J e w i s h  R i t u a l -
M u r d e r :   a   H i s t o r i c a l   I n v e s t i g a
t i o n
Der jüdische Ritualmord: Eine historische Untersuchung
von Hellmut Schramm, Ph. D.

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(p. 65)

It is a historical service of our Reichsleiter Alfred
Rosenberg -- and in the year 1920, when Germany found itself on the road
to Soviet dictatorship, it took an unheard of courage -- to have snatched
this crime of Judah from the realm of the forgotten into the framework of
translation and publication of a French work from the year
1869.

The circumstances of the times in Germany then were
unfavorable as imaginable, and only a small circle gathered around these
publications, which nevertheless had to effect all the more enduringly
those who regarded the struggle against Jewry as a matter of conscience,
even when this undertaking must have seemed hopeless.

The author of
the work translated by our Reichsleiter was a Chevalier Gougenot
des Mousseaux, of the old French nobility. The title read: Le Juif,
le judaïsme et la judaïsation des peuples chrétiens, which translated
is: The Jew, Jewry, and the Judafication of the Christian People;
it was first published in 1869 and it appeared in the German language in
1920/21. The fate intended for him by the Jew -- a fate to which more than
one courageous man before then fell victim -- overtook the author of the
book, des Mousseaux: he was poisoned. "On one day he received his death
sentence sent to him, on the next day he died" (A. Rosenberg,
foreword).

His work , bought up by Jews, disappeared from the book
market, just as happened to all remaining works of other authors who had
thoroughly engaged themselves with the trial in the form of published
documents or accounts.

Father Thomas -- Ibrahim Amara

This
ritual murder happened at Damascus in February of the year 1840, this time
not to children, but to the elderly Capuchin Father Thomas, who had
come to Damascus (66) in 1807 and had worked
there for 33 years as benefactor of the people (1), and
likewise to his servant Ibrahim Amara. The authentic material of the trial
was deposited in the Foreign Ministry at Paris. But these original
documents disappeared without trace in 1870, when the Jew and high degree
Freemason Crémieux -- with whom we shall have to concern ourselves more
closely -- was Justice Minister. The works of the member of the Orient
Society, Achille Laurent, which appeared a few years after the
trial and dealt with the entire process against the Jews in Damascus by
means of the court documents, likewise vanished down to one copy, which
was still located in the National Library at Paris. It dealt with the two
volumes of Achille Laurent: Relation historique des affaires de Syrie
depuis 1840 jusqu'en 1842. The second volume contained the authentic
court documents! However, the magazine L'Univers et l'union
catholique had in 1843 published an excerpt of the Arabic document
materials, which was able to be preserved in a German translation in the
same year, which however then itself also became very rare. (2)

As
centuries earlier on the occasion of the great Tridentine trial, an exact
picture of the murderous act could be drawn up by means of the authentic
materials. In addition, the accused gave corresponding explanations
concerning the use of the blood of their sacrificial victims.(3)

In
brief, to begin with the events which led to the investigation of the
perpetrators: On the 15th of February 1840 in the afternoon, on the day of
the Jewish Purim festival, Father Thomas made his way to the Jewish
Quarter of Damascus, in order to attach a notice regarding an auction in
the house of a deceased resident, also on the door of the synagogue. Since
the elderly Father, contrary to his usual custom, remained away for
several hours, toward sunset his servant Ibrahim Amara proceeded to
search (67) for his master out of concern that
an accident might have befallen him. Both were seen for the last time by
numerous witnesses in the Jewish Quarter and since then had vanished from
the face of the earth. This was all the more striking because the Father
had been resident in Damascus for a generation and also must have been
known to everyone as the vaccination doctor. [Father Thomas, as part of
his service to the people of Damascus, had instituted a program of
immunizations against smallpox, etc., which he administered himself.] The
police commissioner thereupon undertook various house searches, which ran
their course without any success.

Two days later a paper notice was
displayed on the shop of the Jewish barber Soliman, like the one
the Father had also last attached to the synagogue door. This excited
suspicion. The barber was questioned about how he came into possession of
this official form. His performance seemed so unbelievable and contrived,
that the interrogating personnel got the impression that he must have
known something about the matter. Since the missing Father was a European,
the Sherif-Pasha, residing in Damascus and by no means
hostile-minded toward the Jews, let the Jewish barber be held in
confinement and granted full authority to the French Consul for Damascus,
Count de Ratti-Menton, to conduct the preliminary
investigation.

The barber made denials for several days; when
finally full immunity from punishment and protection from prosecution were
assured for him, he proposed that the following Jews be brought from the
Jewish Quarter, in whose presence he would then lay out his confession:
the Rabbis Moses Saloniki and Moses Abu-el-Afieh, the three
brothers David, Isaak and Aaron Harari, their uncle
Joseph Harari and a Joseph Laniado.

The Jews who were
brought forward at first claimed not to have seen Father Thomas for many
months; Rabbi Moses Abu-el-Afieh did not want anything to do with the Jews
who had been summoned along with him: "That group is not mine; for six
months we haven't gone around together; and also, we weren't together this
time. Father Thomas I haven't seen for a month-and-a-half. . ." At
the reproaches of the barber he took recourse in the proverbial poor
memory: "It's human to be forgetful; it might be possible, that we were
indeed together, since the barber claims to have seen us; but afterwards
each will have gone to his own house. " Aaron Harari: "I seldom go
to my brothers' [homes] (68)...we are
peaceful people and of a settled way of life, we leave the bazaar
right at sunset; how would all seven of us been able to find ourselves
together in such a group!"

Since these interrogations did not
advance the matter, the interrogated Jews were held in solitary
confinement in the hope of thereby getting at the crime and its motive.
The barber was again taken into interrogation and most emphatically warned
to finally confess the truth. According to the court protocols his partial
confession reads literally as follows:

"The designated seven
persons brought the Father into the house of David Harari and had
me fetched from my shop a half hour after sunset. They said to me:
'Slaughter this priest.' The Father was in the room, with both his arms
tied; but since I refused, they promised me money. I answered: 'I cannot
do that.' Now they gave to me the little paper notice and said I was
supposed to stick it on my shop. It was Aaron Harari who delivered
it to me, and when I was arrested and brought to the Serail, David
Harari said to me: 'Be very careful not to confess anything; we'll
give you money.' The man who fetched me from my shop is called
Murad-el-Fattal and is David Harari's servant." The protocol
further notes the words of the Consul Ratti-Menton: "Yesterday you
gave important statements and repeated them today. If it has been out of
fear of a beating that you have so spoken, then tell this openly. Don't
worry; it is not our intention that you should compromise anyone through
lies."

Soliman answers: "What I have said is the truth; I've
said it in their presence." It is important for what follows to keep this
point in mind, since it's precisely the Consul in his capacity as judge of
the investigation who has been exposed to the most incredible suspicions
from the Jewish parties!

The servant Murad-el-Fattal,
brought before the investigation, was able to give extraordinarily
important statements; but when he was confronted with the head of the
Jewish community in Damascus, Raphael Farahi, he suddenly recanted
all his observations.(69) Taken to task over
this by the Pasha himself and questioned about the reasons for his
recantation, he gave the following meaningful explanation to the protocol:
"You have questioned me in the presence of Raphael Farahi; I was afraid
and therefore recanted, and for all the more reason that he threw me a
look."

The Pasha: "What! You fear Raphael more than you do me?" The
servant: " That's right. I'm afraid that he'll kill me. I have more
fear of Raphael than of your Excellency, because your Excellency will have
me whipped and then sent off, while that one will kill me in our
Quarter if I speak the truth."

Since it became ever more
probable that the Jewish barber must have been present at the slaughter,
he was again taken into custody and subjected to a sharp interrogation.
After desperate evasions he finally made a comprehensive confession in the
presence of some high officers and Consulate officials and of a staff
physician, who all confirmed the protocol by signing it. Soliman reported
the bestial crime in all particulars:

"A half hour after sunset
David Harari had me fetched from my shop by his servant. I went to
him and found there Aaron Harari, Isaak Harari, Joseph
Harari, Joseph Laniado, the landlord David Harari, the
Rabbis Moses Abu-el-Afieh and Moses Saloniki and Father
Thomas, who was tied up. David Harari and his brother
Aaron said to me: 'Slaughter this priest!' I answered: 'I cannot do
it." Then they said: 'Wait. . .' They brought up a knife, I threw the
Father to the floor, held him fast over a large basin with the help of the
others, and David Harari took the knife and made a cut at his
throat; but his brother Aaron gave him the finishing stroke and the
blood was caught in the basin without even one drop being lost.
Hereupon the body was dragged out of the room in which the murder had been
committed, into the wood room. There they undressed him and burned his
clothes. Now the servant Murad-el-Fattal came, who found the corpse
in the aforesaid room; the seven named persons said to him and to me:
'Dismember him quickly!' We dismembered him, pushed the remains (70) into a coffee sack and threw them one by one
into the drainage canal; this is found at the entrance of the Jewish
Quarter, next to the house of Rabbi Abu-el-Afieh. Then we went back
to David Harari and how the operation was completed, was, they said
they would get the servant married at their own expense and would give me
money. In case I should talk, they would then say that I had killed him. .
."

Soliman then went on to describe how the bones and the skull of
the victim were crushed on the floor with a pestle. The Jews who stood
around gave instructions at the dismemberment of the body. "We had only
one knife; first I'd cut, then the servant. When the one became tired, the
other one relieved him. The knife was like those of the Jewish
schächter -- it was the same, which had served for the murder." [As
many readers will know, reference is being made here to shochets --
the Hebrew term for the ritual slaughterers who butcher animals according
to kashrut, the elaborate Jewish dietary laws which are also
related to the rituals for sacrificing a victim in religious rites.
The German term for ritual-slaughterer is: der Schächter, while the
term for a regular Gentile butcher is: der
Schlächter.]

After this interrogation the Jewish servant was
brought forward. His statements conformed in all details to those of the
barber. "After the departure of the barber I remained for perhaps one and
a half hours yet; I had to fill the water pipes of those present." A
Gentile had been lured into the trap and slaughtered -- now they could
smoke their pipe in peace.

In consideration of the conformity of
both witness statements, Colonel Hasez Beik proposed a site
inspection in the house of David Harari immediately be carried out
in the presence of the French Consul, of a high officer of the Consulate,
and of the physician Dr. Massar.

In the unfinished room in
which the body was dismembered, blood spatters were discovered on the
wall; in the places where the bones had been crushed, the floor was
severely gouged. In addition, the pestle-mallet was already found, the
slaughter-knife, however, remained missing. . .

After this the
canal was searched more closely. Workers were summoned who had to climb
down below, and they brought up: broken pieces from bones, remains of
flesh, a section of the heart, debris from the skull and pieces from the
the Father's cowl. All of this was carefully assembled and sent over for
inspection by the Pasha and physicians. An application of the French
Consul was furnished with the following document files: 1. Declaration of
the Austrian Consul, Merlato, that he (71)
immediately recognized the black cloth cowl of the Father, because
he had been the only one who wore such a thing. 2. Declaration of the four
European physicians Massari, Delgrasso, Raynaldi and
Salina, that they had recognized the remains as those of a human
body. 3. The same declaration by seven native (Syrian) physicians. 4.
Statement of the barber who used to serve Father Thomas.

Since the
fact that that the mutilated remains of the Father had been found could no
longer be subject to any doubt, the seven accused were brought forward and
were again questioned about the occurrence of the horrible crime,
without there having been any kind of threats whatsoever. After
they had been made aware of the grave circumstances which had to put the
facts of the crime and its authorship beyond doubt, and the accused made
no attempt to deny these things, the arrested Jews gave their statements
to the protocol, after having been separately questioned.

We
learn informative details in more than one respect. Isaak Harari
says: "We had the Father come into the house of David Harari, my
brother; it was a matter arranged among us. We slaughtered him,
in order to obtain his blood, which was poured into a bottle and
given over to the Rabbi Moses Abu-el-Afieh, and specifically for a
religious reason, since we were in need of the blood for the
fulfillment of a religious duty."

The Rabbi Moses Abu-el-Afieh,
when questioned about this, replied: "The chief Rabbi of Damascus,
Jakob Antabli, had a discussion with the Harari brothers and
the rest of the accused, in order to get a bottle of human blood, and let
me in on this. The Hararis promised to supply such an item and it was
supposed to cost 100 purses (12,500 French Francs)! When I went to
David Harari, it was reported to me that a man had been procured for
slaughtering and to take his blood. I stepped in, the murder was
completed; the blood was taken and they said to me: ' you are a
sensible man, take this blood and hand it over to the Rabbi
Jakob Antabli.' I answered: 'Let Moses Saloniki take it.'
They replied: 'It's better that you yourself take it, you are a (72) sensible man.' The murder was committed at David
Harari's."

Rabbi Moses Abu-el-Afieh gave in conclusion to this the
important statement to the protocol, that a portion of the blood, mixed
into meal, was sent to Baghdad.
(4)

David Harari now describes the Head Rabbi Antabli as
the spiritual author of the crime: In the synagogue of Damascus he
communicated to all seven accused the exact plan for the murder of the
Father shortly beforehand. The blood was handed over through Rabbi
Saloniki to the Rabbi Moses in a large white bottle, a so-called alepin,
and by the latter handed on to the Head Rabbi Jakob
Antabli.

Isaak Harari developed the story of the infamous
attack upon the Father as follows: "In order to get the Father, Moses
Abu-el-Afieh and Moses Saloniki made use of the pretext of
letting him vaccinate a child; the matter had been arranged in the
house of Moses Abu-el-Afieh. Afterwards, we invited him together
into the house of my brother David and slaughtered him there."

The
Father accepted the invitation all the more unsuspiciously, for he had had
a close social relationship with the Harari brothers for many
years. At the disrobing of the corpse, Moses Saloniki helped
himself to the gold timepiece of the Father; during the interrogation in
front of the Pasha regarding this, the following scene played itself out:
the Harari brothers, when asked what had become of the valuable
timepiece, replied: "It has remained in the possession of Moses
Saloniki ." Question: "How did it come into his possession?"
Answer: "He stretched out his hand for it and took it." Question: "When
did he do that?" Answer: "After the Father was undressed, he extended his
hand and took it from out of the clothes." The Rabbi was brought before
the interrogator: "Where is the watch?" -- "I have not seen it!" The Pasha
interposed: "Here are the Hararis, who testify that you have taken
the watch!" The Rabbi: "They are lying!" The Pasha: "They swear against
you by their religion." The Rabbi answers: (73)
"They stand outside the religion!" (5) The Pasha,
for confirmation, lets the Hararis swear upon the Bible and upon Moses,
and both take an oath that the watch has remained in the possession of the
Rabbi. The latter shouts: "Witnesses, do not bully me!"

Moses
Saloniki was the single one who, of all the rest, confessed
nothing. His constantly repeated answers were: "I have seen nothing,
nothing whatsoever, I was at home, I know nothing."

His colleague
Abu-el-Afieh basically behaved more shrewdly; he knew that, however
the trial might turn out for him, his life would be forfeit in one way or
another, because, were he not beheaded by the sentence of the court, then
his co-religionists would hunt him to death. On the other hand, he had by
no means been badly treated by the Islamic authorities, as his European
colleagues, on the basis of "eye-witness reports" of certain "Christian"
missionaries, later would have it; indeed, he even got kosher meals set
before him in his cell and was able to undertake a walk for his digestion
in the gardens and -- what's more to the point, to exchange the synagogue
for the mosque and -- become a Mohammedan. That way, he at least enjoyed
the protection of the Pasha. The Rabbi knew that he still had much to say
and suddenly made haste: still in the period of detention during
investigation, during the interrogation, he converted to Islam, adopted
the same name as the Prophet for his own and henceforth called himself
Mohammed Effendi, and it was done. But we will let the newly-baked
Mohammedan speak for himself, in his letter to the Sherif-Pasha, the
Governor General of Syria. Abu-el-Afieh, Mohammed Effendi, writes (6): To obey
Your Excellency's commands, I have the honor to report to you the further
circumstances of the murder of Father Thomas. Because I now have
nothing further to fear for my life, by virtue of my faith in Almighty God
and in Mohammed, his Prophet, whom I hereby most urgently call upon and
hail: (74) thus I witness the truth, as
follows: ten or fourteen days before that event (blood-murder) the Rabbi
Jakob Antabli revealed to me that, for the fulfillment of the
command of our religion he was in need of human blood, that he had spoken
about this to the Hararis and they would be going ahead with the
matter, that the latter already had given their word on it and that I was
supposed to be there. . . On Wednesday, for the Jews the first of March, I
went out in the afternoon to proceed to go into the synagogue. I met
David Harari who said to me: 'Come, we have need of you.' He
reported to me that Father Thomas was in his house and that he would be
murdered at night. As ordered, I went to Harari and found him
sitting in the furnished room; Father Thomas I also saw there, and
how he was lying tied up. After sunset he was slaughtered and brought into
the unfinished room. The blood was caught in a thin basin and filled up a
white bottle. This they gave to me and said: 'Bring it right away to the
Rabbi Jakob Antabli.' I found the latter already waiting in the
forecourt; as he saw me, he stepped into the library room. 'It is too
late" I said to him, 'here, take what you want'; He took the bottle and
placed it behind the books. I left him and proceeded home.

When I
later saw David and his brothers again, I said to them that this business
would incur unpleasantness for us, since investigations would be started,
and that we had done wrong to take such a well-known man. They calmed me
down and said: nothing could be discovered, the clothes were burned, that
no traces remained, and that the flesh would be thrown bit by bit into the
canal by the servant, until there was nothing left.

Now, concerning
the servant of the Father, I know nothing about that, aside from this,
that on the following forenoon, Thursday, I met the three Harari
brothers together and I heard as Isaak said to David: 'How are things
going with this business?', and David answered: 'Think no further
about it, he has also gotten his portion'; at that they began to
whisper among one another.

(75) As far
as the blood is concerned, what other purpose could it serve, other than
as for the consecration of the Fatir (Festival of the unleavened bread =
Jewish Easter).

How often before have the Jews done this
already, and how often have the authorities caught them at it? This
can be learned from one of their books, named Sader Adurut, in
which several instances of this sort are found.

That is everything,
according to my knowledge, regarding the affair of Father
Thomas.
Mohammed Effendi."

We emphasize this one sentence from
this document: "How often before have the Jews done this" -- and we
can assume that the writer of the letter knows considerably more than he
it finds strictly sufficient to admit for securing the salvation of his
soul.

Ten days after this letter, in the session of the 13th
Moharram, the Ex-Rabbi Mohammed was confronted with the Head Rabbi
Antabli. From the reports it does not emerge whether they were at
loggerheads or met with the smile of initiates. In any case, this pair of
cunning rogues, meeting, after all, in far from ordinary circumstances,
held it advisable to indulge themselves in the mirror-smooth plain of
scientific interpretation of the Talmud. This is not the place to
get into the interpretations of both of the "Scriptural scholars"; these
should be illuminated in their particular relationship in their own
chapter after the conclusion of the historical factual
materials.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Pasha could not
suppress a question as a sideswipe at Mohammed the Turncoat: "If a Jew
makes a statement which is disadvantageous against another Jew or against
the Jewish people, what does he deserve?" Mohammed Effendi parried coldly
with the following typical answer: "If a Jew says anything, which can harm
the Jewish people, so should he be killed without mercy; for such an
individual redounds to their disgrace; the Talmud does
not let him live. This religion is constructed upon this principle;
that is why I converted to Islam, in order to be able to speak. .
."

The Head Rabbi Jakob Antabli was at this point invited to
give his comments to this answer. He confirmed it, and added these words:
one would set about having such an individual (76) killed on the part of the government, or we
would kill him ourselves when we had the opportunity." The Pasha responded
to this: Mohammed Effendi has spoken correctly then. If now, however, it
were a matter in which the government, acting from its own opposing
interests, would not consent to the death of this man, what would you
[Jews] do?" Jakob Antabli: "We would do our utmost according to the
circumstances, to take his life; any means would be proper for us.
Thus does our faith teach."

After this concluding play of
question-and-answer, Mohammed Effendi was able to regard the matter
philosophically. The fact is, to anticipate a bit, he no longer had much
time to deal with his new faith or, to be on the safe side, to take refuge
in yet another one: shortly after the end of the hearings, he was gathered
to his fathers [= he died] -- as the European Jewish newspapers would have
it, allegedly as result of the "pains of torture suffered" -- instead of
which the Head Rabbi of Damascus probably only did "his utmost" [See
above, where Jacob Antabli answers the Pasha's question about what should
be done to turncoats.] . . .

Shortly before his death, however, the
Ex-Rabbi translated, among other things, a section from the "book of
religion" Kethim, whose correctness has been confirmed by
Antabli. It reads: Whoever places at a disadvantage a religious
comrade through declarations which he makes in favor of a stranger
[clearly meant by "stranger" is "non-Jew"], and makes some statement
against him to the government of the land, which can incur a fine or
physical punishment or death, is himself deserving of death. Such a
traitor has no hope of another world. . .and if he has made known only the
intention of making such a statement, with respect to the location or to
the least detail, he is thus from that moment guilty of the
death, and those present are held responsible to strike him dead or
to do everything in their power, so that he might die, before he carries
out his intention. All who were fortunate enough to participate in his
death, obtain eternal indulgence. If he states something for the third
time, without it having been possible up till then to kill him, then they
should assemble together and communally confer how he might be gotten out
of the way and likewise in what manner. All necessary expenditures of this
should be borne by the Jews of (77) the
place concerned. . ."(7) -- If we're
not mistaken, Mohammed Effendi had spoken extensively from the school of
the Talmud!

The inquiries of the servant of the Father,
Ibrahim Amara, which the latter had initiated because he was
disturbed over the extraordinarily long absence of his master, alarmed the
residents of the Jewish Quarter. The servant was also observed for the
last time at the entrance of the Jewish Quarter, then remained missing as
if he had vanished from the face of the Earth.

In the writing of
Mohammed Effendi to Sherif-Pasha is contained one single,
indeed very clear hint. David Harari said to Mohammed
Effendi in regard to the servant: ". . .he, too, has received his
portion!"

In a letter of the Austrian Consul to Damascus,
Merlato, to his colleague Laurin in Alexandria, dated 28
February 1840, it says: "There is still no trace of the murder of the
servant, but one assumes that he has met the same end in another house of
these rogues. Meanwhile, Murad Farahi, Aaron Stambuli, and
several others have hidden themselves and have fled, which lets us assume
that they approved this assassination. To Sherif-Pasha, who on this
occasion has proven his astuteness and perseverance, is due the chief
merit of these inquiries. . ." -- Merlato soon changed his views, however,
as a result of definite and unambiguous instructions.

The protocols
of the interrogation, which are added to the preceding statements, yield
the first fully clear picture of this murder case.

After initial
denials, the servant Murad-el-Fattal finally declared that on the
day of the murder he was given the task by his master, David
Harari, to go immediately to Meir Farahi, Murad Farahi,
and Aaron Stumbuli, and to instruct them (78) "to pay close attention as to whether the
servant of the Father Thomas was coming into the Quarter to search for his
master, so that they might cook his goose before he could sound the
alarm." The servant now describes in detail how he imparted his mission to
the individual Jews, who, having gotten excited by this, came to an
agreement among one another. David Harari, who was personally on
friendly terms with the Father, was also aware of his habit of leaving
behind exact information about where he was going for his servant Ibrahim,
because he felt somewhat insecure because of his advanced years, and was
glad of it when the servant went to meet him. The servant [of Father
Thomas] now turned into the Jewish street and asked the Jews Aaron
Stambuli, Meir Farahi, Aslan Farahi and Isaak
Piccioto, who were coming out of their houses, about the failure of
his master to return. Meir Farahi pointed to his house and
answered: "Your master stayed with us late; he is inoculating a child in
there, if you want to wait, go inside and look for him."
Murad-el-Fattal went back to David Harari after finishing
his mission. When the latter now learned that the servant of the Father
was already located in the house of Meir Farahi,
Murad-el-Fattal had to immediately turn around again and check to
see "what was happening with Ibrahim." Murad-el-Fattal testified
before the Court about this: "I again went to Meir Farahi and found
the door bolted, and I knocked: Meir Farahi opened it and I asked him in
the name of my master, whether they had seized the servant. He replied:
'We have him; do you want to come in, or do you want to leave again?' I
stepped inside and found there Isaak Piccioto and Aaron
Stambuli. They were just getting busy binding his hands behind his
back with his own handkerchief; they'd stuffed his mouth with a white
cloth. This occurred on the small couch which was located in the exterior
little courtyard, where the lavatories are, into which afterwards were
thrown the flesh and the bones; the doors they had blocked with a beam,
which was lying in the courtyard. After Isaak Piccioto and Aaron
Stambuli had bound his hands behind his back, he was thrown to the
floor by Meir Farahi, Murad Farahi, Aaron Stambuli,
Isaak Piccioto, Aslan Farahi, Abu-el-Afieh (8) and
Joseph (79) Farahi, the seven Jews who
were present at the slaughter. But there were also those among them who
only watched. A basin of tin-plated copper was brought up, placed against
his neck and Murad Farahi stabbed him with his own hands. Meir
Farahi and I held his head, Aslan Farahi and Isaak
Piccioto held the legs and sat on them, Aaron Stambuli and the
rest held his body fast, so that he couldn't move, until the blood had
stopped flowing. I remained for a quarter-hour yet in order to wait until
he was entirely dead.

Aaron Stambuli poured the blood into a
large white bottle through a new funnel of tin-plate, like the oil dealers
use; when the bottle was filled, it was handed over to Moses
Abu-el-Afieh. Then I went to my master, in order to provide a report
of all that I had seen."

The young Aslan Farahi confirmed
this report in full extent. The Pasha was able to determine later that the
confessions fully agreed in their main points.

After the slaughter
of both victims, a cheerful drinking bout was held that lasted till
morning. Afterwards, the murderous company gathered in the house of
David Harari and, according to the statements of the same servant
who had to fill the pipes of the "distinguished and wealthy Jews,"
discussed once again in detail both butcherings and exchanged the stories
of their experiences, in particular how much time had been necessary for
it. It could be of value, if, for future cases, one knew all about
it!

After the interrogation, Sherif-Pasha, accompanied by high
officers and the French Consul, went into the Jewish Quarter in accordance
with the summons of the court. All statements were tested on the spot, a
water drain pipe situated in the vicinity was opened and bones were
discovered there, and an amorphous mass of flesh that was recognized as a
liver, and a belt. The personal physician of the Pasha, Dr.Mussari,
and the physician Dr. Rinaldo declared the discovered bone and
flesh parts to be human remains. The single individual who was still
making denials was Meir Farahi. As his house was also being
subjected to a thorough inspection, he was confronted by the servant
Murad-el-Fattal and the young Farah, who now repeated the
story of the fearful crime in all its details. Meir Farahi
screeched: "You are crazy, (80) you are out of
your minds" and attempted to attack them -- in his impotent rage, however,
a fatal confession slipped out of him, as he raged: "How? Do these men
belong to the initiated, then, who know the secrets, that
they should have been allowed to partake in all [that was done]?" He did
not succeed in procuring an alibi and was placed in custody.

At the
end of April 1840 -- two-and-a-half months, therefore, after the
bestial crime -- the trial could be considered concluded. This date is to
be kept in mind, as it is important for the events to follow. Sixteen Jews
had taken part in the double-murder, four were pardoned, ten were
condemned to death. In Damascus the population awaited the
execution of the blood-murderers.

The Battue

[The title of this section, in German das
Kesseltreiben, has the connotation of hounds putting a stag or fox at
bay -- and of beaters driving prey into a corner. It is ironic that the
role of stag-at-bay is played not by the killers, but by those who
attempted to bring them to justice!]

While the Court proceedings
were still underway, Ratti-Menton had seen himself induced to send
the Pasha a message about unusual events. He wrote that the Jews, with the
intervention of the Austrian Consul Merlato, had sent an
application to him, in which they petitioned for omission of the intended
translation of the Talmud and of their special books, since this
intention would be tantamount to a "degradation and shaming" of the Jewish
religion. At the same time, the Count reported that the Jews had offered
an official of his consulate, Herr v. Beaudin, 150,000 Piasters and
also had placed in prospect the increasing of the sum, if he should
succeed in acquitting the Jews of the suspicion of ritual-murder.(9)

After
this attempt at corruption had failed, the Jewish negotiators attempted to
attack Count Ratti Menton by means of another consulate: this time
500,000 Piasters were "bid." At the question from where these sums were
flowing, the answer was that no one was bearing these as a personal
burden, the selfsame sums were already to be found in the synagogue
strong-box, under the designation "poor box." When further investigations
yielded the fact that this supposed "poor box" (81) was a national, Gentile collection delivered to
the synagogue for safe-keeping, which was now supposed to be employed for
the cover-up of ritual crimes perpetrated upon Gentiles, it had to be said
that cynicism had attained its absolute pinnacle!

The Allgemeine
Zeitung wrote in its Number 152 of the year 1840 in respect to these
machinations, the following: "The trial against the Jews is still not
ended and the criminals still not punished; but that Father Thomas was
murdered by the Jews for a religious purpose has been completely clearly
proven. The inspection of several document files, which was permitted to
us on this point, leaves no doubt whatsoever. The French Consul for
Damascus, Count Ratti-Menton, has demonstrated the greatest
possible activity for the exploration of the truth in this matter. . .The
Jews there are supposed to far exceed all others in fanaticism, and since
they previously were steadily used as businessmen (10) by the
Pashas in command in that very place because of their wealth, they thus
possessed significant influence, which made them frightening to the
Christians there. Although every year in Damascus Christian
children disappeared suddenly without a trace, although the Jews
were always under suspicion for it, no one dared accuse them, indeed,
no one dared to pursue the trail of a well-founded suspicion, so great was
the influence which their money procured for them with the corruptible
Turkish authorities. Now, as well, there has been no lack of offers of
money; to the Secretary of the French Consul a very high sum was proposed,
would he but exert himself to instill into the Consul another
opinion of this matter. . ."

The French Consul and his
officials had remained incorruptible -- the recognition of their correct
behavior was bestowed on them by the Jewish International itself, in that
now a genuine crusade against these men, in particular the Count
Ratti-Menton, was instituted. After the results of the first
investigations were made known in Europe, these Jewish machinations and
malicious remarks increased to a hurricane. What lies (82) didn't the Press-Jews in every nation come up
with in the so-called "world newspapers," in order to defame the Consulate
and its energetic investigations!

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2
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Contents

Copyright 2001 by R. Belser.
Reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission of the
translator is not permitted. All rights reserved.