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Hi all,
I have been perusing the press articles from November 29 to December 9th, and found an interesting position on the likely language of the killer indicated by some specific references within the phrase.
Its in the Pall Mall Gazette's Dec 1st issue, and its signed "One Who Thinks He Knows", so I imagine its an editorial although its not specified as such.
Ill just post the more interesting bits....
"It will be remembered that a chalk inscription (which it is not denied was written by the murderer} was found on the wall in Mitre-square, just above the body of the murdered woman. It ran as follows; 'The Juwes are the men who will not be blamed for nothing', and was evidently intended to throw suspicion on the Jews. This writing was seen by the police by means of artificial light, and was unfortunately obliterated by them before daylight."
So...loses "cred" points for the location of the writing... but maintains some degree of accuracy with the phrase itself.
The speculation is regarding the "dot" that investigators neglected to note above one of the characters. But first his analysis..
"Why did the murderer spell the word Jews 'Juwes'? Was it that he was an uneducated Englishman who did not know how to spell the word; was he in reality an ignorant Jew, reckless of consequences and glorying in his deeds; or was he a foreigner, well accustomed to the English language, but who in the tremendous hurry of the moment unconsciously wrote the fatal word in his native tongue?"
Additionally he later says...
"Again, the grammatical construction of the sentence under exami?nation is distinctly French in two points - first, in the double negative contained; and, secondly, in the employment of the definite article before the second noun. An Englishman or an American would have said, 'The Jews are men who, &c.' But the murderer followed his native idiom 'Les Juifs sont des hommes' in his thoughts, and when putting it into English rendered des hommes 'the men'"
Heres the dot theory...
"Juwes
Inspection at once shows us, then, that a dot has been overlooked by the constable who copied it, as might easily occur, especially if it were placed at some distance, after the manner of foreigners.
Juives
Therefore we place a dot above the third upstroke in the word Juwes, and we find it to be Juives, which is the French word for Jews. Strictly Juives and grammatically speaking, of course, it is the feminine form of Juifs and means 'Jewesses.' But in practice it will be found that (French?men being notoriously the worst linguists in the world) most Frenchmen who are not either litterateurs or men of science are very inaccurate as to their genders. And almost all the ouvrier and a large majority of the bourgeois class use the feminine where the word should be masculine."
He Who Thinks He Knows concludes this...
"Therefore, it is evident that the native language - or, to be more accurate, the language in which this murderer thinks - is French.
The murderer is, therefore, a Frenchman".
The rest of the article is fascinating and worth the read, but it made me think of this thread I tried to start up in late November last year...
"Nicolai(ay) Vasiliev has the distinction of being accused and convicted for 5 assaults/murders of prostitutes with a knife in Paris in 14 days, in the early 1870's...perhaps as late as 1875. He was suggested by newsmen in England and in some International news articles as being the likely perpetrator of The Whitechapel Horrors, and in November-Dec 1888, and was the subject of two American books released at that time on the crimes, "A History of The Whitechapel Murders: A full and Authentic Narrative of the Murders", self published by Richard Fox in New York, and in "Leather Apron, or, The Horrors of Whitechapel London", published in Philidelphia. Both books accused Vasiliev of being the most likely man connected to the murders.
He stabbed and mutilated prostitutes, leaving their money, belongings, purses, jewels...etc., and was caught redhanded with a street walker he attempted to kill in the Rue Lyon. His crusade against immoral women began in Paris in the early 1870's..again, perhaps as late as 1875, and led him to pursue a young street walker named Madeline, whom he fell in love with, and whom had fled from him. He found her, 2 months later, and stabbed her in the back, killing her. 2 days later, he killed another woman, and 3 days after that, another. Some 5 attacks in 14 days.
He was pleaded as insane by his lawyer, and incarcerated in an asylum in Bayonne, France so it would appear, and was released in January 1st, 1888. His last known whereabouts were reported to be departing for London just after his release. He disappears from that point.
Some interesting hi-lites;
-He was first suggested by the Weekly Herald on Oct 12th, just after the "Double Event".
-He was insane, and had been institutionalized.
-He was castrated....something done by his choice, prior to his killings, not by a legal decree.
-He had a modest income from familial sources, which enabled him to survive without working.
-He showed animosity towards those women who worked the streets, and called himself "The Saviour of Lost Souls"
-He was convicted of killing and mutilating "street" women in Paris, in approx 1875.
-He attacked and killed women outdoors.
Is there anyone with good enough French comprehension to tell me if thats a reasonable interpretation of why the word "Juwes" isnt correct in that it was really spelled "Juives"?
I still submit that this suspect has all the bells and whistles as a very likely candidate.
Best regards all and appreciate any feedback.
I have been perusing the press articles from November 29 to December 9th, and found an interesting position on the likely language of the killer indicated by some specific references within the phrase.
Its in the Pall Mall Gazette's Dec 1st issue, and its signed "One Who Thinks He Knows", so I imagine its an editorial although its not specified as such.
Ill just post the more interesting bits....
"It will be remembered that a chalk inscription (which it is not denied was written by the murderer} was found on the wall in Mitre-square, just above the body of the murdered woman. It ran as follows; 'The Juwes are the men who will not be blamed for nothing', and was evidently intended to throw suspicion on the Jews. This writing was seen by the police by means of artificial light, and was unfortunately obliterated by them before daylight."
So...loses "cred" points for the location of the writing... but maintains some degree of accuracy with the phrase itself.
The speculation is regarding the "dot" that investigators neglected to note above one of the characters. But first his analysis..
"Why did the murderer spell the word Jews 'Juwes'? Was it that he was an uneducated Englishman who did not know how to spell the word; was he in reality an ignorant Jew, reckless of consequences and glorying in his deeds; or was he a foreigner, well accustomed to the English language, but who in the tremendous hurry of the moment unconsciously wrote the fatal word in his native tongue?"
Additionally he later says...
"Again, the grammatical construction of the sentence under exami?nation is distinctly French in two points - first, in the double negative contained; and, secondly, in the employment of the definite article before the second noun. An Englishman or an American would have said, 'The Jews are men who, &c.' But the murderer followed his native idiom 'Les Juifs sont des hommes' in his thoughts, and when putting it into English rendered des hommes 'the men'"
Heres the dot theory...
"Juwes
Inspection at once shows us, then, that a dot has been overlooked by the constable who copied it, as might easily occur, especially if it were placed at some distance, after the manner of foreigners.
Juives
Therefore we place a dot above the third upstroke in the word Juwes, and we find it to be Juives, which is the French word for Jews. Strictly Juives and grammatically speaking, of course, it is the feminine form of Juifs and means 'Jewesses.' But in practice it will be found that (French?men being notoriously the worst linguists in the world) most Frenchmen who are not either litterateurs or men of science are very inaccurate as to their genders. And almost all the ouvrier and a large majority of the bourgeois class use the feminine where the word should be masculine."
He Who Thinks He Knows concludes this...
"Therefore, it is evident that the native language - or, to be more accurate, the language in which this murderer thinks - is French.
The murderer is, therefore, a Frenchman".
The rest of the article is fascinating and worth the read, but it made me think of this thread I tried to start up in late November last year...
"Nicolai(ay) Vasiliev has the distinction of being accused and convicted for 5 assaults/murders of prostitutes with a knife in Paris in 14 days, in the early 1870's...perhaps as late as 1875. He was suggested by newsmen in England and in some International news articles as being the likely perpetrator of The Whitechapel Horrors, and in November-Dec 1888, and was the subject of two American books released at that time on the crimes, "A History of The Whitechapel Murders: A full and Authentic Narrative of the Murders", self published by Richard Fox in New York, and in "Leather Apron, or, The Horrors of Whitechapel London", published in Philidelphia. Both books accused Vasiliev of being the most likely man connected to the murders.
He stabbed and mutilated prostitutes, leaving their money, belongings, purses, jewels...etc., and was caught redhanded with a street walker he attempted to kill in the Rue Lyon. His crusade against immoral women began in Paris in the early 1870's..again, perhaps as late as 1875, and led him to pursue a young street walker named Madeline, whom he fell in love with, and whom had fled from him. He found her, 2 months later, and stabbed her in the back, killing her. 2 days later, he killed another woman, and 3 days after that, another. Some 5 attacks in 14 days.
He was pleaded as insane by his lawyer, and incarcerated in an asylum in Bayonne, France so it would appear, and was released in January 1st, 1888. His last known whereabouts were reported to be departing for London just after his release. He disappears from that point.
Some interesting hi-lites;
-He was first suggested by the Weekly Herald on Oct 12th, just after the "Double Event".
-He was insane, and had been institutionalized.
-He was castrated....something done by his choice, prior to his killings, not by a legal decree.
-He had a modest income from familial sources, which enabled him to survive without working.
-He showed animosity towards those women who worked the streets, and called himself "The Saviour of Lost Souls"
-He was convicted of killing and mutilating "street" women in Paris, in approx 1875.
-He attacked and killed women outdoors.
Is there anyone with good enough French comprehension to tell me if thats a reasonable interpretation of why the word "Juwes" isnt correct in that it was really spelled "Juives"?
I still submit that this suspect has all the bells and whistles as a very likely candidate.
Best regards all and appreciate any feedback.
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