The Trial of Mendel Beilis

Vivian Grosswald Curran, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, has published At the Crossroads of Law and Society: The Trial of Mendel Beilis as University of Pittsburgh Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2015-28. It is forthcoming in the Journal of Law and Literature. Here is the abstract.

The trial of Mendel Beilis lies at the crossroads of numerous points of interests. It reveals on one level the intensity of one man’s rise in an existential sense to the demands of a situation into which he was thrust suddenly and utterly without warning. From this perspective, it is a story of captivating human and psychological interest. The legal proceedings reflected a torn and complex society on the verge of implosion, as well as one in which the tsarist judicial system, although subject to corruption and fraud at the highest levels, nevertheless had a considerable measure of independence. The trial oscillated between a story of the failures and the triumphs of justice. Finally, the trial reflected and animated fierce anti-Semitism as well as unexpectedly dedicated and enlightened support for Beilis in the Christian world of Russia and beyond, with the incipient Russian Revolution as an important context. I try to illustrate these various intersecting points of interest with the assistance of sources such as the trial transcripts; Beilis’ memoirs; the memoirs of one of his defense lawyers, O.O. Gruzenberg; and Léon Poliakov’s analysis of anti-Semitism in Russia during that period.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Law and Humanities Institute and Cardozo Law School Sponsor Conference On History of Blood Libel

Upcoming: a fall conference sponsored by the Law and Humanities Institute and the Program on Holocaust Human Rights Studies, Cardozo Law School. Here is the description of the program from the Cardozo website:

On Nov.14-15, the Program on Holocaust Human Rights Studies and the Law & Humanities Institute will sponsor a conference on the tragic history of the "Blood Libel", in which Jews have been accused across the millennia of killing Christian children to use their blood in the Passover ritual. Originating in England early in the second millennium, the libel spread eastward to Russia, and it is not unknown in the United States and Canada. One of the most infamous of these libels was the Mendel Beilis case in the waning days of Tsarist Russia, and it is the 100th anniversary of the near-miraculous acquittal of Beilis that occasionalizes this conference. The scholarly centerpiece of our discussions will be Hannah R. Johnson's influential recent book, BLOOD LIBEL, a complex history of the phenomenon, and Prof. Johnson of the U. of Pittsburgh will speak; the literary centerpiece will be Bernhard Malamud's fictional rendering of the Beilis case,THE FIXER, which will be discussed widely by various speakers. Panelists include the grandson of Beilis and attorney Jeremy Garber, who have a major bone to pick with the novel; Prof. Vivian Curran of the U. of Pittsburgh Law School; Prof. David Fraser of the U. of Nottingham (UK); Prof. Jeffrey Mehlman of Boston U.; Prof. Harriet Murav of the U. of Illinois; Prof. Sanford Levinson of U. Texas Law School; and Prof. Richard Weisberg of Cardozo.
For further details and to reserve for the symposium, contact Johanna Rubbert at johannac.rubbert@gmail.com