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English translation of Di gesichte fun meine leiden, (New York 1925) autobiography of the infamous blood libel trial of Menahem Mendel Beilis (1874–1934). On March 20, 1911, the mutilated body of Andrei Yushchinsky, a 12-year-old boy, was discovered in a cave on the outskirts of Kiev. A vicious anti-Jewish campaign by the rabidly anti-Semitic Black Hundred resulted in the anti-Semitic minister of justice, I. G. Shcheglovitov, charging Beilis, this despite the fact that there was strong evidence that the crime had been committed by the Cheberiak gang of Kiev.
The case attracted universal attention. Protests and addresses by scientists, public and political leaders, artists, men of letters, clergymen were published in all the civilized countries of Europe and the United States affirming that the blood libel was baseless. The trial of Beilis took place in Kiev from Sept. 25 through Oct. 28, 1913. The chief prosecutor made anti-Jewish statements in his closing address and defended the Cheberiak gang against the charge of Yushchinsky's murder. The primary witnesses against Beilis responded to the presiding judge’s questions, “We know nothing at all,” and that they had been confused by the secret police and made to answer questions they did not comprehend. The jury, composed of simple Russian peasants, after several hours of deliberation unanimously declared Beilis "not guilty." |
