Letter dated 14th October 1896.

[Michael W Richards]

TO ABBY NORMAL

Thanks Abby. Hope you find your copy of Letters From Hell.

It is an intriguing letter, especially Chief Inspector Henry Moore’s lengthy and detailed internal report about it dated October 18th 1896. Comparisons are made with the September 25th 1888 letter and the post-card, post-marked October 1st 1888. References are also made to the writing on the wall at Goulston Street which, in Moore’s opinion, was written “undoubtedly by the murderer.” Moore concludes that, in his opinion, the handwritings are not the same.

Supt Swanson countersigns Moore’s report agreeing with Moore’s conclusion. Yet, after 1910, both, Anderson and Swanson both wrote that the original ‘Jack the Ripper letter’ was the work of a journalist whom they could identify. So I wonder if, in October 1896, Swanson was aware of the identity of the journalist but for some reason chose not to share this information with other Scotland Yard officers?

Best Wishes
KS

As I recall there was an increase in local constabulary as a result of this letter, similar to but not to the extent of the Ripper scare surges, which suggests that investigators that are recorded as saying the killer had been institutionalized but not witness incriminated or that he was Druitt, or Tumblety or Kosminski were either mistaken or intentionally incorrect. The reaction to this letter was as if they thought the Fall of Terror killer wrote it....and apparently the GSG too. As one of those sources was a Senior member of Counter Espionage and practiced dis-information and secrecy as part of his daily duties, my leanings are toward the second possibility, they were intentionally incorrect.

[NotBlamedForNothing]

hi not
if this letter is authentic, and i think there is a chance it is and written by same man as dear boss and saucy jack, then last one refers to mckenzie and posssibly pc andrews as the buckler, since he discovered the body and possibly scared the ripper off.

Makes sense.

So what about:

“The Jewes are people that are blamed for nothing”

What should the Jewish people be blamed for?
Given the level of general antisemitism at the time, what could he be referring to?
My guess would be; Jewish Capitalism.
If true, that would mean the murders have a political dimension.

[Abby Normal]

Makes sense.

So what about:

“The Jewes are people that are blamed for nothing”

What should the Jewish people be blamed for?
Given the level of general antisemitism at the time, what could he be referring to?
My guess would be; Jewish Capitalism.
If true, that would mean the murders have a political dimension.

hi not
IMHO if authentic, hes referring to being interupted by a bunch of jews the night of the double event and or possibly a disdain for jews.
Personally i dont think theres much of a political dimension at all to the letter or the ripper series in general.

what i find interesting about this letter and referring to the GSG in particular is that out of the hundreds of hoax letters I beleive this is the only one that refers to the gsg. I think that adds a bit of authenticity to it. I mean what hoaxer is going to recall eight years later the gsg in general and the specific wording?

[Michael W Richards]

Makes sense.

So what about:

“The Jewes are people that are blamed for nothing”

What should the Jewish people be blamed for?

Well, it so happens that on the night this was found Jews were trying to blame a murder on their property on the unknown killer at large, despite the fact the victim wasn't ripped at all..the trademark of said unknown killer. One version of this is "The Jews are not the men that will be blamed for nothing", which could translate into blamed without good reason, in the opinion of the author anyway.

[NotBlamedForNothing]

Abby,
"The Jewes are people..." - means all of them.
Not just a few that caused him a nuisance one night back in 1888.

I agree that recalling the GSG 8 years later is very interesting, although he does not get wording just right - only the gist of it.

Btw, what is the option for adding a footnote to all posts?
I need to put up a friendlier reply to name.

[Abby Normal]

Abby,
"The Jewes are people..." - means all of them.
Not just a few that caused him a nuisance one night back in 1888.

I agree that recalling the GSG 8 years later is very interesting, although he does not get wording just right - only the gist of it.

Btw, what is the option for adding a footnote to all posts?
I need to put up a friendlier reply to name.

go to your account settings and click on signatures, then add what you want. it will show up on all your posts

[Michael W Richards]

Abby,
"The Jewes are people..." - means all of them.
Not just a few that caused him a nuisance one night back in 1888.

I agree that recalling the GSG 8 years later is very interesting, although he does not get wording just right - only the gist of it.

Btw, what is the option for adding a footnote to all posts?
I need to put up a friendlier reply to name.

But in no version of that message are the Jews referred to as "the people", they are "The MEN", and since somewhere around 30 MEN were onsite at Berner when the murder happened, it may refer to them. The apron likely is a signature of sorts for the GSG. Its left by the man that killed Kate.

[NotBlamedForNothing]

go to your account settings and click on signatures, then add what you want. it will show up on all your posts

Thanks. It's under Edit Settings > Edit Post Signature (link)

[NotBlamedForNothing]

hi not
if this letter is authentic, and i think there is a chance it is and written by same man as dear boss and saucy jack, then last one refers to mckenzie and posssibly pc andrews as the buckler, since he discovered the body and possibly scared the ripper off.

I think Frances Coles might be a better bet than McKenzie.

The Times, Feb 14 '91

At 20 minutes past 2 yesterday morning Police-constable Thompson, 240 H, who, by the way, was having his first experience of night duty, went along Chamber-street, intending to go through the archway as far as the opening which leads into Royal Mint-street, which was the end of his beat. On entering the arch he did not hear anything unusual, but on reaching the centre he could distinguish the form of a woman lying in the middle of the roadway, which is only wide enough to permit of the passing of one vehicle at a time. He could make out that she was lying on her back with the legs crossed at the feet; and the officer at first was under the impression she had fallen down while in a state of intoxication and had gone off into a drunken sleep. On turning on his "bulls-eye" he saw a terrible spectacle. The throat of the unfortunate woman was severed to the spinal column, and blood was flowing freely from the gaping wound. The poor woman opened her eyes, proving that at the time life was not extinct and that the crime had only been committed, at the most, a few seconds before. It was at this moment Constable Thompson distinctly heard the sounds of retreating footsteps. Evidently, the murderer had a very narrow escape. Had the officer at once and speedily taken up the pursuit he would, in all probability, have effected the capture of the man who had committed this crime: or, at least, he might have had a good view of him, and so have been able to furnish particulars which might have led to his ultimate capture. The constable, it should be mentioned, is a young man of little experience in police work, having been in the force only six weeks, and previous to that was engaged in one of the mines in the north. A more experienced officer would, probably, have taken up the chase, with the result that the author of the deed would doubtless have been caught, and so have put an end to these series of crimes in Whitechapel.

The last job was a bad one and no mistake nearly buckled, and meant it to be best of the lot & what curse it

Now why would an enterprising journalist wait 5½ years to write a fake letter, that makes reference to this event - regarded by many at the time as not the work of the Whitechapel murderer - and then post the letter to the Leman St police station?

[NotBlamedForNothing]

Compare the reference to the Jews in this letter, to the chalked message in Goulston St.

The Jewes are people that are blamed for nothing

The Juwes are not the men that will be blamed for nothing

Suppose we take the spelling of Jews from the letter, and also suppose that the word 'people' indicates the writer is referring to the Jewish people in general.
We could then blend the two lines into this:

The Jewes are the not the people that will be blamed for nothing

Rather that considering this from the point of view of those who are laying the blame - the Gentiles - consider instead from the PoV of those who should or will accept blame (as seen fit by the writer).

The Jewes are the not the people that will accept the blame for nothing

In other words:

The Jewes are not the people that will refuse to accept the blame for anything

It's as though he is suggesting:

The Jewes will eventually confess their sins and vow to change their ways

The writer wants to put pressure on the Jewish people, not just have them regarded by everyone else as a guilty group.
He has a political mind.

[Michael W Richards]

The Jews....(Berner street club men)..are NOT the men who will be blamed for NOTHING...(or, without good reason.) The double negative is the key to that interpretation, it....suggesting something more like the men at the club are not as innocent as they profess to be. I say this with one stipulation, that the killer in Mitre Square learns of that Socialist club killing in the hour-plus period between kill and apron drop. I think that's why he chooses the Model Homes entrance too.

[NotBlamedForNothing]

The Jews....(Berner street club men)..are NOT the men who will be blamed for NOTHING...(or, without good reason.) The double negative is the key to that interpretation, it....suggesting something more like the men at the club are not as innocent as they profess to be. I say this with one stipulation, that the killer in Mitre Square learns of that Socialist club killing in the hour-plus period between kill and apron drop. I think that's why he chooses the Model Homes entrance too.

That the 'not' & 'nothing' is a double negative, and the equivalent of 'something', is well understood.

For the killer to have learnt about the Berner St killing after leaving Mitre Square, would mean that the cutting of the apron into 2 large pieces, one of which he takes with him and keeps in his possession until he learns of the earlier murder, is just a coincidence.
He really doesn't need that much material to carry things in, and he could quickly wipe his hands before leaving the square.
On the other hand, why spend time cutting the apron when he could just take the whole thing?
The apron cutting has a preconceived purpose - to sign the chalked message.

The message is usually interpreted like this:

The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing - by society

What it really means is:

The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing - by themselves

The message is essentially for the Jews - not for everyone else, about the Jews.

The author could be a Jew.

In #40 I accidently gave the Halse version, rather than the usual Long version with the Halse 'Juwes' spelling (you'd think I would know!).
However, the Halse version makes more sense than the Long version, when the word 'accept' is inserted (and grammar altered appropriately). Compare:

The Juwes are the men that will not accept the blame for nothing

Sounds like they will need to be bribed to accept any blame.

The Juwes are not the men that will accept the blame for nothing

Sounds more like the Jews are not the type of men to accept none of the blame.

Halse also got the correct spelling of 'Juwes', or close to correct - 'Jewes'.
I think the Halse version is more likely to be correct, and I also like the way he sounds:

Daniel Halse: There were three lines of writing in a good schoolboy's round hand. The size of the capital letters would be about 3/4 in, and the other letters were in proportion. The writing was on the black bricks, which formed a kind of dado, the bricks above being white.

Long, on the other hand, didn't even think to take his pocketbook to the inquest.

Also, we should stop referring to the chalked message as 'graffito'.

[Michael W Richards]

I believe the authorities demonstrated a belief that the message contained some anti-Jew Rhetoric,.. the fear about riots being cause by it used to justify the erasure of it? That's consistent with a translation and a context like I suggested.

[NotBlamedForNothing]

I believe the authorities demonstrated a belief that the message contained some anti-Jew Rhetoric,.. the fear about riots being cause by it used to justify the erasure of it? That's consistent with a translation and a context like I suggested.

How do you suppose your non-Stride killing Ripper found out about the Berner St murder, and was this before or after he leaves the square with the section of apron?

[Michael W Richards]

How do you suppose your non-Stride killing Ripper found out about the Berner St murder, and was this before or after he leaves the square with the section of apron?

Fair question for sure, but I believe the apron was taken to either wipe his hands or carry some bits away. I think its also possible that a hanky might have already been used to wipe shite from his hands. There isn't much transfer on the clothes or the body though the colon section was substantial and likely sloppy to handle.

There is over an hour before the apron section will be discovered, and I dont believe any real reason why the killer might not have had someplace in the east end to dump the kidney in spirits. Yes, I think the Lusk sample was from Kate. Its not inconceivable that by 2am the adjacent streets in that part of the East End were abuzz with the news. He could have heard of it pretty easily I feel. He goes into where he dumps the organ, cleans up a bit, takes a piece of chalk and the dirtied section of apron with him and heads out to one of the highest concentration of immigrant Jews in the area, the Model Homes off Goulston. I think he is a killer, at least of Kate, but also someone interested in propaganda. Likely Anti-Semitic. That political angle seems to me to take him out of a simple madman wandering the streets, to someone cognizant of the anti immigrant climate in England and in particular that part of it and wanting to take a side in the issue. To vocalize it. Spread the word, as it were.

If someone wanted to draw attention to something in the East End that was a fine time historically to do it. The newsmen out looking for angles and clues, the investigators looking at all possible sources for this guy, the Parnell Commission hearings....the worlds attention was right there at that time.

My point for that tangent is that I believe the placement of the apron and the writing combined suggest someone politically motivated, and anarchistic. To incite rebellion, chaos, retribution with the GSG was dangerous. Not just some local Jew hater...the message would have been much clearer if it was...Blame the Jews, for example.