The Accusation: Blood Libel in an American Town

by Edward Berenson

A chilling investigation of America’s only alleged case of blood libel, and what it reveals about antisemitism in the United States and Europe.

On Saturday, September 22, 1928, Barbara Griffiths, age four, strayed into the woods surrounding the upstate village of Massena, New York. Hundreds of people looked everywhere for the child but could not find her. At one point, someone suggested that Barbara had been kidnapped and killed by Jews, and as the search continued, policemen and townspeople alike gave credence to the quickly spreading rumors. The allegation of ritual murder, known to Jews as “blood libel,” took hold.

To believe in the accusation seems bizarre at first glance—blood libel was essentially unknown in the United States. But a great many of Massena’s inhabitants, both Christians and Jews, had emigrated recently from Central and Eastern Europe, where it was all too common. Historian Edward Berenson, himself a native of Massena, sheds light on the cross-cultural forces that ignited America’s only known instance of blood libel, and traces its roots in Old World prejudice, homegrown antisemitism, and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. Residues of all three have persisted until the present day.

More than just the disturbing story of one town’s embrace of an insidious anti-Jewish myth, The Accusation is a shocking and perceptive exploration of American and European responses to antisemitism.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Jewish, Religion, Crime, Politics

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 10, 2019

About the author

Edward Berenson is professor of history, director of the Institute of French Studies, and director of the Center for International Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, New York University. His previous books include Heroes of Empire: Five Charismatic Men and the Conquest of Africa. He lives in Irvington, NY.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Earlier today I was going to DNF this book because it wasn’t holding my interest, but I decided to just skip the chapter I was reading and see if it got better. It did so marginally.

The Accusation: Blood Libel in an American Town ostensibly is about the disappearance of a young girl in Massena, NY in 1928. Almost immediately the town’s Jews were accused of killing her, a result of the myth of blood libel: the ritual killing of Christian children by Jews so their blood can be used for religious rites. This was the first and supposedly only time that a blood libel accusation occurred in the US. It made national news and affected the 1928 election: Hoover vs. Smith.

The book only devotes 1chapter and the prologue to this event. The majority of the book is a history of antiSemetism in Europe and the origins of the blood libel myth. There is a chapter (3) that delves into the aluminum industry and the author’s family history. Skip it. It is deadly dull and basically irrelevant to the narrative. (This is where I almost gave up on the book.)

There is a lot of information about the anti-Catholic fervor in the US and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in the US. Interesting, but not exactly relevant to the blood libel incident. The book also goes into great detail about the rise of blood libel in post war Europe, especially in Poland (where even after the war the returning and remaining Jewish population was either wiped out due to blood libel accusations or they left to save themselves) and in the Middle East, especially after the formation of the State of Israel.

To be honest, although I had heard of the myth of Jews killing Christian children for their blood, I had never heard it called blood libel until 2011, when Sarah Palin used it after the Tucson shooting, after she mistakenly said that blood libel means you are “falsely accused of having blood on your hands” because the press was holding her accountable for her vitriolic campaign speeches and ads which put people in gun sights, as if to kill them. The shooting spree killed 6 people and wounded 13, including US Representative Gabby Giffords.

If you skip chapter 3, the book is marginally interesting, but it’s not what it purports to be. The author’s writing style is quite dry and sleep inducing at times.

Some good quotes:
“Taken together, the claims of the Sharf boys, plus those of several village women, recapitulated much of what had become, since the 15th century, the standard script of ritual murder: at the time of Easter and passover, a group of Jews kidnapped a Christian child, took him or her to the synagogue, and in a ceremony there, cut the child’s throat. The body was then drained of blood for making matzo or for various other Jewish needs. In this script, seemingly lodged in social memory - of Christians and Jews alike – and now widely available in printed form, evidence for the terrible deeds came either from renegade Jews, converted Jews, children or mentally or emotionally deficit Jews, or from Jews who are my marginal in some other way.”

“Albertorio put his finger on a major problem for Europe’s Jews: the cascade of accusations and the trials that followed trapped him in an impossible argument about ritual murder. Jews were forced to prove a negative, which was virtually impossible to do, especially in the presence of a child’s mutilated body.“

“The word “Jew“ now entered the English language as a verb or verb form: to “Jew down” or “jewing” meant to haggle excessively or dishonestly. And no longer did “Jew“ refer mainly to a member of a religious group. In some circles, the “Jew“ was a swindler, a selfish rogue out for himself alone.“

On a personal note regarding the allegation that blood was used to make matzo, have you seen matzo? It’s white, not red or black. How in the world could blood be used in the making of matzo? But that’s just my observation. And once someone used the term “Jewing down” in my presence. I carved him a new one in front of a group of people.

I wish this book was better, but at least I made it through it (with some prodigious skimming.) I can’t say that I can recommend it though.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because I kept seeing reference to "blood libel" in news stories attempting to break down the non-logic of the pathetic, bad-thinking, dangerous people who have fallen for the QAnon conspiracy theories. Based on the jacket copy, I thought I was going to be reading more of a true crime story--a girl goes missing in rural upstate NY in 1928 and the townspeople blame the Jewish people in town. But ultimately, I don't think there were even 20 pages spent on the Barbara Griffiths case. There's certainly no character development in terms of her, her family, or any of the people in the town who perpetrated the blood libel or suffered from it. The book is mostly a religious history of blood libel and then a recounting of anti-semitism throughout America and the world. So since my expectations were seriously upended, it's to the author's great credit that I kept reading to the end and learned so very much. I really recommend the book. I will warn that it's a deeply nuanced, academic read. I truly felt young again while I was reading, because I felt like I was back in college.

I think, for me, the points, as outlined so concisely by Berenson, that relate directly to our present horrific moment are:
1. People only fall for these conspiracies because powerful people with nefarious intentions suggest something to them that they already, in their ignorance and prejudice, suspect. Thus, they feel smart and superior (ironic!) because they feel like their worst possible fears (which tend to be illogical) are being confirmed. Like they were right to suspect all along. E.g. there's a scratching sound outside your house--couldn't be a tree branch or a squirrel, probably a pedophile who wants to suck your kids' blood.

2. This is the big one. Hate speech must be countered with swift, unequivocal condemnation. Those who speak it or write it must be publicly shamed, forced to retract and reckon with their words, and forced to make amends. There has to be rhetorical pushback from the forces of sanity and logic and truth, or else the baseless bile will stand as a conceivable reality. And once it's standing, it will learn to walk.

Good God, we're in so much trouble.

[Fran Hawthorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book that uses what was essentially a pogrom in a small upstate New York town in 1928, as a lever to delve into a troubling U.S. and European history of nativism and hatred. It's a topic that's particularly important to read about in today's ugly white-nationalist climate.

For instance, author Edward Berenson traces the origins of the horrible "blood libel" -- the scurrilous claim that Jews ritually murder Christian children in order to use their blood for matzo (or hamentashen, or whatever claim the haters feel like making) -- back to the early Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church first declared that the Communion wine and wafer were actually the blood and body of Jesus. This book also details how antisemitism was widespread throughout the supposedly safe haven of the U.S. from the mid-1800s onward, almost as common -- albeit nonviolent -- as breathing.

But it is so padded and repetitious!

Yes, I appreciate that the author wanted to place the blood libel accusation against Jews in the town of Massena, NY, in the context of the anti-Catholic vitriol that was spewed that same year, when Governor Al Smith ran for president. And it's understandable that he also wanted to connect this research with the history of his own Jewish family in that town.
However, he didn't need to recite the life story of every single immigrant who joined Alcoa's Twenty-Five Year Club in Massena, nor repeat five times in one chapter that Catholics far outnumbered Jews in the U.S. etc etc...

This would've been just right cut by two-thirds, to run as a long cover story in "The Atlantic."

[nypeapod · Rating 3 out of 5]

Misleading book, it actually only spends 1 chapter on the actual event (a little girls wanders off). The remainder (and overwhelming bulk) of the book is an exploration of anti-Jewish thoughts and actions in world history. The book is fascinating and I learned quite a lot from the book, but based on the book blurb a reader might be disappointed if they were hoping to learn more about the actual incident in upstate New York.

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is really a history of blood libel in European and American history. The event that this book centers around is not significant event. While the accusation is made it does not develop into anything and thus lacks gravity.

[Genesis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well documented and researched piece on the hoax of the Jewish blood libel. The book itself was less about the Massena affair and more about the historical context of antisemitism in the shape of the libel.

[Pamela Huxtable · Rating 3 out of 5]

No nonsense factual account of the incident in Messina, with some incisive political analysis.

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

the story mostly took up a chapter and the rest was a general history of antisemitism in europe/america and the 1928 election which like, cool for background but all that for a chapter??????

[Calvin Hackert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has little to do with the actual Blood Libel case. The story doesn’t go into detail about the case until the last chapter. The book instead focuses on the horrific false accusations that Jews have faced throughout our history. It also discusses how big of an impact that religion has played in our history when it comes to politics. Specifically the 1928 election. Definitely not an enjoyable/positive read, but very informing about how divided our world is when it comes to our different beliefs/views on religion.

[Peter Freitag · Rating 1 out of 5]

Edward Berenson's book is touted as a "model of micro-history" but, sadly, it is anything but. I first learned of the 1928 blood libel case in Massena, New York over 40 years ago, when I read Saul Friedman's "The Incident at Massena: The Blood Libel in America" upon its publication in 1978. I was living in Northern New York at the time, about 20 miles from Massena. So, I was excited to learn of a new study of what took place. I was surprised to find that Berenson dismissed Friedman's book out-of-hand (early on, in a footnote), appearing not to rely at all on the previous work. But as I continued to read Berenson's book, I came to understand why. He was not writing about the Massena case as much as he was writing about its historical context. For example, in a chapter entitled, "Who Done It: The Immigrants?" the author focuses on the immigrants who came to work at the aluminum plant in Massena, providing biographies of many who settled there. Does he reach any conclusion about which--if any--were responsible for the blood libel? No! So why go through the trouble then? The author speculates that, since accusations of blood libel had not surfaced in America prior to the Massena incident, it must have been an immigrant, familiar with stories from the "old country," at its root. Had I wanted to learn more about the history of blood libel or American anti-Semitism or the presidential election of 1928, I would have found any one of the scholarly studies devoted to these topics. But I came to Berenson's book to learn more of what happened in the case of the blood libel in Massena, only to find the author devoting little, if any, insight into it. I won't even begin to outline the author's apparent ignorance of the "North Country" because it is unsurprising, given that he had no apparent interest in delving into ITS history. A disappointment.

[Ionia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm actually surprised after reading this book, to learn that there has only been one major case of someone claiming blood libel in the history of the US since it was such a prevalent thing in Europe. This book looks mostly at this single incident in the US, with a small portion of background history on blood libel in general.

This book becomes very political in the second half, and I have to admit, that although I found the core of the story interesting, that portion didn't really appeal to me. Small town politics were important in this case, but I didn't feel the reader needed all the details they got from reading this. It felt a bit monotonous.

Overall, I thought this was an interesting book and was glad to see that the child in question turned out to be fine after all. Still, I felt this book could have been revised further to make it more interesting.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was going to be in the true crime/mystery genre but actually it’s serious history. Only maybe a third of the book deals specifically with the case in Massena, NY. The rest is a history of the Jewish community in upstate New York including the author’s own family, as well as a history of blood libel from the Middle Ages to modern times (where it still thrives full throttle in the Middle East). The author does a very good job of depicting antiSemitism in America and Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (surprisingly worse in Canada than in the US). I wasn’t unaware of this of course but the specifics are still shocking: Henry Ford, the Dearborn Gazette, etc. Also interesting was the response to the blood libel charges of the organized Jewish community, from the small-town rabbi to national figures like Rabbi Stephen Wise. A lot of information in a short book.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Berenson writes a detailed and comprehensive history of the Blood Libel and of the Barbara Griffiths case in this well-reasearched account. He sets the stage of Barbra Griffiths disappearance and what it means to the surrounding town.

By giving the reader comprehensive demographic information and delving into any sources possible Berenson shows that the libel is uniquely not an American problem. He discusses other racial and religious prejudices in the United States at the time that would deem this instance to be out of the norm. The rise of the triple K in the United States in the 1920s as well as Henry Ford's "Dearborn Indepdent" both factor into the blood libel that follows.

This uniquely detailed account is well written and documented with Berenson giving other sources and recommended reading in his piece.

This book is especially relevant today, when globally Jews are being condemned as "baby killers" on the streets.

[Lisa Dumoulin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book particularly interesting because my grandparents emigrated from Quebec to Massena, NY and were naturalized a year or so before this incident. My grandfather worked in the potrooms at Alcoa, mentioned in the book. At the time of Barbara's disappearance, they had a one month old baby (my aunt) at home. Being a small town, I know they knew about this, but I never realized how French Canadians were viewed by "English" settlers. But, I have a better understanding of why they strived to learn the English language so much to fit in.

The author spends a lot of the book going into depth on the history of blood libel which I wasn't into. The background information about Massena and its inhabitants at that moment in time were very well researched and interesting to read.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An examination of how the 1928 case of a missing girl in an upstate New York village led to allegations that she was kidnapped by Jews for a ritual murder, known as "blood libel," an antisemitic myth know in Europe since the Middle Ages but previously unknown in the United States. Berenson sheds light on the cross-cultural forces that ignited America’s only known instance of blood libel, and traces its roots in Old World prejudice, homegrown antisemitism, and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. A fascinating, chilling story but often an unfocused narrative.

[Dahlia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely fascinating and I learned so much. The Accusation: Blood Libel in American Town was much more than the story of missing child in Messina, New York in 1928, and the accusations against the Jewish community of the town. The book also explained the history of blood libel and the gave a clear and concise history of the early 1920’s includes the history of the town, Henry Ford’s antisemitism, the rise again if the KKK and the presidential election of 1928. So much history and knowledge packed into one book. I highly recommend it.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does an excellent job of providing a brief overview of blood libels and anti-Semitism in Europe that affected views of the Jewish people in North America, along with describing why American reaction was so different than European reaction. However...the vast bulk of the book is devoted to this, with very little space actually taken up by describing what happened in Massena. I found it difficult to actually follow what happened there and judge its significance.

[Nasus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of inkling of accusation of blood libel in upstate ny town during a time when KKK was fairly active. Author is grandson of people who used to live there; he heard about this as a child and decided to research it. Most of the book is about the history of blood libel in Europe up to and including post WWII. Part of JCC Manhattan Stranger than Fiction NON Fiction Jewish book club. Discussion to be held in July.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am from the Finger Lakes region of New York and know the Adirondack area well. I was completely shocked to know that there was so much antisemitism in this area! To know that the KKK was so active there was absolutely shameful and horrifying. This book spelled out the magnitude of the people’s beliefs. Everyone should read this book so they can understand what was, for so many so close to home.

[David]

This is a very informative and thorough book about blood libel (the ancient belief that Jews abducted and killed Christian children to use their blood to make holiday food.) It chronicles the history of blood libel, but focuses on the only significant case of it happening in the United States, which was in 1928 in upstate New York. It also thoroughly details the situations of the era and the location in which the accusation against the local Jewish community occurred.

[Steve Haft · Rating 1 out of 5]

There’s not enough material here for a book. It starts out well enough in the prologue and first chapter telling about blood libel and the disappearance of a little girl. Then it repeats itself for four chapters and gets lost in a presidential campaign. Finally, it returns to the little girl, who returns home the next day. The length made it boring and repetitive. Should have been a magazine article.

[Arnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The disappearance of a young girl in an upstate NY town in the early 20th century led those investigating to consider the idea that perhaps Jewish residents had abducted and killed her for ritual reasons. The author, whose family lived in the town, grew up hearing the story and, as a historian, researched the occurrence. Good background piece about the town's history, influences that led to antisemitism in the era, and the whole history of blood libels.

[Therese · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is misleading, it should read "The Allegation."
The child in Massena who was thought to have been abducted turned up next day, completely unharmed, apart from being dehydrated and dusty following her night in a field. The author's dissection of alleged blood libels in Europe is useful in reminding us that such allegations were generally the precursor to pogroms that killed and displaced numberless Jews down through the centuries. To write or utter the words "blood libel" was guaranteed to mobilize the anti-semitism that lurked beneath the surface in many European countries. It is not known if such allegations were ever proven to be based on facts.

[Todd Settimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very little in this book is directly about the case of blood libel in the US, though to be sure, it is covered adequately. It’s just a rather thin story on its own without all of the background into how Jewish blood libel tales came to be. Explaining this background is where this book excels. I learned a lot. Recommended.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anchored by an incident in my hometown of Massena, New York, Berenson's historical account of anti-semitic blood libel is very accessible. A careful weaving of culture, politics, and economics gives the reader an understanding of past centuries and today.
So much I didn't know.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read on this not widely known piece of NY history. Essentially the perils of Europe’s gullible spread to NY on the alleged blood libel which is BS and how this small town in upstate NY almost let it tear itself apart. Well written.

[Jean Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is much more than the story of blood libel in one town in America where the author came from. He gives the long and sordid history of this libel throughout the world and discusses the factors that lead to it showing its ugly head in USA. The one hopeful note is the lack of 'spread' here.

[Joe Bellew · Rating 4 out of 5]

No mention of the Kishinev programs, which were widely covered in the American press in the early 1900s? This is a fairly light introduction to blood libel for the uninitiated. I mean that largely as a compliment. There is a personal element which is a nice addition to the story.

[Margaret Heller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed for Library Journal.

[Cindie · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting story about both the incident in Messena as well as a history of blood libel accusations