Justinas Pranaitis and the The Talmud Unmasked
When James Keegstra was asked about his beliefs in regards to Jews, he claimed initially to have come to them after reading the Talmud. But what was later revealed was that they were formed, at least in part, after reading The Talmud Unmasked: The Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians, by a former priest, Justinas Pranaitis. (1)
I suspect that there were other books and pamphlets that he digested, but this is where his knowledge of the Jewish scriptures came from.
However, like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, that formed the basis of both the Nazi Party and Social Credit, and have also inspired modern day neo-Nazis, The Talmud Unmasked was a fraud.
They were written by a priest in Russia at a time when anti-Semitism had unleashed violence and hatred against the Jewish communities.
In 1905 when the fraudulent Protocols were published, they resulted in the Kishinev Pogrom, though that was just a warm up, considering that they were also behind the Holocaust and countless other hate crimes.
When Jews fleeing Kishinev found refuge at the home of a young Leo Strauss, he wondered if something like that could ever happen in Germany. And indeed the same Protocols that created the pogrom would also force Strauss into exile under Adolf Hitler, where he inspired the neoconservative movement at the Chicago School. And his teachings, though badly twisted, are said to be behind the horrendous actions of George W. Bush.
This is why we can't study movements like this enough, and can never forget the case of James Keegstra. Freedom of speech is one thing. But this kind of unfounded hatred, can have devastating results.
The sad thing is that after reading several books and magazine articles, I don't believe that James Keegstra was an evil man. I think he was the product of the times and while he grew up believing in the Jewish conspiracy espoused by Social Credit, then nurtured them with anti-Semitic material he obtained on his own, he came to a horrible conclusion. And it became his mission to retell history.
But unfortunately, he passed on his horrendous views to his students, so who knows how many now harbour that same hatred.
Menahem Mendel Beilis and the Murder of Andrei Yushschinsky
On March 12, 1911, a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy, Andrei Yushchinsky, disappeared on his way to school. Eight days later his mutilated body was discovered in a cave near a local brick factory.
On July 21, 1911, Mendel Beilis was arrested for the murder, and the subsequent trial would lay bare the anti-Semitism that was out of control in Russia.
Later it was determined that Andrey decided to skip school and visit his friend Zhenya Cheberyak. Zhenya's mother, Vera was known in the neighborhood as an associate of criminals and as a "fence" (a seller of stolen property). During preliminary hearings it was revealed that Andrey and Zhenya were seen walking together at a point halfway between the Cheberyak home and the Zaitsev brick factory where Mendel Beilis worked as a clerk. (2)
And the priest Justinas Pranaitis would be at the centre of the false accusations and his book The Talmud Unmasked would join the Protocols as a catalyst for hatred.
Pranaitis was supposed to be a master of theology, but after giving his testimony at the trial it became clear that he had no idea what was contained in the Talmud. His book was based sole on his own anti-Semitism.
Cross-examination of Pranaitis has weakened the evidential value of his expert opinion, exposing lack of knowledge of texts and insufficient knowledge of Jewish literature. Because of his amateurish knowledge and lack of resourcefulness, Pranaitis' expert opinion is of very low value.
And yet you can still buy this book. It is being reprinted and used to 'educate' future generations. Do we need to round them up and burn them? Of course not. But we must discredit them as the rantings of an anti-Semite, not expert opinion of Jewish doctrine.
Because there are a lot of James Keegstras out there and they are not all wearing swastikas or donning white robes.
1. A Trust Betrayed: The Keegstra Affair, By: David Bercuson and Douglas Wertheimer, Doubleday Canada, 1985, ISBN: 0-385-25003-7, Pg
2. The Anti Semitic Trail that Shook the World, By: by Laurence Krane, The Jewish Magazine, November, 2003
Labels: Anti-Semitism, James Keegstra, Justinas Pranaitis, Social Credit, William Aberhart
The Creation of Stephen Harper's Sandbox
Craig Chandler and the Roots of Change
David Frum and the Winds of Change
Media Manipulation: Conrad Black and the POWER of ...
The Fraser Institute's Role
Chapter Thirty-Five Continued: The National Citize...
Peter Mackay and the Death of the Tory Party in Ca...
Chapter Thirty-Two Continued: The Mark of the Beast
Chapter Thirty: Ernest Manning Introduction
Stephen Harper, the Northern Foundation and Nelson...
Canadian Constitution Foundation: Follow the Money...
Is Money Corrupting Religion?
John Carpay Challenges Jason's Kenney's Decision t...
John Carpay, John Weston and Their Attack on Canad...
Stockwell Day and the School of Tomorrow
Health, Wealth and Stealth Continued: Faith Healing
Health, Wealth and Stealth Continued: James Lunney...
Health, Wealth and Stealth Continued: Religion vs ...
The Health, Wealth and Stealth Continued: Roots of...
The Health, Wealth and Stealth Continued: Health C...
The Health, Wealth and Stealth of Right-Wing Coali...
Chapter Twenty-Nine Continued: Ron Gostick
Chapter Twenty-Nine Continued: Edith Gostick
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Social Credit and Anti-Semitism
David Sweet, Spiritual Capital and Reconstructionism
My Apologies to Timothy Bloedow, But I do not Hate...
Why Maurice Vellacott and his Reconstructionist Th...
Maurice Vellacott Goes "a Courting"
Controlled Controversy at Dalhousie With Jared Taylor
The Curious Case of Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe
Give me Liberty or Give me Aaron Lee-Wudrick
Reviving Mike Harris's Campus Hijinks
Oh What a Tangled Web we Weave From North Carolina...
Did Peter Kent Interfere With Student Elections at...
Stirring it Up at the University of Manitoba
Anne Coulter, Tom Tancredo and Controlled Controversy
Preston Manning, Morton Blackwell and a Questionab...
Chapter Twenty-Eight Continued: The State of Excep...
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Leo Strauss, The Best of Tim...
From Tommy Douglas to the Exclusive Brethren: What...
Chapter Twenty-Seven Continued: Going Too Far
Dominionism: Domestic Discipline or Domestic Abuse?
Chapter Twenty-Seven Continued: The Dictator of Al...
Catechism and the Indoctrination of Children
Spanking and Dominionism, From Kelly Block to Jame...
Dangerous Liasons: Christian Legal Fellowship and ...
Desert Stream and Living Waters Ministries are Bot...
How Stephen Harper and the Theo-Cons Helped to Eng...
Dirty Deeds and the Selling of Souls
Creationism vs Evolution: A Misguided War
Gary Goodyear and the Harper Government's Attack o...
Should Plato's Books Be Burned or Just Banned?
Was Hitler Doing God's Work? John Hagee Thinks So
John Hagee and Christians United for Israel
The Not so Invisble Hand of John Hagee
Chapter Twenty-Six Continued: Law, Justice and the...
Pierre Poilievre: Cunning
Chapter Twenty-Six Continued: Minister of Propagan...
Chapter Twenty-Six: Joseph Goebbels and Manipulati...
Chapter Twenty-Five Continued: Poets and Gesellites
Chapter Twenty-Four Continued: Higher Learning
Chapter Twenty-Four Continued: Controlling the Masses
Pierre Poilievre: Sneaky and Manipulative
Chapter Twenty-Four Continued: All Quiet on the We...
Chapter Twenty-Four Continued: Language Guidance
Chapter Twenty-Three Continued: At a Crossroads
Chapter Twenty-Four: Reductio ad Hitlerum and Prop...
Chapter Twenty-Three: Joseph Goebbels
Chapter Twenty-Two Continued: The Aftermath
Chapter Twenty-Two: When the Canary Doesn't Sing
Pierre Poilievre Continued: Poor Behavioral Controls
Pierre Poilievre Continued: Callousness and Lack o...
Pierre Poilievre: Political Sociopath
Chapter Twenty: Mixed Blessings
Chapter Nineteen: A Nation in the Grips of Fear
Chapter Nineteen Continued: Trouble Brewing
Chapter Nineteen Continued: Near Victory for Fasci...
Chapter Nineteen: Demagogs and Democracy
Chapter Eighteen Continued: In Search of Utopia
Chapter Eighteen Continued: Houston Stewart Chambe...
Chapter Eighteen Continued: Discovering Good Material
Chapter Eighteen: It Began at That Hour
Roots of Reform: NCC, Racism and Ethnic Indigestion
Chapter Seventeen Continued: Is This Fascist?
Chapter Seventeen Continued: A Divine Mission
Preston Manning, Newt Gingrich and a Republican in...
Preston Manning and a House Divided
Abe Lincoln, Preston Manning and the Reform Movement
The Strange Case of James Keegstra
Chapter Seventeen Continued: Getting in the Race
Stephen Harper's Homophobia Runs Long and Deep
Chapter Seventeen: Martians and Evil Bankers