The Blood Libel in North America: Jews, Law, and Citizenship in the Early 20th Century

Abstract

While Mendel Beilis stood trial for murder in Ukraine, the small Jewish population of Quebec City in Canada pursued legal action against perpetrators of the blood libel. This article traces the attempts by Jewish populations in Quebec City, Montreal, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in the small upstate New York town of Massena (USA), to use legal means to combat manifestations of the pernicious blood libel in North American locales. While each instance took place in unique social, political, and cultural contexts, what they share is a common belief by Jewish populations that they enjoyed full and emancipated citizenship rights, and that law was a tool available to them as citizens of North American democracies to combat these manifestations of Jew hatred.