The International Working Mens Club and the GSG.

[Ben]

Hi Gareth,

A small, obscure Jewish businessmen's club, located on the first floor of a building over a cricket-pitch's distance away from "Ripper's Corner" does not equate to "close proximity".

It wasn't a cricket-pitch distance away. It was the nearest viable and secluded spot to the club - that's "close proximity" in my book. I'm not saying the club's proximity was the prime consideration, but it's not as if I'm the first to make the observation that Jewish scapegoating on the killer's part may have played a part in these murders. especially in relation to the clubs on the night of the double event.

It was an area with a significantly high population of Jews that it would have been difficult to avoid doing anything without being within walking-distance of a Jewish premises.

Yes, but clubs were the only establishemts to have Jews active at the time the murders were committed, and thus made for more suitable venues in terms of any Jew-implicating antics the killer may have wished to engage in.

Don't think we'll see eye to eye on this one, m'afraid.

Best regards,
Ben

[KatBradshaw]

Thanks for your info Sam. I have to admit I was not aware of the demographic of the area.

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Ben,

Consider that the Mitre Square murder was also committed in close proximity to another Jewish club

A small, obscure Jewish businessmen's club, located on the first floor of a building over a cricket-pitch's distance away from "Ripper's Corner" does not equate to "close proximity". Furthermore, the "Brick Lane Curry House" argument applies as much in this case as it does to the GSG. It was an area with a significantly high population of Jews that it would have been difficult to avoid doing anything without being within walking-distance of a Jewish premises.

We've been through this before, and unless we've forked into separate histories in parallel universes since then, the geography and demographics of Jack's East End has not changed one iota in the interim.

[KatBradshaw]

I was thinking a long the same lines as you with the scapegoat idea. I also thought that maybe the Ripper was frustrated at being disturbed by someone he could assume was Jewish. I am not even sure that I think that the GSG is anything to do with the killings but assuming that it is for the puropse of the theory.

[The Good Michael]

Aha! So if there is a connection, and if Sam's scenario of the Bangladeshi curry house is a parallel, the only thing missing is a Jewish victim. This is even more reason to suggest that the message was a pro-Jewish one. Wouldn't a 'Jews go home' message coupled with a murder, necessitate a Jewish victim, as the emphasis for the warning, rather than a Gentile?

Cheers,

Mike

[Ben]

Hi Kat,

I was watching a doc I have on DVD again and a thought came to me. Stride was killed near a Jewish social club and then on the same night a message believed by some to have been written by the killer makes a reference to Jews. It struck me that this may be more than a coincidence.

Yes, I believe it's more than a coincidence too. Consider that the Mitre Square murder was also committed in close proximity to another Jewish club, and it wasn't as if clubs proliferated the locality. It needn't point towards an anti-semitic killer per se, just one who saw the easy advantage in "scapegoating" the generic scapegoat, an opinion endorsed by several contemporary police officials. In fact, I'd be amazed if the killer bypassed this opportunity.

Best regards,
Ben

[KatBradshaw]

Thats true.

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Kat,

It's hardly surprising, given that the percentage of Jews living in the area concerned was so high.

In today's terms the set up would translate to someone being stabbed outside a Bangladeshi curry-house in Brick Lane, the victim's wallet being found later in the lobby of an East End tenement building, of primarily Asian occupancy, with "Pakis go home" spray-painted on the elevator door.

[KatBradshaw]

Hello all!
I was watching a doc I have on DVD again and a thought came to me. Stride was killed near a Jewish social club and then on the same night a message believed by some to have been written by the killer makes a reference to Jews. It struck me that this may be more than a coincidence. I just wondered what other peoples thoughts might be. Appologies if this is an idea that has already banded about.