Chapter THREE: Fiction Forged Into "fact"

The Lie in its Second Stage--The Tale Becomes "Fact"--The "Rabbi's" Speech--Its Authenticity Vouched for by "Retcliffe"--An Illuminating Footnote--A Dedication to the Russian "Black Hundreds"--The Imaginary "Speech" Bears Witness to Authenticity of "Protocols," Themselves Based on "Speech"--Three Stages of the Lie.

A number of years after this Russian translation of the Goedsche-Retcliffe story appeared, Sir John Retcliffe, alias Goedsche, deeming it important for his purpose of adding fuel to the flame of anti-semitism that had been lighted in Germany, undertook to convert this work of fiction, this offspring of his imagination, into a statement of fact. This led him to adopt the simple device of consolidating into one continuous speech the dialogue contained in his shilling shocker, and putting the speech into the mouth of an imaginary Rabbi in such a way as to make it appear to be an address delivered by him to a secret convocation of Jews. And the very man who had invented the speeches set down in his work of fiction twenty years before, now vouched for the authenticity of the obviously fabricated speech which he attributed to a Rabbi who had his birth in the contorted mind of this notorious forger.

A translation from the Russian of the apocryphal "Rabbi's Speech," with the introductory note as published in Russia by G. Butmi, in 1907, in a book entitled "The Enemy of the Human Race," dedicated by the author to the Black Hundreds, will now be laid before the reader. A comparison of it, with the scene in the cemetery, will at once demonstrate the identity of authorship. Below is a facsimile of the title page of this book, a copy of which is in the Russian collection of the Library of Congress, in Washington, D. C.

[Transliteration: G. BUTMI.

OBLICHITEL'NYJA RECHI.

VRAGI

RODA CHELOVECHESKAGO.

POSVJASHHAETSJA SOJUZU RUSSKAGO NARODA.

Chetvertoe, obrabotannoe i dopolnennoe izdanie.

S.-PETERBURG.

Tip. Uchilishha Gluhonemyh Gorohovaja, 18.

1907. ]

THE RABBI'S SPEECH

To the Jewish People.[*]

[Footnote *: NOTE. (Toward the end of the last century there appeared a book in London by Retcliffe entitled "A Review of Political and Historical Events During the Past Ten Years." This work was translated into French. The French periodical press, without waiting for the complete translation of the book, reproduced certain parts of it because they were of special interest. Thus the French newspapers and magazines published translations from the English of an intensely interesting speech, most edifying for Russia (from the Hebrew), delivered by one of the Rabbis, THE AUTHENTICITY OF WHICH SPEECH IS VOUCHED FOR BY THE ABOVE-MENTIONED AUTHOR. This inimitable gem must in the eyes of Russians assume all the more importance since it is brought out by that "highly civilized" humane and practical country, England, which has given protection to the Russian Jews against the unsuccessfully invented persecutions on the part of the Russian government and people. This monstrous document was sent at the time in printed form, in the French language, to the editorial office of the Odessa newspaper "Novorosisk Telegraph" for those who might want to examine the accuracy of the translation published in No. 4996 of that newspaper, dated January 15, 1891, and reprinted in No. 21 of the Petersburg newspaper "Znamya," dated January 22, 1904. THE SPEECH RELATES TO THE TIME OF THE SANHEDRIN OF 1869.)]

[Paragraphs which are indented and parts in italics were omitted in the Butmi version, but are given in the French publication "Le Peril Judeo Maconnique--I. Les Protocols des Sages de Zion," by Jouin, Paris, 1920.]

"Our fathers ordained the chosen ones in Israel to gather, without
fail, once every century, at the grave of our great Master Caleb,
the sainted Rabbi Simeon Ben Judah, whose great knowledge is
imparted to the elect of each generation to gain the power over the
whole world and authority over all the descendants of Israel....

"It is already eighteen centuries that the war of Israel is
being waged with the power which had been promised to Abraham
but which had been snatched away from him by the _Cross_.
Trampled under foot, humiliated by his enemies, ceaselessly
under threats of death, of persecution, of rapine and violence
of every sort, Israel has not succumbed; and if he is
dispersed over the whole world it is because the whole world
should belong to him.

"It has been for a few [eighteen] centuries now that our learned
men have been fighting against the Cross with courage and
persistence which nothing can break. Our people is rising gradually
and, with each day, its forces are growing. _It is to us that this
God of the day belongs, which was erected by Aaron in the
wilderness, this golden calf, this universal deity of the epoch._

"When we become, at last, the sole possessors of all the gold to be
found on earth, the true power will practically be transferred to
our hands, and the promises made to Abraham will be fulfilled.
_Gold--is the greatest power on earth; it is might, reward, the
instrument of every authority, it is all man, both fears and
desires. This is the sole mystery, the most profound science of
that spirit with the aid of which the entire world is ruled._ This
is what the future holds in store. Eighteen centuries have belonged
to our enemies; this century and the following must belong to us,
the People of Israel, and will be ours, without fail. Here, for the
tenth time during a thousand years of cruel and incessant struggle
with our enemies, have assembled at this cemetery; at the grave of
the great Master, Caleb, the sainted Rabbi Simeon Ben Judah, the
elect of each of the tribes of the Israelite people, in order to
discuss and agree upon, the means of making use, in the interests
of our cause, of all the tremendous mistakes and errors, which our
enemies--the Christians--have not ceased to commit. Every time the
new Sanhedrin (assembly) proclaimed and preached merciless warfare
against our enemies, but not once during the past centuries did our
forefathers succeed in concentrating in our hands such an enormous
quantity of gold [_and consequently of power_] as the nineteenth
century has given us. We are therefore able, without any senseless
illusions, to flatter ourselves with the hope of attaining our goal
before long, and we can look forward with assurance into the very
eyes of the future.

"Persecutions and insults,--these sombre and tortuous times, which
the people of Israel bore with heroic patience,--have fortunately
come to an end, owing to the progress of civilization among the
Christians, and this progress is the best shield under which we can
hide and scheme, in order that we may cover quickly and decisively
the last leg of that distance which divides us from our supreme
aim. Let us cast a cursory glance at the economic situation of
Europe and analyze the resources which fell to the Israelites from
the beginning of the present century, owing to the concentration in
their hands of the tremendous capital which is in their possession
at the present time. It turns out that in Paris, London, Vienna,
Berlin, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Rome, Naples, etc. [_and in all
lands--the Rothschilds_], that everywhere, the Israelites are the
masters of the financial situation, being as they are possessors of
many billions, not to mention localities of the second and third
class where all the financial funds are in their hands and not
mentioning that, without their direct influence, no financial
operation, no work of any importance, could be carried out anywhere
at any time. At present, all the emperors, kings and ruling princes
are burdened with tremendous debts incurred in order to be able to
maintain numerous standing armies [_to sustain their tottering
thrones_]. The Bourse quotes and regulates these moneys, and we are
the full masters of the Bourse in all the centres of the globe. The
problem before us now is to facilitate even to a greater extent the
means of contracting these loans and thus to become the sole
managers of all valuables, after which the exploitation of all
their railroads, mines, forests, large factories and industrial
plants, as well as of all other (real property) including duties
and taxes, will fall into our hands, as a security for the capital
lent by us to the various States.

"Agriculture will forever remain the principal source of a
country's wealth. The possession of large plots of land will pave
for us even a broader way to honors and will strengthen our
influence (over the highest officials of the country). From this
follows, that our efforts will be directed towards inducing our
brethren in Israel to make large agricultural purchases. We must,
therefore, do our utmost to break up large estates into small
parcels, in order to be able to purchase them in the easiest and
quickest way. Under the pretext of trying to help the working
classes, it is necessary to oppress the large landowners with
taxation in all its severity. When these possessions will thus
gradually be transferred into our hands, the whole labor of the
Christian proletariat will become for us a new source of tremendous
profits. _Since the Christian Church is one of our most dangerous
enemies, we must work tirelessly to weaken its influence, and in
order to accomplish this, it is necessary to use all our efforts to
implant in the Christian intellectual class ideas of atheism,
scepticism, dissension and to call forth religious disputes among
the newly-formed groups and sects of Christendom._

"Logically, we must begin by depreciating the ministers of
this religion. Let us declare open war on them, let us provoke
suspicions on their devotion, on their private conduct, and by
ridicule and persiflage we shall be right in the consideration
attached to the state and the costume of the priest.

"Every war, every revolution, every political and religious
upheaval brings nearer the moment when we shall attain the great
end for which we have been striving so long. Commerce and
speculation--these branches, most plentiful in their fruits,--must
never be suffered to slip out of the hands of the Israelites.

"... and once these branches have become identified with us,
we shall, through the flattery and perspicacity of our
executives, know how to penetrate to the prime source of true
influence and power. It is understood that we are concerned
only with those pursuits that entail honors, power or
privileges, for all those that require knowledge, labor or
disagreeable conditions, these can and should be left to the
Christians. The magistrature is an institution of prime
importance for us. The legal profession develops most the
faculty of civilization and initiates one furthest in the
affairs of our natural enemies, the Christians, and it is
through it that we can subject them to our mercy. Why should
not the Jews become Ministers of Instruction when they have so
often been Ministers of Finance? The Jews must also aspire to
the rank of legislators with the object of abrogating the laws
made by the Goim, faithless sinners, against the sons of
Israel, the true believers, in their invariable attachment to
the holy laws of Abraham.

"Moreover, on this point, our plan is nearing the most
complete realization, for progress has nearly everywhere
recognized and accorded to us the same civic rights as to
Christians, but that which it is of importance to obtain, that
which must be the object of our ceaseless efforts, is a law
less severe on bankruptcy. We shall make of it a gold mine
more rich than were ever the mines of California.

"With this object in view the people of Israel must direct its
ambition towards those high offices of authority which have
the power to distribute honors and esteem. The most assured
way of attaining such offices is to have weight and importance
in the various industrial enterprises, financial and
commercial operations, and to be on guard for all pitfalls and
temptations which may lead to the prosecution of the sons of
Israel in the country's courts.

"Our people, in deciding upon one operation or another, must
be guided by wisdom and tact, which are the distinguishing
traits of its natural gifts. We must not remain passive to
anything that may aid us in gaining a place of honor in
society; philosophy, medicine, law, political economy--in other
words, all branches of science, art, literature--represent a
wide field where even our smallest successes, developing our
abilities, will be of great benefit to our cause.

"These vocations are inseparable from speculation. Thus the
production of a musical composition, even though it be very
mediocre, will furnish to our co-religionists a plausible
reason for elevating on a pedestal and surrounding with a halo
the Jew who will be the author of it. As for the sciences,
medicine and philosophy, they must equally be a part of our
intellectual domain.

"_To the physician are usually confided the most intimate secrets
of the family and he, therefore, holds in his hands the health and
life of our ancient enemies--the Christians._ We are obliged to
encourage matrimonial unions between Israelites and Christians, for
the people of Israel, risking no loss whatsoever from such contact,
will only gain from such unions.

"... The introduction of a certain quantity of impure blood
into our God-chosen race will not corrupt it. Our daughters
will furnish us with these marriages alliances with Christian
families that possess influence and power. In exchange for the
money that we give, it is just that we obtain influence on
everything that surrounds us.

"Our relationship with the Christians will not make us deviate from
the path we have always been following; on the contrary, with a
certain degree of artfulness and cunning, this relationship will
gradually make us full masters of their destinies. _It is
desirable, that the Israelites refrain from keeping concubines of
our holy faith and rather select Christian girls for the part._ The
substitution of the simple formality of a contract before some
civil power for the church ceremony is of the greatest importance
to us, because on this condition Christian women will overflow our
camp.--If gold is the first power on this earth, then the second
power is undoubtedly the press. But of what significance is the
latter without the former? Since we cannot realize all the
above-stated aims without the assistance of the press, _it is
absolutely necessary that the management of all the newspapers and
magazines of all the countries, be in our hands. The possession of
gold, of the press and of sufficient means for the satisfaction of
certain qualities of its soul, will make us masters of public
opinion and will subjugate to us the masses._

"Following this method on every step of our way with a persistence
which is one of our highest qualities, we will push the Christians
aside and reduce their influence to zero. We will dictate to the
world what it should believe, what it must revere or despise. It is
possible that persons will be found who will arise against us;
arming themselves, they will hurl insults and curses at us; but the
docile, ignorant masses will harken to us and will take our part.
_Once we become absolute masters of the press, we will easily be
able to refashion the ideas of honor, of virtue, of
faithfulness--and to deal the first blow to the family-conception
which is considered to this day as the most sacred institution and
which must be reduced to a state of decay. We shall then be able to
uproot the belief in that which our enemies, the Christians, shall
have worshipped until that time and instead of that, having brought
up the army in a spirit of infatuation with the various passions,
we shall openly declare war upon everything that the gentiles are
at present revering and worshipping._

"May all this be understood and noted, and let every child of
Israel become imbued with its true principles. Then our might will
grow like a gigantic tree the branches of which will bear fruits,
known as riches, pleasure, power.

"... as a compensation for that hideous condition which for
long centuries has been the unique lot of the people of
Israel.

"When one of us makes a step forward let the next one follow him.
If his foot slips let his co-religionists hasten to support him.
If an Israelite is trapped by the court of the country in which he
resides, his brethren in faith should use all their efforts to get
him out of trouble or to help him otherwise, but on the condition
that the Israelite in question acted according to the laws which
Israel observes strictly and guards for so many centuries, and the
precepts of our religion.

"Our people is conservative, faithful to the religious
ceremonies and usages which our ancestors have bequeathed to
us.

"It is very important for us to pretend to be expounders and
protagonists of social questions prevalent at the time in a
country, especially of those whose aim it is to better the fate of
the workingman; but, in reality, our efforts must gravitate towards
possession and rule over the movements of public opinion.

"The blindness of the masses and the tendency of their leaders to
yield to oratory, as empty as it is loud, make them easy prey for
us and a double weapon for our popularity and credit. With the aid
of oratory, our speakers will be able to make people believe our
artificial enthusiasm which Christians usually attain through the
medium of genuine sentiment.

"It is necessary, to support as much as possible, the Proletariat
and to subjugate it to those in charge of the finances. Acting in
this manner, it will be for us to incite the masses, whenever we
shall need them. We will use them as weapons for upheavals and
revolutions and each of these catastrophes will move our cause
forward with gigantic strides and will bring us, with a quick pace,
nearer our goal--to reign over the entire world, as it was promised
by our Father Abraham."

[_For the sake of illustration, the following extracts, out of many that might be selected, are taken from the Goedsche-Retcliffe novel which were afterwards elaborated and presented as facts._]

FIRST STAGE OF THE LIE--THE NOVELETTE

If we will be supreme in the stock exchange, we will attain the
same supremacy in the governments. Therefore it is necessary to
facilitate loans in order to get them into our hands all the more.
Wherever possible, we must take in exchange for capital, mortgages
on railroads, taxes, mines, regalias (?) and domains. (Page 32.)

Ownership of land is always the iron-clad, everlasting possession
of every country. This in itself gives power, respect and
influence. Therefore the Jews should secure the possibility of
acquiring real estate. Therefore it is necessary to facilitate the
loans on land. The more we will help the breaking up of estates,
the more easily they will fall into our hands. (Page 33.)

Industry the power of the burgher, which hinders the Jewish nation
must be paralyzed even as agriculture. (Page 34.)

The natural enemy of the Jews is the Christian Church. Therefore we
must try to humiliate it, we must instil into it free-thinking,
scepticism, and conflicts. Therefore we will first of all start a
war on the clergy, we will try to arouse suspicion against it and
humiliate it.

Let our brethren strive for the abolition of armed force.... Not
the sword, but reason and money must rule. (Page 35.)

Our nation is conservative to its very root, and clings fast to the
old. But our interests demand that we participate, or, rather,
direct the movements of nations. It is indisputable that ours is a
time of many reforms, whose main purpose is the amelioration of the
material condition of the needy classes. But for this the
propertied classes must sacrifice their capital. Capital is in the
hands of the Jews. Therefore, they must outwardly take part in the
movement and try to divert it from social and political reforms.
The masses themselves are blind and foolish and permit the shouters
to rule over them.... The instability of the foundation increases
our power and our influence. Therefore the support of every kind of
revolution increases our capital and brings us nearer to our goal.
(Pages 36-37.)

Of what value are all the opinions and advice given here without
the aid of the press? We will attain our aim only when the press
will be in our hands. Our people must direct the daily
publications.... We need great political newspapers which will mold
public opinion--criticism, the literature of the street and the
stage. In this way we will crowd out the Christians step by step,
and will dictate to the world what it should believe in, what it
should respect and what it should curse. We will repeat the
sorrowful cry of Israel and the complaints against the persecutions
which are directed against us.... With the press in our hands we
can turn wrong into right, dishonesty into honesty. We can shake
all foundations and separate families. We can destroy faith in all
that our enemies believed until now. We can ruin credits and arouse
passions. We can declare war; we can give fame or disgrace. We can
uplift or ruin talent. (Page 43.)

[_The following are parallel extracts from the imaginary Rabbi's speech vouched for by the author of the novelette as fact a number of years later._]

SECOND STAGE OF THE LIE--"THE RABBI'S SPEECH"

When we become at last the sole possessors of all the gold to be
found on earth, the power will practically be transferred to our
hands, and the promises made to Abraham will be fulfilled. Gold--is
the greatest power on earth, it is might, reward, the instrument of
every authority, it is all man, both fears and desires.... The
problem before us now is to facilitate even to a greater extent the
means of contracting these loans and thus to become the sole
managers of all the valuables, after which the exploitation of all
their railroads, mines, forests, large factories and industrial
plants, as well as of all other real property, including duties and
taxes, will fall into our hands, as a security for the capital lent
to us by the various states.

Agriculture will forever remain the principal source of a country's
wealth. The possession of large plots of land will pave for us even
a broader way to honors and will strengthen our influence over the
highest officials of the country. From this follows, that our
efforts will be directed towards inducing our brethren in Israel to
make large agricultural purchases. We must, therefore, do our
utmost to break up large estates into small parcels, in order to be
able to purchase them in the easiest and quickest way. Under the
pretext of trying to help the working classes, it is necessary to
oppress the large landowners with taxation in all its severity.
When these possessions will thus gradually be transferred in our
hands, the whole labor of the Christian proletariat will become for
us a new source of tremendous profits.

Commerce and speculation--these branches, most plentiful in their
fruits,--must never be suffered to slip out of the hands of the
Israelites,--with this object in view the people of Israel must
direct its ambition towards those high offices of authority which
have the power to distribute honors and esteem.

Since the Christian Church is one of our most dangerous enemies, we
must work tirelessly to weaken its influence, and in order to
accomplish this, it is necessary to use all our efforts to implant
in the Christian intellectual class ideas of Atheism, scepticism,
dissension and to call forth religious disputes among the
newly-formed groups and sects of Christendom.

It is very important for us to pretend to be expounders and
protagonists of social questions prevalent at the time in a
country, especially of those whose aim it is to better the fate of
the workingman; but, in reality, our efforts must gravitate towards
possession and rule over the movements of public opinion.

The blindness of the masses and the tendency of their leaders to
fall for oratory as empty as it is loud, will make them easy prey
for us and a double weapon for our popularity and credit. With the
aid of oratory, our speakers will be able to make people believe
our artificial enthusiasm which Christians usually attain through
genuine sentiment....

Once we become absolute masters of the press, we will easily be
able to refashion the ideas of honor, of virtue, of
faithfulness--and to deal the first blow to the family-conception
which is considered to this day as the most sacred institution and
which must be reduced to a state of decay. We shall then be able to
uproot the belief in that which our enemies, the Christians, shall
have worshipped until that time and instead of that, having brought
up the army in a spirit of infatuation with the various passions,
we shall openly declare war upon everything which the Gentiles are
at present revering and worshipping....

[_The following are extracts from the new version of the "protocols" introduced by Nilus in 1905, showing the different stages of the forgery._]

THIRD STAGE OF THE LIE--"THE PROTOCOLS"[*]

[Footnote *: These extracts are taken from "The Protocols of the
Wise Men of Zion," published by the Beckwith Company, New York,
1920.]

All the wheels of the government mechanism are driven by the motor
which is in our hands, and that motor is--gold. (Prot. 5.)

To make it possible for liberty definitely to disintegrate and ruin
Gentile society, industry must be placed upon a speculative basis.
The result will be that all products extracted from industry from
the soil will not remain in their hands but will pass through
speculation into our possession. (Prot. 4.)

The aristocracy of the Gentiles as a political force has passed
away.... But as owners of land, they are harmful to us in that they
are independent in their sources of livelihood. Therefore at all
costs we must deprive them of their land. The best means to attain
this is to increase land taxes and mortgage indebtedness. These
measures will keep land ownership in a state of unconditional
subordination. (Prot. 6.)

See second quotation above.

At the same time it is necessary to encourage trade and industry
vigorously and especially speculation, the function of which is to
act as a counterpoise to industry.... It is necessary for industry
to deplete the land both of laborers and capital, and, through
speculation, transfer all the money of the world into our hands,
thereby throwing the Gentiles into the ranks of the proletariat.
(Prot. 6.)

It is for this reason that we must undermine faith, eradicate from
the minds of the Gentiles the very principle of God and soul and
replace these conceptions by mathematical calculations and material
desires. (Prot. 4.)

We have taken good care long ago to discredit the Gentile clergy
and thereby to destroy their mission, which at present might hamper
us considerably. Their influence over people diminishes daily.
(Prot. 17.)

It is indispensible for our purposes that, as far as possible, wars
should bring no territorial advantages. This will shift war to an
economic footing and nations will perceive the strength of our
superiority in the aid we render. Such a condition of affairs will
place both sides under the control of our international agents with
their million eyes, whose vision is unhampered by any frontiers.
(Prot. 2.)

We will represent ourselves as the saviors of the laboring classes
who have come to liberate them from this oppression by suggesting
that they join our army of socialists, anarchists, communists, to
whom we always extend our help under the guise of the fraternal
principles of the universal solidarity of our social masonry....
(Prot. 3.)

We will adopt for ourselves the liberal side of all parties and all
movements and provide orators who will talk so much that they will
tire the people with their speeches until they turn from orators in
disgust. (Prot. 5.)

We shall handle the press in the following manner ... to end of
Protocol 12.