French Government Pledges All-out Effort to Find, Prosecute Orleans Rumor-mongers

The French Minister of Interior has pledged that the Government would use every legal means at its disposal to find and prosecute the persons responsible for an anti-Semitic whispering campaign in the provincial city of Orleans last month. The pledge was made by Raymond Marcellin to Pierre Bloch, president of the League Against Anti-Semitism.

The campaign in Orleans was aimed at Jewish merchants who own some of the city’s most fashionable shops. The rumors spread by word of mouth alleged that women entering the shops were drugged and sold into white slavery. The allegations had a serious effect on business in Jewish-owned shops, which, according to latest reports, has not yet fully returned to normal. Jews and non-Jews alike were shocked by the campaign which was reminiscent of the blood ritual libels against Jews in the Middle Ages. Many prominent citizens and professional trade organizations have demanded police action. The Minister of Interior told M. Bloch that the French Government “will not accept an attempt to break up French national unity which is based on the respect for the individual.”