Judge-President Sir Thomas Graham and Justice Gutsche, who heard the defamation suit brought by the Rev. Abraham Levy against the three leaders of the anti-Semitic Grey Shirt organization, were convinced that the documents alleged to show the existence of a Jewish world plot were compiled by a member or members of the Grey Shirts, the 130-page judgment reveals.
The court also held that the story told by Harry Victor Inch, Grey Shirt leader, who alleged to have stolen the document from the Port Elizabeth Synagogue, was “recklessly false.”
The judgment also declared that the court was satisfied that the “documents were never found in the synagogue.” Judge-President Graham also stated that “it was difficult to accept the evidence of Beamish seriously, since he holds an exaggerated view of his own importance.”
A man described as Captain Beamish, editor of the London anti-Semitic paper, The Patriot, testified at the trial, affirming the truth of the notorious “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” and the truth of the paper alleged to have been stolen from the synagogue. He also claimed that he was a personal friend of Adolf Hitler and of every anti-Semite of any importance, stating that he instructed all of them in anti-Semitism. The London Patriot denied that Beamish was ever editor of the paper and disclaimed all knowledge of him.
The defamation case, which assumed the proportions of a cause celebre, ended in a complete rout for the Grey Shirts. Judgment against the three totalling £1,775 (approximately $8,900) were awarded the Rev. Levy. Inch and #is codefendants, Johannes Strauss #on Moltke and David Hermanus #livier, had been sued for £2,000 #ach.
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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.
