The blood libel trials in Vratsa and Yambol, Bulgaria (1891–1903)

Abstract

ABSTRACTDuring 1878–1918, blood libels triggered frequent antisemitic riots throughout Bulgaria. In two towns, Vratsa (1891) and Yambol (1899), Jews were charged with murder and kidnapping, respectively, and tried and acquitted. In this paper, I examine two archival documents that address these events to add nuance to our understandings of how the variety of antisemitisms played out in particular lived, historical contexts. The first document is a 235-page copy of the indictment and includes correspondence from before the Vratsa trial, the proceedings, and the verdict. Two of the defendants in that trial were my grandfather, Jochanan Benbassat, and his mother, Sara. The authenticity of the document is confirmed by a report on the trial in the Bulgarian Law Review and by the press coverage at that time. The second document is an anonymous six-page copy of the indictment in the Yambol trial. It is consistent with reports published at that time in the Bulletin de l’Alliance israélite universelle and other newspapers. The two documents and the press coverage of the trials disclose some imprecisions in other published descriptions of these trials. The examination of the documents adds to the research on the involvement of local populations, courts of law, and the press in the murder and saving of Jews, as well as the distinctions between sporadic, popular (social), and state-inspired (political) antisemitism. The documents also underscore the need for further study of the social conditions that nurture the transition from sporadic to popular antisemitism.