Early newspaper reports and delusional theories

[Mayerling]

Hello Jeff,

I think Anderson makes it clear in his memoirs.

They undertook a house to house search of single males and found nothing. From there, he/they concluded that he must be living with someone, and it follows was probably Jewish due to the Jewish/Gentile justice situation.

To me, that is ridiculously flawed. I don't doubt for a second that some Jews would not go to the police, but there are a million and one reasons why people of any religious persuasion would not go to the police. Also, I'm not sure what they were expecting: someone to come to the door swinging freshly harvested organs above his head?

Either way, I don't believe for one second that Anderson had a vested interest in wilfully accusing a Jewish man in order to protect his interests.

Hi Fleetwood,

I can only think of two possible reasons for the lack of cooperation Anderson mentions among the Jews in the East End. They were mainly arrivals from Russia and Eastern Europe, and their experiences with the police there (especially the Tsarist police) were hardly the sort to make them willing to cooperate with any police organization. Add to this the recent upswing in anti-Semitic reactions in the same area due to the 1887 Lipsky trial and there would be a definite lack of desire to stir up those flames of bigotry again.

Jeff

[Fleetwood Mac]

Hi Fleetwood,

I can only think of two possible reasons for the lack of cooperation Anderson mentions among the Jews in the East End. They were mainly arrivals from Russia and Eastern Europe, and their experiences with the police there (especially the Tsarist police) were hardly the sort to make them willing to cooperate with any police organization. Add to this the recent upswing in anti-Semitic reactions in the same area due to the 1887 Lipsky trial and there would be a definite lack of desire to stir up those flames of bigotry again.

Jeff

My view, Jeff, is that they simply didn't know anything.

I think you have something with the reticence towards co-operating with the police, but perhaps it may have been cultural in the sense that law and order is valued in some countries more than others.

Also, it should be said that the English were distrustful of any large, standing organisation, which I think is why they came to wear blue uniforms. The police were hardly seen as servants of people. It looks to me that East Londoners did not make for good witnesses, whatever the background.