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The Accusation
- Author
- Edward Berenson
- Narrator
- Paul Boehmer
- Publisher
- Highbridge Company
- Publish Date
- 10 September 2019
- Run Time
- 7 hours 24 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
To believe in the accusation seems bizarre at first glance—blood libel was essentially unknown in the United States. But a great many of Massena's inhabitants, both Christians and Jews, had emigrated recently from Central and Eastern Europe, where it was all too common. Historian Edward Berenson, himself a native of Massena, sheds light on the cross-cultural forces that ignited America's only known instance of blood libel, and traces its roots in old-world prejudice, homegrown antisemitism, and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Residues of all three have persisted until the present day.
More than just the disturbing story of one town's embrace of an insidious anti-Jewish myth, The Accusation is a shocking and perceptive exploration of American and European responses to antisemitism.
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Details
- Author
- Edward Berenson
- Narrator
- Paul Boehmer
- Duration
- 7 hours 24 minutes
- Release Date
- 10 September 2019
- ISBN
- 9781684573806
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Highbridge Company
- Genre
- History, History of the Americas, Local history, Society and culture: general, Social and cultural history, Social groups: religious groups and communities, Social discrimination and equal treatment
Synopsis
On Saturday, September 22, 1928, Barbara Griffiths, aged four, strayed into the woods surrounding the upstate village of Massena, New York. Hundreds of people looked everywhere for the child but could not find her. At one point, someone suggested that Barbara had been kidnapped and killed by Jews, and as the search continued, policemen and townspeople alike gave credence to the quickly-spreading rumors. The allegation of ritual murder, known to Jews as "blood libel," took hold.To believe in the accusation seems bizarre at first glance—blood libel was essentially unknown in the United States. But a great many of Massena's inhabitants, both Christians and Jews, had emigrated recently from Central and Eastern Europe, where it was all too common. Historian Edward Berenson, himself a native of Massena, sheds light on the cross-cultural forces that ignited America's only known instance of blood libel, and traces its roots in old-world prejudice, homegrown antisemitism, and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Residues of all three have persisted until the present day.More than just the disturbing story of one town's embrace of an insidious anti-Jewish myth, The Accusation is a shocking and perceptive exploration of American and European responses to antisemitism.
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