Alarmed by widespread anti-Semitic agitation among the White Russian population, Polish authorities have taken energetic measures to guard against an outbreak.
Anti-Semites here have utilized the death of a Christian boy from the village of Kobilniki to spread stories that he had been killed by Jews for “ritual purposes.” The story has aroused the local peasantry, despite the fact an autopsy performed by state physicians at the order of the courts determined that the lad had died of starvation.
Anonymous peasants previously had sent a letter to Chief Rabbi Rubenstein of Wilno, threatening him with “the fate of Mendel Beilis” if he “fails to return the Christian boy who vanished recently.” A few days later the body of the boy was discovered by police.
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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.