Another attempt to exploit anti-Semitism as a racket was broken up here when authorities placed Louis Joseph Blanchette, self-styled anti-Semitic messiah on trial for soliciting funds under false pretenses.
Blanchette, who is fifty-three years old, was charged before a local court with victimizing many French Canadians by obtaining money from them for his alleged organization, Defenders of the Catholic People Inc., whose aim is to “destroy the Jewish race and safeguard Catholicism.”
Joseph Oullet, one of the victims who testified at the preliminary hearing, declared that he had given the anti-Semitic messiah two dollars for the cause and had received in return a promissory note for $75,000 “to be paid in the year of our lord 2034.” Blanchette explained that the money would be payable to Oullet’s heirs.
A representative of the government explained, however, that there was no such organization in existence and that Blanchette was a faker who was making a living out of the anti-Semitic racket.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
