The statement of President Masaryk of Czecho-Slovakia to the effect that the Austrian royal house years ago bought up all the copies of Meyers’ “Lexicon” because it was stated there that the Hapsburg dynasty was of Jewish origin, has been investigated and found to be true by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent.
In the seventh volume of the fourth edition, which appeared in 1887, it is stated under the article “Hapsburg” that the Hapsburg dynasty derives its origin from the Roman family Pierleoni, which was in reality Jewish. The Pierleoni was a rich Jewish family which adopted Catholicism during the reign of Pope Leo IX, and some of them were in the Papal service.
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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.
