The only patient who fits Anderson's account?

[Stewart P Evans]

Cohen

Stewart,
from what I gather from your posts Kosminski is a no-go as a suspect as there too many flaws. But what is your opinion on David Cohen?

I must hasten to say that I regard 'Kosminski' as a valid suspect in as much as he has been named in Macnaghten's 1894 report, by Anderson in his memoirs as a 'Polish Jew' and by Swanson in the annotations in the Anderson book. My argument has always been that he has been overrated by certain authors and students of the case.

There is no evidence to suggest that 'David Cohen' was ever a police suspect, this being merely a 1987 Martin Fido hypothesis. I do not agree with his theorising and I think that statements accredited to various police officials, including Anderson, obviate Cohen as a viable suspect. I have discussed this in the past and it is a point upon which Paul Begg and I, in this instance, both agree.

[Kaspar]

I must hasten to say that I regard 'Kosminski' as a valid suspect in as much as he has been named in Macnaghten's 1894 report, by Anderson in his memoirs as a 'Polish Jew' and by Swanson in the annotations in the Anderson book. My argument has always been that he has been overrated by certain authors and students of the case.

There is no evidence to suggest that 'David Cohen' was ever a police suspect, this being merely a 1987 Martin Fido hypothesis. I do not agree with his theorising and I think that statements accredited to various police officials, including Anderson, obviate Cohen as a viable suspect. I have discussed this in the past and it is a point upon which Paul Begg and I, in this instance, both agree.

Thank you for your reply Stewart, as one of the leading researchers into JtR I value your opinion a lot.

[Stewart P Evans]

Objective

Thank you for your reply Stewart, as one of the leading researchers into JtR I value your opinion a lot.

Thank you for the kind words, but it is essential for those interested in the Ripper murders to assess all the available material and to draw their own conclusions. We are all capable of making errors and the subject is a continuing learning curve as new material still comes to light.

It is very easy to be influenced by authors and we all have our own particular bias and preferences although I do try to remain objective. It's fine for an author to publish his theories and ideas but the difference between opinion and fact should always be apparent. Honesty should be a prerequisite for authors.

Although the conclusion that the Ripper will never be identified is, realistically, unavoidable, that should not stop anyone having a preferred suspect or theory. The pleasure is in the search for a personal answer to the mystery.

[Hamrammr]

And one wonders how much pleasure the whole subject would give 'if' a definitive answer were found. The fascination and enjoyment surely come from Jack remaining elusive. In Cluedo, the fun ends when the murder cards are revealed!

[Simon Wood]

Hi All,

Stewart asked, " . . . whatever reason could there be within police circles to hush up a solution that offered up a mad 'poor Polish Jew' suspect?"

It's a good question, and the crux of a mystery which we have all been addressing based on the unlikely premise that Anderson, Macnaghten, Littlechild and the person who wrote the endpaper notation [or any combination of the aforementioned] were telling the truth.

The Whitechapel murders aren't still a mystery today because they were the work of a mad Polish Jew or an effete barrister. The Whitechapel murders remain a mystery because someone [I use the term loosely] does not want the solution revealed. This is fairly apparent due to the fact that, despite the Freedom of Information Act, as late as 2008 certain documents dating from and around 1888 [some displaying a "secret" interest in JtR] were redacted by the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] prior to their [not as yet] appearance in the National Archives.

Forget Anderson and his contemporaries. The truth was not within their gift.

Think instead "hot potato".

Regards,

Simon

[Stewart P Evans]

Fascination

And one wonders how much pleasure the whole subject would give 'if' a definitive answer were found. The fascination and enjoyment surely come from Jack remaining elusive. In Cluedo, the fun ends when the murder cards are revealed!

A good point and one which reminds me of how much fascination and pleasure in trying to 'solve' the mystery existed back in my early days of research in the 1960s.

There can be no doubt that had the mystery been solved the enduring interest in the case would have disappeared with that solution. Even though not solved the subject does, every so often, get to a stage of overkill and requires a 'shot in the arm' such as a 'new' suspect or some relevant and exciting new information to revive it.

[Stewart P Evans]

Heeded

Hi All,
Stewart asked, " . . . whatever reason could there be within police circles to hush up a solution that offered up a mad 'poor Polish Jew' suspect?"
It's a good question, and the crux of a mystery which we have all been addressing based on the unlikely premise that Anderson, Macnaghten, Littlechild and the person who wrote the endpaper notation [or any combination of the aforementioned] were telling the truth.
The Whitechapel murders aren't still a mystery today because they were the work of a mad Polish Jew or an effete barrister. The Whitechapel murders remain a mystery because someone [I use the term loosely] does not want the solution revealed. This is fairly apparent due to the fact that, despite the Freedom of Information Act, as late as 2008 certain documents dating from and around 1888 [some displaying a "secret" interest in JtR] were redacted by the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] prior to their [not as yet] appearance in the National Archives.
Forget Anderson and his contemporaries. The truth was not within their gift.
Think instead "hot potato".
Regards,
Simon

Simon is an old hand at Ripper research and his words should be heeded by those with an interest in the case. He is, of course, just the sort of person we need to reignite interest in the case.

Here he refers, of course, to the never revealed Special Branch files that were known to contain tantalising references to the Whitechapel murders. For a long time a 'no go' area these files have never been seen by Ripper researchers and may have contained some valid new leads. Alas, I fear we shall never know how relevant they were.

[Phil Carter]

Simon is an old hand at Ripper research and his words should be heeded by those with an interest in the case. He is, of course, just the sort of person we need to reignite interest in the case.

Here he refers, of course, to the never revealed Special Branch files that were known to contain tantalising references to the Whitechapel murders. For a long time a 'no go' area these files have never been seen by Ripper researchers and may have contained some valid new leads. Alas, I fear we shall never know how relevant they were.

Hello all,

I agree with you both totally Stewart and Simon, and realise that the chances of these files re-appearing are small. As Stewart states, the files regarding any Ripper related material may well (sadly) have been lost forever.

However for those (like myself) still believing in the existance of anything materialistic, it should be noted that a few eminent historians endeavouring to find other historical material have been surprised by the sudden re-emergence of items that Scotland Yard themselves have said were either "burned due to lack of space" or "destroyed by a bomb in World War Two".

It seems that at various times over the last 70 years, Scotland Yard themselves have, for one reason or another, been cagey regarding certain other historical documents. A few very fortunate, have indeed had access to historical documents that "officially" were not in existance, yet were known to exist through little known publications relating to those documents made available to a selected few many many years previously.

From my own experiences, I agree with Simon's comment "....The Whitechapel murders remain a mystery because someone [I use the term loosely] does not want the solution revealed...."

Hot potato? Let us all hope it it hasn't become mashed.

best wishes

Phil

[Rubyretro]

I think that there's a great deal of truth in the phrase "the truth is stranger than fiction ".

One of the reasons that this case endures is because of the wealth of facts
associated with it -not because of the lack of them ; there must be a wealth of unsolved crimes out there, but none which have such a number of disparate and fascinating details attached to them.

Personally, I think that it IS still possible to discover the identity of JtR, because the time elapsed is not long as far as history goes. My mum who is '70 remembers her grand parents & great grand parents talking about it -(her
grandmother was at the ragged school in Mile End). Therefore oral information may not be totally lost. There are records & photos which exist from this period. The internet means that it's getting easier to do research.

I think that we put too much relience on police theories from the period -if the police had really been on the right track then they would have caught Jack. I think that he got away with it because they were looking for someone totally different -but we know much more about serial killers & their behaviour than police did at that time.

I'm sure that if people start spending time researching new areas of the case, then new info will come out -even if it is circumstancial, it might be as near as damn it conclusive...and the truth might not be damp squib at all, but
very fascinating.

[S.Brett]

I think that the City Police watched Aaron Davis Cohen (Nov./Dec.1888-Mar.1889) and he was "Kosminski". The foreigner (another "crazy Jew" and "wandering lunatic") was similar to "Kosminski". But it was an error (for a few hours) and they (the MET) changed his name in "David Cohen". N. Cohen and Jacob Cohen belonged to Morris Lubnowski.
Aaron Cohen (1888) and Aaron Abrahams (Dec.1889) called "Kosminski" was Aaron Kozminski and possible "Jack the Ripper".

[Stewart P Evans]

Sounds...

I think that the City Police watched Aaron Davis Cohen (Nov./Dec.1888-Mar.1889) and he was "Kosminski". The foreigner (another "crazy Jew" and "wandering lunatic") was similar to "Kosminski". But it was an error (for a few hours) and they (the MET) changed his name in "David Cohen". N. Cohen and Jacob Cohen belonged to Morris Lubnowski.
Aaron Cohen (1888) and Aaron Abrahams (Dec.1889) called "Kosminski" was Aaron Kozminski and possible "Jack the Ripper".

Sounds pretty straightforward to me.

[Suzi]

Sounds pretty straightforward to me.

Fascinating stuff Stewart and a good debate- there is IMHO a huge hole of things that have..... been lost beyond retrieval or....... the 'something in the case of photos in the unknown attic' horror.

Suzi

[Scott Nelson]

Sounds pretty straightforward to me.

Well, of course it does Stewart.

[fido]

Three years late, an answer, Rob. (My visits to the boards are few and far between).
Yes, Dan Farson said in print that the name was Kosminsky, Kominsky or Kaminsky. At the time I did not know access to the Scotland Yard records was open, and of course I had never seen the Aberconway version. So I was dependent on the published versions from Farson and Don Rumbelow, and excited bythe possibility of Kaminsky. I asked Dan for the reason he offered three variants, and he wrote back saying his portfolio of papers had been abstracted by someone else, and he no longer knew why he included Kaminsky.
Later I saw a photocopy of the Aberconway version, and saw that the paper was damaged where the letters Kos should have been legible, and Dan's guesswork as to what followed the K was explained.

All the best,
martin F

[John Winsett]

My problem with the Kosminski- Cohen theory in general is that, according to various ripper authors, experts and old documentation the actions of the police at the time pretty much disproves any theory that the police knew who JTK was. The police reinstated patrols if there was a "Ripper" scare. Contemporary interviews with active police personnel show that as late as 1891 no one knew and were still looking. So I'm not sure why this particular theory of Cohen-Kosminski is still valid. No offense Mr. Fido. I really enjoyed your book and your audiobook on the subject.

Best,
John