The Jew Accused: Three Anti-Semitic Affairs (Dreyfus, Beilis, Frank) 1894–1915

by Albert S. Lindemann

• ISBN13: 9780521403023
• ISBN10: 0521403022
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1991-10-25
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Three Jews, Alfred Dreyfus, Mendel Beilis, and Leo Frank, were charged with heinous crimes in the generation before World War I, Dreyfus of treason in France, Beilis of ritual murder in Russia, and Frank of the murder of a young girl in the United States. Quite aside from the lurid details and sensational charges, larger issues emerged, among them the power of modern anti-Semitism, the sometimes tragic conflict between the freedom of the press and the protection of individual rights, the unpredictable reactions of individuals when subjected to extreme situations, and the inevitable ambiguities of campaigns for truth and justice when political advantage is to be gained from them. In attempting to untangle myth and reality many surprises emerge; heroes appear less heroic and villains less villainous, while real factors appear more important than most accounts of the affairs have recognised.

Table of Contents

List of plates

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

2. The historical setting in Europe and America

3. Earlier anti-Semitic affairs

4. France before the Dreyfus Affair

5. The Dreyfus Affair, more than a trial

6. Beyond the Pale

Russia and the Jews, 1890-1914

7. Blood libel

the Beilis Affair

8. America, the 'exception'

9. The Leo Frank Affair

Epilogue and conclusion

Bibliography

Index.