Czech Jews Protest Release of Book Examining `protocols’

The Czech Jewish community is incensed that a local publisher has issued a book analyzing the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

Written by Polish historian Janusz Tazbir, “Protocols of the Elders of Zion: Truth of Fraud?” was published in Poland without protest.

But local publisher Votobia has been sharply criticized by the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic for releasing a Czech version of the book last month.

“This is one of the most anti-Semitic books on the market,” federation spokesman Jiri Danicek said last week. “It invokes among the Czech Jewish community feelings of bitterness and disgust.”

Although Tazbir concludes in the book that the premise of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion – that there is a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world – is unfounded, the Jewish federation opposed publication of his book because it contains a complete version of the notorious anti-Semitic tract.

Readers of Tazbir’s book are inclined to give as much credence to the tract itself as to the historian’s assessment of it, Danicek said. He added that he was “disappointed” that the title of the book is punctuated with a question mark.

Votobia President Petr Mikes told the Czech newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes that he was “surprised” by the Jewish federation’s reaction to the book.

The daily also reported that Vaclav Burian, who translated the book into Czech, was “taken aback” by the uproar. He was quoted as saying that the Jewish community in Poland was receptive to the book when it was published there and that it was given a positive review in the Jewish monthly Slovo Zidowskie.

Danicek said the Jewish federation was considering what, if any, action it would take against the Czech publisher.