Ritual Murder in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Beyond
New Histories of an Old Accusation

Eugene M. Avrutin (Edited by), Jonathan Dekel-Chen (Edited by), Robert Weinberg (Edited by), Michael Ostling (Contributions by), Haya Bar-Itzhak (Contributions by), Andrew C. Reed (Contributions by), Darius Staliunas (Contributions by), Hillel Kieval (Contributions by), Marina Mogilner (Contributions by), Harriet Murav (Contributions by), Gennady Estraikh (Contributions by), Elissa Bemporad (Contributions by)

9780253025814

Hardback, published 12 July 2017

294 pages, 11 b&w illus., 1 map
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.576 kg

"This important contribution to our understanding of the evolution of ritual murder charges in Eastern Europe brings together a number of innovative studies on the topic, several of which could become standard reading on the subject."—Glenn Dynner, Sarah Lawrence College
"While the topic was not exactly novel to me, I enjoyed reading this book and I was constantly learning from the significant new information and fresh insights from the authors' analyses."—Shaul Stampfer, Hebrew University

This innovative reassessment of ritual murder accusations brings together scholars working in history, folklore, ethnography, and literature. Favoring dynamic explanations of the mechanisms, evolution, popular appeal, and responses to the blood libel, the essays rigorously engage with the larger social and cultural worlds that made these phenomena possible. In doing so, the book helps to explain why blood libel accusations continued to spread in Europe even after modernization seemingly made them obsolete. Drawing on untapped and unconventional historical sources, the collection explores a range of intriguing topics: popular belief and scientific knowledge; the connections between antisemitism, prejudice, and violence; the rule of law versus the power of rumors; the politics of memory; and humanitarian intervention on a global scale.

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Ritual Murder Accusations in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Beyond / Eugene M. Avrutin, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, and Robert Weinberg
1. Imagined Crimes, Real Victims: Hermeneutical Witches and Jews in Early Modern Poland / Michael Ostling
2. The Jewish Blood Libel Legend—A Folkloristic Perspective / Haya Bar-Itzhak
3. Ritual Murder in a Russian Border Town / Eugene M. Avrutin
4. The Saratov Affair as a Critical Juncture in Ritual Murder History / Andrew C. Reed
5. The Blood Libel in Nineteenth-Century Lithuania: A Comparison of Two Cases / Darius Staliūnas
6. Yahrzeits, Condolences, and Other Close Encounters: Neighborly Relations and Ritual Murder Trials in Germany and Austria-Hungary / Hillel J. Kieval
7. Human Sacrifice in the Name of a Nation: The Religion of Common Blood / Marina Mogilner
8. The Predatory Jew and Russian Vitalism: Dostoevsky, Rozanov, and Babel / Harriet Murav
9. Connecting the Dots: Jewish Mysticism, Ritual Murder, and the Trial of Mendel Beilis / Robert Weinberg
10. A Half-Full Cup? Transnational Responses to the Beilis Affair / Jonathan Dekel-Chen
11. Simulating Justice: The Blood Libel Case in Moscow, April 1922 / Gennady Estraikh
12. The Blood Libel and Its Wartime Permutations: Cannibalism in Soviet Lviv / Elissa Bemporad
13. Was the Doctors' Plot a Blood Libel? / Jeffrey Veidlinger
14. The Sandomierz Paintings of Ritual Murder as Lieux de mémoire / Magda Teter
List of Contributors
Index