Blood ritual libels have terrified the Jews of two Polish villages over the week-end. In Lubelski, near Lublin, a peasant, who had come to town for market day, stopped to sell his goods to the Jewish egg-dealer Druk. While taking care of his horses, the peasant left his 24-year-old daughter in Druk’s house. The girl, noticing Druk’s wife bolting the door in order to reach the cellar, accessible only through a trop door opening in the floor, became frightened, and breaking a window, shouted for help. Hearing her cries, her father dragged her through the window and the mob that assembled assumed a threatening attitude until the police dispersed it.
The second occurrence of this nature happened in Vileike, near Wilna, where a Jewish family by the name of Ginsberg was accused of killing their 20-year-old Christian maid for Passover ritual purposes. While the maid was on a visit to relatives in a neighboring village the accusation spread, and “witnesses” were found who swore that Ginsberg had killed the girl. The mob broke into the Ginsberg house and demolished the place. When the girl returned later, those members of the mob who could be identified were turned over to the courts.
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.
