Antisemitism in Lithuania in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century

Darius Staliūnas

Antisemitism, a new ideology that emerged in Germany in the late 19th century, was related not so much to the older religious hatred of Jews as to ra- cial arguments of a more scientific nature. The extent to which it penetrated various European countries differed.1 There were some among the Lithuanian intelligentsia who were aware of modern antisemitic theories, and even at- tempted to spread them in Lithuania. As in other countries, the popularity (or unpopularity) of antisemitic ideas was determined not only by the presence (or absence) of active propagators, but also by numerous other social, economic, cultural and political circumstances. Therefore, it is important to discuss the religious, moral, economic, cultural and political segments that prevailed, not only in Lithuanian but also in Polish antisemitic narratives, and their reception in society.

1 Anti-Judaism

Of all the themes mentioned above, anti-Judaism was the oldest in the Lithu- anian discourse. From the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which nur- tured Christian traditions, Jews were deplored for repudiating the true faith, and were collectively accused of the murder of Christ.2 Probably the most radical and undoubtedly the best-known figure behind Lithuanian religious Judaeophobia was Justinas Bonaventūra Pranaitis (1861–1917), whose book

1 This section is based on a paper published in: Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, Vol. 25: Jews in the Former Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1750, eds. Chaeran Freeze, Šarūnas Liekis, and An- tony Polonsky, and published on behalf of the Institute for Polish-Jewish Studies and the American Association for Polish-Jewish Studies by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization (Oxford, Portland, 2012). 2 It seems that children were inculcated with such images during catechesis: Vygantas Vareikis, “Antisemitizmas Lietuvoje: xix a. antroji pusė–xx a. pirmoji pusė”, in Holokausto prielaidos: antisemitizmas Lietuvoje, eds. Liudas Truska, and Vygantas Vareikis, (Vilnius: Margi raštai, 2004), 27.

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Christianus in Talmude Iudaeorum; sive, Rabbinicae doctrinae de christianis secreta (The Christian in the Talmud of the Jews; or, the Secrets of Rabbini- cal Teaching Concerning Christians) was first published in Latin in 1892, and later translated into other languages, including German, Russian, Italian, Pol- ish, and also Lithuanian.3 Pranaitis believed that the Talmud was the source of Jewish wrongdoing, and of their contempt for Christianity, and it allowed Jews to kill Christians. However, writings with such radical anti-Judaist content were rarely published in Lithuanian. Sometimes they were simply translated from other languages.4 As a rule, publications of this type appeared as separate small books. While we might presume that Pranaitis’ treatise and similar writings were not suitable for the newspaper format, due to their volume or their presumed academic nature, it also appears that there were other important reasons why writings similar to his were not printed in Lithuanian periodicals. It is likely that the editorial boards of Lithuanian newspapers, even those of a religious bent, did not find radical anti-Judaism acceptable. This hypothesis would be confirmed by the fact that in the last decade of the 19th century Pra- naitis quite frequently published his writings in the Polish antisemitic newspaper Rola (Field). One particular situation that arose towards the end of the Romanov dynasty highlighted the diverse attitudes of the Lithuanian periodical press towards anti-Judaism. In 1911, Menahem Mendel Beilis (1874–1934) was accused of mur- dering Andrei Yushchinsky in Kiev, in Ukraine. The prosecutors alleged that the crime had been committed for religious purposes: Beilis needed Christian blood to conduct religious rituals. Held in 1913, the trial was followed closely in the main Lithuanian publications. The particular interest of the Lithuanian press in this case, which was reported in great detail in the multilingual periodical press of the Russian Empire, was due to the fact that Justinas Bonaventūra Pranaitis was one of the prosecution’s expert witnesses. Pranaitis argued that Jewish religious literature did in fact condone the use of Christian blood for religious purposes. The liberal Lithuanian press, Lietuvos ūkininkas (The Lithu- anian Farmer) and Lietuvos žinios (Lithuanian News), condemned the trial, which in their view was contrived by the authorities, and denounced Pranaitis for spreading medieval prejudices. The nationalist Viltis (Hope) tried not to reveal its position, while the religious press stood up for Pranaitis, thus sup- porting the accusation, although indirectly. It also used the reports on the trial to strengthen the claim that Jews controlled the international press. The Polish

3 Justinas Bonaventūra Pranaitis, Krikščionis žydų Talmude arba slaptingas rabinų mokslas apie krikščionybę (Seinai: Laukaičio, Dvaranausko, Narjausko ir b-vės spaustuvė, 1912). 4 Viktor Grušeckis, Talmudas žydų, vol. 1 (Riga: Liudviko Jakavičiaus knygynas 1905).