation Shaari Zedek, of Brooklyn, the New York Association of Reformed Rabbis undertook the mediation of the trouble between the congregation and the Rabbi, and as a result pointed out that the whole difficulty was due to anunfortunate misunderstanding. Thereupon the trustees decided to recommend the reinstatement of Rabbi Silver, and we are happy to state that such reinstatement was ratified by the congregation after a special meeting last night. By a special resolution the New York Association of Reformed Rabbis expresses its confidence in the worthiness of Rabbi Silver and also in the good intentions of the Congregation Shaari Zedek to serve the cause of Israel.”

It is also a peculiar fact to consider that certain powerful Jewish bankers were instrumental and active in spreading Bolshevism, which now threatens the whole world. In this connection we refer the reader to one of the “Sisson Documents,” published by the United States Government in 1917 under the title “German Bolshevist Conspiracy”:

On September 21, 1917, one of the leading German Spartacan leaders, a Jew, by name of Furstenberg, wrote a letter to a Bolshevist by the name of Raphael Scholan, who became later one of the Bolshevist commissaries in Soviet Russia, as follows:Stockholm, Sept. 21, 1917.“To Mr. Raphael Scholan,Haparanda.Dear Comrade:The banking house, M. Warburg, opened an account for the enterprise of Comrade Trotzky, upon receipt of a telegram from the Chairman of the ‘Rhein-Westphalian Syndicate.’ A lawyer, probably Mr. Kestroff, obtained ammunition and organized the transportation of same, together with that of the money, to Lulea and Vardo, the firm of Essen & Son, Lulea, as to the consignee and the confidential persons to whom the sum demanded by Comrade Trotzky is to be handed. Fraternal greetings!(sgd)Furstenberg.”

Stockholm, Sept. 21, 1917.

“To Mr. Raphael Scholan,Haparanda.

Dear Comrade:

The banking house, M. Warburg, opened an account for the enterprise of Comrade Trotzky, upon receipt of a telegram from the Chairman of the ‘Rhein-Westphalian Syndicate.’ A lawyer, probably Mr. Kestroff, obtained ammunition and organized the transportation of same, together with that of the money, to Lulea and Vardo, the firm of Essen & Son, Lulea, as to the consignee and the confidential persons to whom the sum demanded by Comrade Trotzky is to be handed. Fraternal greetings!

(sgd)Furstenberg.”

Rumors that international Jewish financiers have been supporting the Bolsheviki in Russia are persistent.

Who are the international financiers? Perhaps the answer is to be found in the following cable dispatch of the Wolff Agency on the German situation in 1919, published byLa Vieille Francein the issue of February 13, 1919:

“The deputy Hyemann has revealed the curious fact: The Bolshevist movement is supported by financiers. The banker, Bleichroeder, has contributed two millions to theExtremist Journal.”

It is of course known that Bleichroeder is one of the most powerful Jewish financiers in Germany.

It will be remembered that the Protocols bring out very distinctly two ideas, namely, economic and social dissensions of all kinds, including anarchism and communism and also aworld war.

In a recently published book which has created much interest, entitled “The Inside Story of Austro-German Intrigue,” by Joseph Goriĉar and Lyman Beecher Stowe, the authors advanced the theory that Jewish bankers have during the last century played an important rôle in European war conspiracies. Mr. Goriĉar was, during the early part of the late war, Austro-Hungarian Consul in Berlin. We refer to one of the most important passages in the book bearing upon the subject:

“The pro-war bankers of 1854 as well as those of 1914 originated in the Semitic banking center of Frankfort-on-the-Main in Germany, the birthplace of the Bethmann-Hollwegs, the Goldschmidts, the Seligmans, Jacob Schiff,[29]and the Rothschilds.“All the vast wealth of the banking house of the Rothschilds, amounting at the beginning of the war to some twenty billion francs, was made chiefly in war operations, war financing. The Rothschild brothers of the Central Empires have in fact sometimes financed simultaneously rival groups of belligerents.“Frankfort-on-the-Main is, and has been for more than a hundred years, the chief source of financial backing for wars. Kings, emperors, and war ministers have had to await the pleasure of these bankers before issuing their ultimata. To that centre have been added Vienna, Berlin, and Budapest, the other important centres of Jewish world finance. In Vienna the Rothschilds’ word is law; in Berlin, the Hahnemans, Bleichroeders, Mendelssohns, especially the last named, who of late years have controlled Russia’s finances. To these same sources may be traced the origin of the World War.” (Pages 56 and 57.)

“All the vast wealth of the banking house of the Rothschilds, amounting at the beginning of the war to some twenty billion francs, was made chiefly in war operations, war financing. The Rothschild brothers of the Central Empires have in fact sometimes financed simultaneously rival groups of belligerents.

“Frankfort-on-the-Main is, and has been for more than a hundred years, the chief source of financial backing for wars. Kings, emperors, and war ministers have had to await the pleasure of these bankers before issuing their ultimata. To that centre have been added Vienna, Berlin, and Budapest, the other important centres of Jewish world finance. In Vienna the Rothschilds’ word is law; in Berlin, the Hahnemans, Bleichroeders, Mendelssohns, especially the last named, who of late years have controlled Russia’s finances. To these same sources may be traced the origin of the World War.” (Pages 56 and 57.)

The “Protocols” have already attracted public attention in various countries. The attitude which the Jewish leaders will take in regard to them is a matter of great interest and deep concern. Until now they have kept silent. Only on rare occasions have the Jews referred, though very indirectly, to the question of the existence of a Jewish world conspiracy. The most explicit utterance on the subject in the United States is that of Rabbi Stephen Wise, in his address to the Congregation of Free Synagogues in Carnegie Hall, on March 1, 1920. The reports of the address in the daily press are rather meager. We set forth in full the report which appeared in the New YorkTribuneon the following day:

“‘JEWISH PLOT’ ONLY AMONG APOSTATES, SAYS DR. WISE“BELIEVES MEN WHO FORSWEAR ANCIENT FAITH WOULD SEIZE POWER FOR OWN ENDS“Speaking to the congregation of the Free Synagogue in Carnegie Hall yesterday on the subject of ‘The Jewish Conspiracy,’ which has had its most recent revival in a story publishedin the LondonMorning Post, charging that Jews were in a plot to seize control of the world, Dr. Stephen S. Wise said that the only serious ‘conspiracy’ among the Jews to-day emanated from the young men who foreswore their ancient faith.“Saying that oppression and injustice have attended the followers of the Jewish faith for centuries, Dr. Wise added that they had a right to be vindictive, but that it was not in their nature to be so.“‘It is the Jew who has been reduced to such a state of degradation by oppression that he lies when he swears allegiance to another faith which has not even touched his heart, who becomes a dangerous element in the life of the world,’ said Dr. Wise.“‘The conspiracy,’ if there is one, is among those of Jewish birth who are or seem ashamed of their origin. They follow false gods or none at all, and among them will be those who may seize power for their own ends.”

“‘JEWISH PLOT’ ONLY AMONG APOSTATES, SAYS DR. WISE

“BELIEVES MEN WHO FORSWEAR ANCIENT FAITH WOULD SEIZE POWER FOR OWN ENDS

“Speaking to the congregation of the Free Synagogue in Carnegie Hall yesterday on the subject of ‘The Jewish Conspiracy,’ which has had its most recent revival in a story publishedin the LondonMorning Post, charging that Jews were in a plot to seize control of the world, Dr. Stephen S. Wise said that the only serious ‘conspiracy’ among the Jews to-day emanated from the young men who foreswore their ancient faith.

“Saying that oppression and injustice have attended the followers of the Jewish faith for centuries, Dr. Wise added that they had a right to be vindictive, but that it was not in their nature to be so.

“‘It is the Jew who has been reduced to such a state of degradation by oppression that he lies when he swears allegiance to another faith which has not even touched his heart, who becomes a dangerous element in the life of the world,’ said Dr. Wise.

“‘The conspiracy,’ if there is one, is among those of Jewish birth who are or seem ashamed of their origin. They follow false gods or none at all, and among them will be those who may seize power for their own ends.”

In conclusion it must be stated that the motives which have actuated the publication of this book are not anti-Semitic.The object—already indicated in the introduction—is to call the attention of the American people to a document which may throw important light upon the international Bolshevist movement which menaces directly the vital interests of the United States.

That this attention is amply justified appears from a review of the recent publication of the Protocols in England, which appeared in the LondonTimeson May 8, 1920. The article is so significant that it is reprinted in its entirety.

“THE JEWISH PERIL.”[30]A Disturbing PamphletCall for Inquiry(From a correspondent)TheTimeshas not as yet noticed this singular little book. Its diffusion is, however, increasing, and its reading is likely to perturb the thinking public. Never before have a race and acreed been accused of a more sinister conspiracy. We in this country, who live in good fellowship with numerous representatives of Jewry, may well ask that some authoritative criticism should deal with it, and either destroy the ugly “Semitic” bogy or assign their proper place to the insidious allegations of this kind of literature.In spite of the urgency of impartial and exhaustive criticism, the pamphlet has been allowed, so far, to pass almost unchallenged. The Jewish Press announced, it is true, that the anti-Semitism of the “Jewish Peril” was going to be exposed. But save for an unsatisfactory article in the March 5 issue of theJewish Guardian, and for an almost equally unsatisfactory contribution to theNationof March 27, this exposure is yet to come. The article of theJewish Guardianis unsatisfactory, because it deals mainly with the personality of the author of the book in which the pamphlet is embodied, with Russian reactionary propaganda, and the Russian secret police. It does not touch the substance of the “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.” The purely Russian side of the book and its fervid “Orthodoxy” is not its most interesting feature. Its author, Professor S. Nilus, who was a minor official in the Department of Foreign Religions at Moscow, had, in all likelihood, opportunities of access to many archives and unpublished documents. On the other hand, the world-wide issue raised by the “Protocols” which he incorporated in his book and are now translated into English as “The Jewish Peril,” cannot fail not only to interest, but to preoccupy. What are the theses of the “Protocols” with which, in the absence of public criticism, British readers have to grapple alone and unaided? They are, roughly:—(1) There is, and has been for centuries, a secret international political organization of the Jews.(2) The spirit of this organization appears to be an undying traditional hatred of the Christian world, and a titanic ambition for world domination.(3) The goal relentlessly pursued through centuries is the destruction of the Christian national States, and the substitution for them of an international Jewish dominion.(4) The method adopted for first weakening and then destroying existing bodies politic is the infusion of disintegrating political ideas of carefully measured progressive disruptive force, from liberalism to radicalism, and socialism to communism, culminating in anarchy as areductio ad absurdumof egalitarian principles. Meanwhile Jewry remains immune from these corrosive doctrines. “We preach Liberalism to the Gentiles, but on the other hand we keep our own nation in entire subjection” (page 55). Out of the welter of world anarchy, in response to the desperate clamour of distraughthumanity, the stern, logical, wise, pitiless rule of “the King of the Seed of David” is to arise.(5) Political dogmas evolved by Christian Europe, democratic statesmanship and politics, are all equally contemptible to the Elders of Zion. To them statesmanship is an exalted secret art, acquired only by traditional training, and imparted to a select few in the secrecy of some occult sanctuary. “Political problems are not meant to be understood by ordinary people; they can only be comprehended, as I have said before, by rulers who have been directing affairs for many centuries.”(6) To this conception of statesmanship the masses are contemptible cattle, and the political leaders of the Gentiles, “upstarts from its midst as rulers, are likewise blind in politics.” They are puppets, pulled by the hidden hand of the “Elders,” puppets mostly corrupt, always inefficient; easily coaxed, or bullied, or blackmailed into submission, unconsciously furthering the advent of Jewish dominion.(7) The Press, the theatre, stock exchange speculations, science, law itself, are, in the hands that hold all the gold, so many means of procuring a deliberate confusion and bewilderment of public opinion, demoralization of the young, and encouragement of the vices of the adult, eventually substituting, in the minds of the Gentiles, for the idealistic aspiration of Christian culture the “cash basis” and a neutrality of materialistic scepticism, or cynical lust for pleasure.Such are the main theses of the “Protocols.” They are not altogether new, and can be found scattered throughout anti-Semitic literature. The condensed form in which they are now presented lends them a new and weird force.Incidentally, some of the features of the would-be Jewish programme bear an uncanny resemblance to situations and events now developing under our eyes. Professor Nilus’s book was, undoubtedly, published in Russia in 1905. The copy of the original at the British Museum bears the stamp of August 10, 1906. This being so, some of the passages assume the aspect of fulfilled prophecies, unless one is inclined to attribute the prescience of the “Elders of Zion” to the fact that they really are the hidden instigators of these events. When one reads (page 8) that “it is indispensable for our plans that wars should not produce any territorial alterations,” one is most forcibly reminded of the cry, “peace without annexations” raised by all the radical parties of the world, and especially in revolutionary Russia. And again:—We will create a universal economic crisis, by all possible underhand means and with the help of gold, which is all in our hands. Simultaneously we will throw on to the streetshuge crowds of workmen throughout Europe. We will increase the wages, which will not help the workmen as, at the same time, we will raise the price of prime necessities ... it is essential for us at all costs to deprive the aristocracy of their lands. To attain this purpose, the best method is to force up rates and taxes. These methods will keep the landed interests at their lowest possible ebb.Nor can one fail to recognize Soviet Russia in the following:—“... in governing the world the best results are obtained by means of violence and intimidation.... In politics, we must know how to confiscate property without any hesitation, if by so doing we can obtain subjection and power. Our State, following the way of peaceful conquest, has the right of substituting for the terrors of war, executions less apparent and more expedient, which are necessary to uphold terror, producing blind submission.... By new laws we will regulate the political life of our subjects as though they were so many parts of a machine. Such laws will gradually restrict all freedom and liberties allowed by the Gentiles.... It is essential for us to arrange that, besides ourselves, there should be in all countries nothing but a huge proletariat, so many soldiers and police loyal to our cause; ... in order to demonstrate our enslavement of the Gentile Governments of Europe, we will show our power to one of them by means of crime and violence, that is to say, a reign of terror; ... our programme will induce a third part of the populace to watch the remainder from a pure sense of duty or from the principle of voluntary service.”Bearing in mind when this was published, we see, fifteen years later, a government established in Russia of which a high percentage of the leaders are Jews, whosemodus operandifollows the principles quoted, and whose mainstay is a Communist Party, which answers to the last quotation. We see this, and it seems uncanny. The trouble is that all this fosters indiscriminate anti-Semitism. That the latter is rampant in Eastern Europe is a fact. That its propaganda in France, England, and America is growing is a fact also. Do we want, and can we afford to add exacerbated race-hatred to all our political, social, and economic troubles? If not, the question of the “Jewish Peril” should be taken up and dealt with. It is far too interesting, the hypothesis it presents is far too ingenious, attractive, and sensational not to attract the attention of our none too happy and none too contented public. The average man thinks that there is something very fundamentally wrong with the world he lives in. He will eagerly grasp at a plausible “working hypothesis.”What are these “Protocols”? Are they authentic? If so, what malevolent assembly concocted these plans, and gloatedover their exposition? Are they forgery? If so, whence comes the uncanny note of prophecy, prophecy in parts fulfilled, in parts far gone in the way of fulfilment? Have we been struggling these tragic years to blow up and extirpate the secret organization of German world dominion only to find beneath it another more dangerous because more secret? Have we, by straining every fibre of our national body, escaped a “Pax Germanica” only to fall into a “Pax Judaeica”? The “Elders of Zion,” as represented in their “Protocols,” are by no means kinder taskmasters than William II and his henchmen would have been.All these questions, which are likely to obtrude themselves on the reader of the “Jewish Peril,” cannot be dismissed by a shrug of the shoulders unless one wants to strengthen the hand of the typical anti-Semite and call forth his favourite accusation of the “conspiracy of silence.” An impartial investigation of these would-be documents and of their history is most desirable. That history is by no means clear from the English translation. They would appear, from internal evidence, to have been written by Jews for Jews, or to be cast in the form of lectures, and notes for lectures, by Jews to Jews. If so, in what circumstances were they produced and to cope with what inter-Jewish emergency? Or are we to dismiss the whole matter without inquiry and to let the influence of such a book as this work unchecked?

“THE JEWISH PERIL.”[30]

A Disturbing Pamphlet

Call for Inquiry

(From a correspondent)

TheTimeshas not as yet noticed this singular little book. Its diffusion is, however, increasing, and its reading is likely to perturb the thinking public. Never before have a race and acreed been accused of a more sinister conspiracy. We in this country, who live in good fellowship with numerous representatives of Jewry, may well ask that some authoritative criticism should deal with it, and either destroy the ugly “Semitic” bogy or assign their proper place to the insidious allegations of this kind of literature.

In spite of the urgency of impartial and exhaustive criticism, the pamphlet has been allowed, so far, to pass almost unchallenged. The Jewish Press announced, it is true, that the anti-Semitism of the “Jewish Peril” was going to be exposed. But save for an unsatisfactory article in the March 5 issue of theJewish Guardian, and for an almost equally unsatisfactory contribution to theNationof March 27, this exposure is yet to come. The article of theJewish Guardianis unsatisfactory, because it deals mainly with the personality of the author of the book in which the pamphlet is embodied, with Russian reactionary propaganda, and the Russian secret police. It does not touch the substance of the “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.” The purely Russian side of the book and its fervid “Orthodoxy” is not its most interesting feature. Its author, Professor S. Nilus, who was a minor official in the Department of Foreign Religions at Moscow, had, in all likelihood, opportunities of access to many archives and unpublished documents. On the other hand, the world-wide issue raised by the “Protocols” which he incorporated in his book and are now translated into English as “The Jewish Peril,” cannot fail not only to interest, but to preoccupy. What are the theses of the “Protocols” with which, in the absence of public criticism, British readers have to grapple alone and unaided? They are, roughly:—

(1) There is, and has been for centuries, a secret international political organization of the Jews.

(2) The spirit of this organization appears to be an undying traditional hatred of the Christian world, and a titanic ambition for world domination.

(3) The goal relentlessly pursued through centuries is the destruction of the Christian national States, and the substitution for them of an international Jewish dominion.

(4) The method adopted for first weakening and then destroying existing bodies politic is the infusion of disintegrating political ideas of carefully measured progressive disruptive force, from liberalism to radicalism, and socialism to communism, culminating in anarchy as areductio ad absurdumof egalitarian principles. Meanwhile Jewry remains immune from these corrosive doctrines. “We preach Liberalism to the Gentiles, but on the other hand we keep our own nation in entire subjection” (page 55). Out of the welter of world anarchy, in response to the desperate clamour of distraughthumanity, the stern, logical, wise, pitiless rule of “the King of the Seed of David” is to arise.

(5) Political dogmas evolved by Christian Europe, democratic statesmanship and politics, are all equally contemptible to the Elders of Zion. To them statesmanship is an exalted secret art, acquired only by traditional training, and imparted to a select few in the secrecy of some occult sanctuary. “Political problems are not meant to be understood by ordinary people; they can only be comprehended, as I have said before, by rulers who have been directing affairs for many centuries.”

(6) To this conception of statesmanship the masses are contemptible cattle, and the political leaders of the Gentiles, “upstarts from its midst as rulers, are likewise blind in politics.” They are puppets, pulled by the hidden hand of the “Elders,” puppets mostly corrupt, always inefficient; easily coaxed, or bullied, or blackmailed into submission, unconsciously furthering the advent of Jewish dominion.

(7) The Press, the theatre, stock exchange speculations, science, law itself, are, in the hands that hold all the gold, so many means of procuring a deliberate confusion and bewilderment of public opinion, demoralization of the young, and encouragement of the vices of the adult, eventually substituting, in the minds of the Gentiles, for the idealistic aspiration of Christian culture the “cash basis” and a neutrality of materialistic scepticism, or cynical lust for pleasure.

Such are the main theses of the “Protocols.” They are not altogether new, and can be found scattered throughout anti-Semitic literature. The condensed form in which they are now presented lends them a new and weird force.

Incidentally, some of the features of the would-be Jewish programme bear an uncanny resemblance to situations and events now developing under our eyes. Professor Nilus’s book was, undoubtedly, published in Russia in 1905. The copy of the original at the British Museum bears the stamp of August 10, 1906. This being so, some of the passages assume the aspect of fulfilled prophecies, unless one is inclined to attribute the prescience of the “Elders of Zion” to the fact that they really are the hidden instigators of these events. When one reads (page 8) that “it is indispensable for our plans that wars should not produce any territorial alterations,” one is most forcibly reminded of the cry, “peace without annexations” raised by all the radical parties of the world, and especially in revolutionary Russia. And again:—

We will create a universal economic crisis, by all possible underhand means and with the help of gold, which is all in our hands. Simultaneously we will throw on to the streetshuge crowds of workmen throughout Europe. We will increase the wages, which will not help the workmen as, at the same time, we will raise the price of prime necessities ... it is essential for us at all costs to deprive the aristocracy of their lands. To attain this purpose, the best method is to force up rates and taxes. These methods will keep the landed interests at their lowest possible ebb.

Nor can one fail to recognize Soviet Russia in the following:—

“... in governing the world the best results are obtained by means of violence and intimidation.... In politics, we must know how to confiscate property without any hesitation, if by so doing we can obtain subjection and power. Our State, following the way of peaceful conquest, has the right of substituting for the terrors of war, executions less apparent and more expedient, which are necessary to uphold terror, producing blind submission.... By new laws we will regulate the political life of our subjects as though they were so many parts of a machine. Such laws will gradually restrict all freedom and liberties allowed by the Gentiles.... It is essential for us to arrange that, besides ourselves, there should be in all countries nothing but a huge proletariat, so many soldiers and police loyal to our cause; ... in order to demonstrate our enslavement of the Gentile Governments of Europe, we will show our power to one of them by means of crime and violence, that is to say, a reign of terror; ... our programme will induce a third part of the populace to watch the remainder from a pure sense of duty or from the principle of voluntary service.”

Bearing in mind when this was published, we see, fifteen years later, a government established in Russia of which a high percentage of the leaders are Jews, whosemodus operandifollows the principles quoted, and whose mainstay is a Communist Party, which answers to the last quotation. We see this, and it seems uncanny. The trouble is that all this fosters indiscriminate anti-Semitism. That the latter is rampant in Eastern Europe is a fact. That its propaganda in France, England, and America is growing is a fact also. Do we want, and can we afford to add exacerbated race-hatred to all our political, social, and economic troubles? If not, the question of the “Jewish Peril” should be taken up and dealt with. It is far too interesting, the hypothesis it presents is far too ingenious, attractive, and sensational not to attract the attention of our none too happy and none too contented public. The average man thinks that there is something very fundamentally wrong with the world he lives in. He will eagerly grasp at a plausible “working hypothesis.”

What are these “Protocols”? Are they authentic? If so, what malevolent assembly concocted these plans, and gloatedover their exposition? Are they forgery? If so, whence comes the uncanny note of prophecy, prophecy in parts fulfilled, in parts far gone in the way of fulfilment? Have we been struggling these tragic years to blow up and extirpate the secret organization of German world dominion only to find beneath it another more dangerous because more secret? Have we, by straining every fibre of our national body, escaped a “Pax Germanica” only to fall into a “Pax Judaeica”? The “Elders of Zion,” as represented in their “Protocols,” are by no means kinder taskmasters than William II and his henchmen would have been.

All these questions, which are likely to obtrude themselves on the reader of the “Jewish Peril,” cannot be dismissed by a shrug of the shoulders unless one wants to strengthen the hand of the typical anti-Semite and call forth his favourite accusation of the “conspiracy of silence.” An impartial investigation of these would-be documents and of their history is most desirable. That history is by no means clear from the English translation. They would appear, from internal evidence, to have been written by Jews for Jews, or to be cast in the form of lectures, and notes for lectures, by Jews to Jews. If so, in what circumstances were they produced and to cope with what inter-Jewish emergency? Or are we to dismiss the whole matter without inquiry and to let the influence of such a book as this work unchecked?

The publishers believe that the vast majority of the Jews in this country have never heard of the Protocols, and would denounce the plan which they set forth. The Jews here, constituting about three per cent of the population, enjoy the same rights and privileges as other citizens. All are equal before the law and all are free from persecution on religious grounds. American Jews are regarded by their fellow citizens, and for the most part doubtless regard themselves, as Americans of Jewish faith. They have indeed a special ground for gratitude to the country of their adoption, for they have found here opportunities which they did not enjoy in many other countries. They have shared in all the activities leading to prosperity and they have prospered. That they do, in fact, recognize their favorable situation is shown by the statements two of them are reported by the New YorkTimes, in its issue of May 4, 1920, to have made at a mass meeting held on the preceding evening at Cooper Union under the auspices of the Independent Order of Brith Abraham, to express the gratitude of the Jewish people to Great Britain for taking the mandatefor Palestine. Judge Gustave Hartman, Grand Master of the order, is reported to have said in part:

“We didn’t know what a home was until we reached this greatest of all republics, the United States of America. Here we are given free and equal opportunity under the free institutions of this country. In this country the Jews have lived and prospered, and in all this country there are no better citizens than the Jewish people.”

Judge Otto A. Rosalsky said “that it became the duty of the Jewish citizens of America to cherish the ideals of this country and keep them intact, so that they might be handed down to their children’s children.”

Doubtless American Jews will recognize the menace to American institutions and American prosperity of any such political conspiracy as is outlined in the Protocols. But the situation demands more than tacit disapproval on their part. Bearing in mind the close parallelism shown to exist between the “Protocols” and the actual policies of Bolshevism as practiced in Russia, the dominant position occupied by the Jews in the Soviet Government, and the open sympathy and approval given to international Bolshevism by prominent Jews outside of Russia, it is vitally necessary that the American Jews should by word and deed express their condemnation not only of Bolshevism, but of any plan or program for world domination similar to that contained in the Protocols. Aside from their position on these matters, there is no likelihood of any change in the favorable situation of the Jews in this country unless by their own conduct they convince the American people that they are hostile to our institutions or to our system of government, or that they desire to constitute within the borders of the United States a race apart,—to be treated as members of a foreign nation, enjoying special rights, privileges, or immunities.

FOOTNOTES[1]“Actions Committee” has the same meaning as Executive Committee.[2]TheGoys—the Gentiles.[3]The reference is probably to those Masonic Lodges in Continental Europe which, contrary to the fundamental principles of Anglo-Saxon Lodges, have been converted intoquasipolitical and anti-Christian organizations. See Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, Article “Freemasonry,” Vol. XI, p. 84.[4]This probably means the practice which arose of not adhering to the letter of the law but of judging by conscience. In European countries jurors are not compelled to render their verdict pursuant to the technical provisions of law.[5]It is important to point out thatsome of the Jews themselvesin their writings have claimed that Masonry is largely controlled by Jewish influence. In this connection the statement of Dr. Isaac M. Wise may be recalled:“Masonry is a Jewish institution whose history, decrees, charges, passwords and explanations are Jewish, from the beginning to the end, with the exception of only one by-decree and a few words in the obligation.” (Dr. Isaac M. Wise,The Israelite, August 3rd and 17th, 1855; quoted by Samuel Oppenheim in his pamphlet “Jews and Masonry in the United States before 1810,” American Jewish Historical Society, New York, 1910, No. 19, pp. 1, 2.)[6]The words in parentheses would seem to be a comment of Nilus’s.[7]The words in parentheses are inserted by the editors.[8]The Jewish sayings cited in this volume show that some of the great Jewish leaders maintain that the apostasy of a Jew in the matter of religion does not prevent him from remaining for all other purposes a Jew, or release him from his obligations as such.[9]“Bolshevik Propaganda. Hearings before a Subcommittee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress,” p. 111.[10]Ambassador Francis, in his testimony before the Overman Committee, stated that Dr. George A. Simons is an absolutely reliable and trustworthy man (p. 977), and that the same is true of Mr. Roger E. Simmons, whose testimony is cited below.[11]“Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 310.[12]“Russia’s Agony,” pp. 137, 138, published by Edward Arnold, London, 1918.[13]“Memorandum on Certain Aspects of the Bolshevist Movement in Russia,” p. 11. Compiled by the U. S. State Department in October, 1919.[14]Page 12 of the same memorandum.[15]British White Book, Russia No. 1 (1919), p. 86.[16]British White Book, Russia No. 1 (1919), p. 68.[17]“Memorandum. Certain Aspects of the Bolshevist Movement in Russia.” Washington, Government Printing Office, 1919, p. 20.[18]British White Book, Russia No. 1 (1919), p. 57.[19]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” pp. 136 and 137.[20]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 139.[21]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 316.[22]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 431.[23]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 301.[24]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 946.[25]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 299.[26]All italics in Part Two of this book are our own unless otherwise stated.[27]Quoted from A. Shmakoff. Address in defense of T. Vekshin and others, p. 36. Moscow: University Printing Office. 1907.[28]The full text of Article 12 of the Treaty between the Allied and Associated Powers and Poland is the following:“Poland agrees that the stipulations in the foregoing Articles, so far as they affect persons belonging to racial, religious or linguistic minorities, constitute obligations of international concern and shall be placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations. They shall not be modified without the assent of the majority of the Council of the League of Nations. The United States, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan hereby agree not to withhold their assent from any modification in these Articles which is in due form assented to by a majority of the Council of the League of Nations.“Poland agrees that any member of the Council of the League of Nations shall have the right to bring to the attention of the Council any infraction of the Council, or any danger of infraction of any of these obligations, and that the Council may thereupon take such action as it may deem effective in the circumstances.“Poland further agrees that any difference of opinion as to questions of law or fact arising out of these Articles between the Polish Government and any one of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, or any other power, a member of the Council of the League of Nations, shall be held to be a dispute of an international character under Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Polish Government hereby consents that any such dispute shall, if the other party thereto demands, be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The decision of the Permanent Court shall be final and shall have the same force and effect as an award under Article 13 of the Covenant.”[29]It has been stated by one of the leaders of Zionism, namely, Israel Zangwill, author of “The Children of the Ghetto,” that Mr. Jacob Schiff financed “the Japanese war against Russia.” This statement is made in a pamphlet entitled “The Problems of the Jewish Race,” p. 14, published by the Judean Publishing Company, New York City.In its report of a Socialist meeting held in Carnegie Hall on March 23, 1917, to celebrate the revolution in Russia, the New YorkTimeson March 24, 1917, says:“An authority on Russian affairs, George Kennan, told of how a movement by the Society of the Friends of Russian Freedom, financed by Jacob Schiff, had at the time of the Russo-Japanese war spread among 50,000 Russian officers and men in Japanese prison camps the gospel of the Russian revolutionists.”The Jewish character of the first Russian revolution was strongly emphasized in a report presented to the Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II, by the Russian Foreign Minister, Count Lamsdorf, on January 3, 1906, published in full in English translation in “The American Hebrew and Jewish Messenger,” in its issue of July 13, 1918. Therein it is stated that a very considerable part in the revolutionary activities was played by the Jews, “who individually, as ringleaders in other organizations, as well as through their own (the Jewish Bund in the Western Provinces), have always come forward as the most bellicose element of the revolution.” Count Lamsdorf further stated: “We may feel entitled to assume that the above mentioned foreign support of the Russian revolutionary movement comes from Jewish capitalist circles.... In June, 1905, a special Anglo-Jewish committee was openly established in England for the purpose of collecting money for arming fighting groups of Russian Jews: The well-known anti-Russian publicist, Lucien Wolf, was the leading member of this committee.... The Jews in America ... collect money for helping the pogrom sufferers and for arming the Jewish youth.”[30]The Jewish Peril. Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1920.

FOOTNOTES

[1]“Actions Committee” has the same meaning as Executive Committee.

[2]TheGoys—the Gentiles.

[3]The reference is probably to those Masonic Lodges in Continental Europe which, contrary to the fundamental principles of Anglo-Saxon Lodges, have been converted intoquasipolitical and anti-Christian organizations. See Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, Article “Freemasonry,” Vol. XI, p. 84.

[4]This probably means the practice which arose of not adhering to the letter of the law but of judging by conscience. In European countries jurors are not compelled to render their verdict pursuant to the technical provisions of law.

[5]It is important to point out thatsome of the Jews themselvesin their writings have claimed that Masonry is largely controlled by Jewish influence. In this connection the statement of Dr. Isaac M. Wise may be recalled:“Masonry is a Jewish institution whose history, decrees, charges, passwords and explanations are Jewish, from the beginning to the end, with the exception of only one by-decree and a few words in the obligation.” (Dr. Isaac M. Wise,The Israelite, August 3rd and 17th, 1855; quoted by Samuel Oppenheim in his pamphlet “Jews and Masonry in the United States before 1810,” American Jewish Historical Society, New York, 1910, No. 19, pp. 1, 2.)

“Masonry is a Jewish institution whose history, decrees, charges, passwords and explanations are Jewish, from the beginning to the end, with the exception of only one by-decree and a few words in the obligation.” (Dr. Isaac M. Wise,The Israelite, August 3rd and 17th, 1855; quoted by Samuel Oppenheim in his pamphlet “Jews and Masonry in the United States before 1810,” American Jewish Historical Society, New York, 1910, No. 19, pp. 1, 2.)

[6]The words in parentheses would seem to be a comment of Nilus’s.

[7]The words in parentheses are inserted by the editors.

[8]The Jewish sayings cited in this volume show that some of the great Jewish leaders maintain that the apostasy of a Jew in the matter of religion does not prevent him from remaining for all other purposes a Jew, or release him from his obligations as such.

[9]“Bolshevik Propaganda. Hearings before a Subcommittee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Sixty-fifth Congress,” p. 111.

[10]Ambassador Francis, in his testimony before the Overman Committee, stated that Dr. George A. Simons is an absolutely reliable and trustworthy man (p. 977), and that the same is true of Mr. Roger E. Simmons, whose testimony is cited below.

[11]“Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 310.

[12]“Russia’s Agony,” pp. 137, 138, published by Edward Arnold, London, 1918.

[13]“Memorandum on Certain Aspects of the Bolshevist Movement in Russia,” p. 11. Compiled by the U. S. State Department in October, 1919.

[14]Page 12 of the same memorandum.

[15]British White Book, Russia No. 1 (1919), p. 86.

[16]British White Book, Russia No. 1 (1919), p. 68.

[17]“Memorandum. Certain Aspects of the Bolshevist Movement in Russia.” Washington, Government Printing Office, 1919, p. 20.

[18]British White Book, Russia No. 1 (1919), p. 57.

[19]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” pp. 136 and 137.

[20]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 139.

[21]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 316.

[22]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 431.

[23]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 301.

[24]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 946.

[25]Senate Report, “Bolshevik Propaganda,” p. 299.

[26]All italics in Part Two of this book are our own unless otherwise stated.

[27]Quoted from A. Shmakoff. Address in defense of T. Vekshin and others, p. 36. Moscow: University Printing Office. 1907.

[28]The full text of Article 12 of the Treaty between the Allied and Associated Powers and Poland is the following:“Poland agrees that the stipulations in the foregoing Articles, so far as they affect persons belonging to racial, religious or linguistic minorities, constitute obligations of international concern and shall be placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations. They shall not be modified without the assent of the majority of the Council of the League of Nations. The United States, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan hereby agree not to withhold their assent from any modification in these Articles which is in due form assented to by a majority of the Council of the League of Nations.“Poland agrees that any member of the Council of the League of Nations shall have the right to bring to the attention of the Council any infraction of the Council, or any danger of infraction of any of these obligations, and that the Council may thereupon take such action as it may deem effective in the circumstances.“Poland further agrees that any difference of opinion as to questions of law or fact arising out of these Articles between the Polish Government and any one of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, or any other power, a member of the Council of the League of Nations, shall be held to be a dispute of an international character under Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Polish Government hereby consents that any such dispute shall, if the other party thereto demands, be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The decision of the Permanent Court shall be final and shall have the same force and effect as an award under Article 13 of the Covenant.”

[28]The full text of Article 12 of the Treaty between the Allied and Associated Powers and Poland is the following:

“Poland agrees that the stipulations in the foregoing Articles, so far as they affect persons belonging to racial, religious or linguistic minorities, constitute obligations of international concern and shall be placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations. They shall not be modified without the assent of the majority of the Council of the League of Nations. The United States, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan hereby agree not to withhold their assent from any modification in these Articles which is in due form assented to by a majority of the Council of the League of Nations.“Poland agrees that any member of the Council of the League of Nations shall have the right to bring to the attention of the Council any infraction of the Council, or any danger of infraction of any of these obligations, and that the Council may thereupon take such action as it may deem effective in the circumstances.“Poland further agrees that any difference of opinion as to questions of law or fact arising out of these Articles between the Polish Government and any one of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, or any other power, a member of the Council of the League of Nations, shall be held to be a dispute of an international character under Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Polish Government hereby consents that any such dispute shall, if the other party thereto demands, be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The decision of the Permanent Court shall be final and shall have the same force and effect as an award under Article 13 of the Covenant.”

“Poland agrees that any member of the Council of the League of Nations shall have the right to bring to the attention of the Council any infraction of the Council, or any danger of infraction of any of these obligations, and that the Council may thereupon take such action as it may deem effective in the circumstances.

“Poland further agrees that any difference of opinion as to questions of law or fact arising out of these Articles between the Polish Government and any one of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, or any other power, a member of the Council of the League of Nations, shall be held to be a dispute of an international character under Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Polish Government hereby consents that any such dispute shall, if the other party thereto demands, be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The decision of the Permanent Court shall be final and shall have the same force and effect as an award under Article 13 of the Covenant.”

[29]It has been stated by one of the leaders of Zionism, namely, Israel Zangwill, author of “The Children of the Ghetto,” that Mr. Jacob Schiff financed “the Japanese war against Russia.” This statement is made in a pamphlet entitled “The Problems of the Jewish Race,” p. 14, published by the Judean Publishing Company, New York City.In its report of a Socialist meeting held in Carnegie Hall on March 23, 1917, to celebrate the revolution in Russia, the New YorkTimeson March 24, 1917, says:“An authority on Russian affairs, George Kennan, told of how a movement by the Society of the Friends of Russian Freedom, financed by Jacob Schiff, had at the time of the Russo-Japanese war spread among 50,000 Russian officers and men in Japanese prison camps the gospel of the Russian revolutionists.”The Jewish character of the first Russian revolution was strongly emphasized in a report presented to the Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II, by the Russian Foreign Minister, Count Lamsdorf, on January 3, 1906, published in full in English translation in “The American Hebrew and Jewish Messenger,” in its issue of July 13, 1918. Therein it is stated that a very considerable part in the revolutionary activities was played by the Jews, “who individually, as ringleaders in other organizations, as well as through their own (the Jewish Bund in the Western Provinces), have always come forward as the most bellicose element of the revolution.” Count Lamsdorf further stated: “We may feel entitled to assume that the above mentioned foreign support of the Russian revolutionary movement comes from Jewish capitalist circles.... In June, 1905, a special Anglo-Jewish committee was openly established in England for the purpose of collecting money for arming fighting groups of Russian Jews: The well-known anti-Russian publicist, Lucien Wolf, was the leading member of this committee.... The Jews in America ... collect money for helping the pogrom sufferers and for arming the Jewish youth.”

In its report of a Socialist meeting held in Carnegie Hall on March 23, 1917, to celebrate the revolution in Russia, the New YorkTimeson March 24, 1917, says:

“An authority on Russian affairs, George Kennan, told of how a movement by the Society of the Friends of Russian Freedom, financed by Jacob Schiff, had at the time of the Russo-Japanese war spread among 50,000 Russian officers and men in Japanese prison camps the gospel of the Russian revolutionists.”

The Jewish character of the first Russian revolution was strongly emphasized in a report presented to the Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II, by the Russian Foreign Minister, Count Lamsdorf, on January 3, 1906, published in full in English translation in “The American Hebrew and Jewish Messenger,” in its issue of July 13, 1918. Therein it is stated that a very considerable part in the revolutionary activities was played by the Jews, “who individually, as ringleaders in other organizations, as well as through their own (the Jewish Bund in the Western Provinces), have always come forward as the most bellicose element of the revolution.” Count Lamsdorf further stated: “We may feel entitled to assume that the above mentioned foreign support of the Russian revolutionary movement comes from Jewish capitalist circles.... In June, 1905, a special Anglo-Jewish committee was openly established in England for the purpose of collecting money for arming fighting groups of Russian Jews: The well-known anti-Russian publicist, Lucien Wolf, was the leading member of this committee.... The Jews in America ... collect money for helping the pogrom sufferers and for arming the Jewish youth.”

[30]The Jewish Peril. Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1920.

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