Antisemitism as a diversionary tactic

[Jon Guy]

Yes, and Mrs Long labelled her suspect as foreign-looking in the Chapman case, but neither of these were the result of a deliberate strategy by JTR; it is more indicative of the extent to which incomers are treated with suspicion by the indigenous population. That's kind of what people do.

If JTR really wanted to milk this phenomenon to his advantage, then why do we only see apparent antisemitic clues (if Jack so intended them to be) in only two of the murders, and those both on the same night? Even there, the Jewish/anti-Jewish connections may be tenuous at best, given that (a) the murders happened in a part of London with a high Jewish/immigrant population; and (b) the degree of antisemitic/anti-immigrant feeling amongst the "natives" was likely to be correspondingly high.

In any case, whilst there were large numbers of Jews living in the area, there were still vastly more who weren't. I hardly think that JTR thought he'd be singled out of hundreds of thousands of gentiles unless he took pains to deflect the blame elsewhere. On the contrary, he could have saved himself a fair bit of hassle by simply hiding in the crowd.

Against that backdrop, I don't find the idea that the Ripper exploited antisemitism particularly compelling at all.

Hi Gareth

The Double Event may have been an anti-semitic Ripper`s first chance at some anti-semitism.

As you say, nothing with Nichols and Chapman, although these two were within a week of another, and after the Chapman murder there was a lot of unrest amongst the locals, so the Double Event may have been the first instance for an antisemitic Ripper to build on the atmosphere.

[Sam Flynn]

Right after the murder of Nichols, you had a suspect called 'Leather Apron' who happened to also be Jewish.

Yes, and Mrs Long labelled her suspect as foreign-looking in the Chapman case, but neither of these were the result of a deliberate strategy by JTR; it is more indicative of the extent to which incomers are treated with suspicion by the indigenous population. That's kind of what people do.

If JTR really wanted to milk this phenomenon to his advantage, then why do we only see apparent antisemitic clues (if Jack so intended them to be) in only two of the murders, and those both on the same night? Even there, the Jewish/anti-Jewish connections may be tenuous at best, given that (a) the murders happened in a part of London with a high Jewish/immigrant population; and (b) the degree of antisemitic/anti-immigrant feeling amongst the "natives" was likely to be correspondingly high.

In any case, whilst there were large numbers of Jews living in the area, there were still vastly more who weren't. I hardly think that JTR thought he'd be singled out of hundreds of thousands of gentiles unless he took pains to deflect the blame elsewhere. On the contrary, he could have saved himself a fair bit of hassle by simply hiding in the crowd.

Against that backdrop, I don't find the idea that the Ripper exploited antisemitism particularly compelling at all.