Kosminski - Dead or Alive

[Phil H]

But Jonathan, YOU used the first name in connection with MM not me:

Whereas Macnaghten, in the fragments, can be argued to have known that 'Kosminski' eg. the real Aaron Kosminski, was quite alive and that he was not sectioned soon after the Kelly murder (Sims, 1907).

Phil

[Jonathan H]

That's right, Phil H, just like Macnaghten provided no first name ...

[Phil H]

Whole lot of assumptions there, Jonathan, and a reading of the marginalia that may not be correct - it can be read in various ways, including that DSS knew LESS than Anderson.

It is also possible that Kosminski - as meant by Sir RA and DSS was not Aaron - they give no forename.

Phil

[Jonathan H]

Misled?

I think the Cohen theory is ingenious -- and could, of course, be right -- but it's not really necessary.

As his memory fails him, by 1910, Anderson rather seems to be confusing and compressing people and events, including victims, between 1888 and 1895; which includes Pizer, Violena (sic), Sadler, Lawende, 'Kosminski' (as opposed to Aaron) Kelly and Coles, and William Grant.

Whereas Macnaghten, in the fragments, can be argued to have known that 'Kosminski' eg. the real Aaron Kosminski, was quite alive and that he was not sectioned soon after the Kelly murder (Sims, 1907).

I subscribe to Phil H's option that they were [initially] misinformed. Whom else could that misleading figure be but Anderson's No. 2, since he blithely knows more about this suspect than his superior?

[Phil H]

I think there was some confusion - perhaps to do with the overlap between City and Met forces. Maybe it had to do with confusion between two men using the name Kosminski, as Scott Nelson has pointed out in his recent article and as Martin Fido wrote long ago. That to me seems likeliest.

Swanson's marginalia seems to fit one man better than the other.

Phil

[Fisherman]

Quick answers (two of them):

Either they spoke of different men, or Anderson and Swanson had been misinformed.

That should cover it I think.

The best,
Fisherman

[mklhawley]

Hi all,

Quick question: How did Melville Macnaghten know that 'Kosminski' was alive yet Assistant Commissioner Anderson and Chief Inspector Swanson did not?

Sincerely,

Mike