Menahem Mendel Beilis was a Ukrainian Jew falsely accused of ritually murdering 12-year old Andrei Yuschinsky for his blood. His trial, commonly known as the “Beilis Trial” or the “Beilis Affair” (in reference to the Dreyfus Affair), was a complete sham and sparked severe criticism of anti-Semitism in Russia.
In March 1911, Andrei Yushchinsky was found stabbed 14 times, his body reportedly drained of blood. Although the criminal investigation pointed to other culprits, prosecutors preferred the classic "blood libel" accusation and searched for a Jew to pin the murder on. They accused Beilis, a manger at a brick factory where the murdered boy was seen playing with two other boys on the day of his death, and brought forward a lamp lighter who said he had seen "a Jew" grab the boy there. There was no credible evidence linking Beilis to the crime, but he was arrested and accused of using the boy's blood for demonic Jewish rituals. Beilis spent two years in prison before his trial even began, during which anti-Semitic incitement and attacks exploded throughout Russia.
Beilis was a non-observant Jew who worked regularly on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. He was a well-respected member of the community, and ultimately it was the glowing testimonies that those who knew him gave and evident fabrications and flaws in the prosecution’s case that led to Beilis’ acquittal in 1913.
The years leading up to the trial revealed the true anti-Semitic face of Russia. The Russian media attacked the Jewish community in the press accusing them of ritual murder and using age-old blood libel to smear their good name. The picture on the right is one of the fliers that was distributed before the Jewish Holiday of Pesach. It reads, “Orthodox Russian people, commemorate the name of the youth Andrei Yushchinsky who was martyred by kikes! Memory eternal! Christians, guard your children!!! On March 17, the Pesach of kikes begins.” One famous blood libel is that Jews use the blood of Christian children to make their matzos, unleavened bread eaten on the holiday of Pesach.
The trial was filled with anti-Semitic blood libel. Prosecutors presented “expert” testimonies on the truth of Jewish ritual murders for children’s blood. One of these experts was Justinas Pranaitis, a Catholic priest, who had published the anti-Semitic work, “Talmud Unmasked”, in 1892.
Beilis was eventually acquitted by the jury after the prosecutors’ expert witnesses were proven to have no real knowledge of Judaism, the lamp lighter recanted saying that he had been pressured by the police into saying that the killer was a Jew, and the defense presented strong and true expert witnesses on Jewish rituals and traditions, debunking the popular blood libel myth.
In the “Murder is Unveiled, the Murderer is Unknown” article in the March 2006 issue of “Personnel Plus”, it states that the blood libel that was ‘evidence’ in the Beilis Trial is true. The article claims that even though Beilis was found innocent, the jury still recognized the case as ritual murder, legitimizing the incredibly anti-Semitic blood libel rhetoric. Thus, even though there was outrage at the anti-Semitism in the Beilis Trial, the old anti-Semitic myths still persist in modern day times.
