Host: Joan Neuberger, Department of History
Guest: Robert Weinberg, Swarthmore College
In Kiev, in 1911, a Jewish factory manager named Mendel Beilis was indicted for murdering a young boy. Many believed that Beilis had carried out the murder as part of a ritual known as the “blood libel,” in which Jews used the blood of gentile children for baking Passover matzo. Where the idea of the “blood ritual” come from and why did people all over the world believe it? And what happened to Mendel Beilis?
Historian Robert Weinberg, who teaches Russian history at Swarthmore College is here to answer these questions.
Listen to the podcast (or read the transcript) on our website
Subscribe to 15 Minute History on Apple Podcasts