St. Petersburg: Jewish colony in, 108;
Serafinovich, Kazimir, 25
Russian State Historical Archive
servants, Christian: in Jewish
in, xi, xvi
households, 65– 67; role in
Strakhov, Vasilii Ivanovich: ambitions
ritual murder libel, 72, 181n38;
of, 104– 5, 136; arrests by, 80,
testimonies in Velizh ritual
90, 101, 103, 161– 62; assistants
murder case, 67– 69, 72– 77
to, 77; association with women
Shkurin (Velizh investigator), 77, 129,
off ill repute, 79; career of, 60;
130, 142, 143
complaints against, 82– 83, 101,
shtadlanut (lobbying of
104, 108– 10, 112, 113– 14; expansion
authorities), 106
of investigation by, 117– 31; houses
shtibls (social and recreational centers),
converted into prisons by, 79– 80,
in Velizh, 39
90– 91; illness and death of, 143;
Shubinskaia, Khasia, 162
interrogation of suspects, 80– 90,
Siberia, exile to, 146; during Nicholas
96– 99, 121– 31, 135; interrogation
I’s reign, 155; as punishment
of witnesses, 61– 64, 67– 69, 71,
for conversion to Judaism, 144;
119– 29; Khovanskii’s confidence
as punishment in Velizh ritual
in, 103, 104; and presumption of
murder case, 145– 46
Jews’ guilt, 61, 70, 104– 5, 136– 37;
Index
223
reports to Khovanskii, 70, 72,
Maksimova, 61, 64, 125, 127; new
118, 137, 138, 182n2; response to
revelations by, 119– 29; old score
complaints against, 102– 3, 105–
with Tsetlina, 25– 26, 29, 30;
6, 135; techniques used to extract
questioning of testimonies of,
confessions, 134– 35; torture used
123– 24, 149– 50; reputation of, 23,
by, allegations of, 109, 110; and
88, 124; residence of, 88; role in
Velizh investigation, 60– 61, 66–
Velizh ritual murder, confession
77; wider conspiracy suspected by,
regarding, 72– 74, 76, 77; societal
118, 119
anxieties reflected in story of, 66;
strappado, 133
Strakhov’s interrogation of, 61–
Subbotin, Andrei, 52
64, 119; testimonies of, 23, 61– 64,
Subbotniks (Sabbatarians), 66
67, 69, 71, 72– 77, 132; visits to
suicide: famines in East European
Fedor’s house, 16, 17
borderlands and, 47; during
testimonies. See witness testimonies
Velizh ritual murder investigation, Thomas of Monmouth, 2– 3
100, 121, 136
Tommaso (Father), alleged murder
supernatural. See magic
of, 111
swamps, around Velizh, 32, 33; Fedor’s
torture: confessions extracted through,
body discovered in, 17– 18
133, 134– 35, 140; contemporary
synagogues, in Velizh: closing of, 77,
practices of, 191n9; limits on use
117. See also Great Synagogue
of, in imperial Russia, 133– 34;
Mordvinov’s criticism of, 148;
Talmud, quotations from, as proof of
use in Velizh ritual murder
ritual murder, 138
investigation, 109, 110, 133
Tarashkevich, Markelom, 71, 121, 129
town(s), small market, 2; belief in
tavern(s): Jewish lease- holders for,
supernatural in, 54– 56; filth and
restrictions on, 45; in Velizh, 19,
disease in, 52– 53; interethnic
21, 24, 36– 37, 40, 50
relations in, 10– 11; poverty in,
Tel’shi: Napoleon’s invasion of, 44;
47, 48– 49; Velizh as, 10, 20, 20;
ritual murder case in, 131,
vitality of blood libel in, 2,
154, 190n48
6, 10; in western borderlands,
Terenteeva, Maria, 21, 22– 23; appellate
vs. in Ukraine and Russian
court verdict and, 28; arrest
heartland, 48
of, 70; complaint addressed
trial: in inquisitorial process, 27. See
to Alexander I, 58, 59, 63– 64,
also ritual murder trials
179n2; complaints about
tsaddikim (righteous individuals),
Jews, 64– 65; confession of,
46, 47; tales told by,
72, 105; confrontations with
supernatural in, 55
accused, 81, 82, 83, 87– 88, 89,
Tsetlin, Evzik, 21; arrest of, 103, 161;
122– 24; divination by, 16; and
complaint to governor- general,
Eremeeva, 70; exile to Siberia, 152;
101– 2, 108; confrontations
forced conversion to Judaism,
with accusers, 124, 126, 130;
testimony regarding, 74– 75; on
emotional toll on, 135; Fratka’s
host desecration, 126, 127; and
testimony against, 98; on host
24
224
Index
Tsetlin, Evzik ( cont. )
Vatican, on ritual murder libel, 148
desecration, 127; house of, 15;
Velizh, 34; Alexander I’s stop in, 57– 58;
interrogations of, 84– 85, 121,
beggar women in, 1, 16, 21– 23,
126, 127; Jewish community’s
25– 26; Belarusian population
defense of, 25; as primary suspect,
of, 35, 50; buildings in, 35– 40;
23, 72; prison conditions for, 105,
Christian places of worship in,
114– 15; and Shmerka Berlin, 84;
38, 39– 40; filth and diseases in,
Terenteeva’s testimonies against,
48– 49, 52; first ritual murder
17, 72, 124; testimony of, 26
investigation in (1805), 7; history
Tsetlin, Itsko, 162
of region, 33– 34; houses converted
Tsetlin, Sheftel, petitions by, 103– 4,
into prisons in, 79– 80, 90– 91;
113, 114
Il’inskaia Street in, 19, 21, 39, 41;
Tsetlina, Itka: confrontation with
interethnic relations in, 21, 34–
Maksimova, 86; emotional toll
35, 50; Jewish economic activities
on, 135; secret communication
in, 50; Jewish educational and
with father, 91, 95; Terenteeva’s
religious institutions in, 38– 39, 50;
testimony against, 72
Jewish inhabitants of, 19– 21, 25,
Tsetlina, Khanna, 21; appellate court
34, 40, 47, 49– 50, 80; maps of,
verdict and, 28; arrest of, 80,
14– 15, 36– 37; marketplace in,
101, 161; confrontations with
20, 35, 40; Napoleon’s invasion
accusers, 130; domestic servant
and, 44; population growth
of, 24, 67; emotional toll on, 135;
in, 49; poverty in, 47, 48– 49;
Fratka’s testimony against, 98;
Smolensk Street in, 22, 40;
on host desecration, 127;
synagogues in, closing of, 77, 117;
house of, 15; initial testimonies
tales of Jewish ritua
l murder
regarding, 24; interrogations of,
in, 56; today, 34, 35– 38, 38;
86, 121, 126, 127; Kasachevskaia’s
topography of region, 32– 33; town
testimony against, 24;
hall in, 22, 35; town jail in, 40, 79
Maksimova’s testimony against,
Velizh archive, 12
67– 68, 75, 129; as primary
Velizh Museum, 38, 39
suspect, 23, 72; in prison, 92, 105; Velizh ritual murder case: anxieties
proclamation of innocence,
about religious sectarianism
25, 26; tavern of, 21; Terenteeva’s
and, 77; charges in, 80, 144;
old score with, 25– 26, 29, 30;
crime scene in, report on, 18;
Terenteeva’s testimony against, 17,
Dal’ report on, 157; dismissal of,
23, 61– 62, 63, 72, 73; testimony
151– 52; divination in, 16– 17, 22;
of, 25– 26, 85
first investigation of, 17, 18– 19,
Turnovskii, Iosel’, 80, 161
23– 27, 28; forensic evidence
in, 18– 19, 104; international
Ukraine, market towns in, 48
response to, 111; lack of publicity
Uniate Church, 35. See also St. Il’insk
regarding, 158; material evidence
Uniate Church (Velizh)
in, 69– 70, 99, 185n71; Ministry
Uniate priest, role in Velizh ritual
of Justice on, 112, 113; Nicholas
murder investigation, 71, 121, 129
I on, 153; presumption of guilt in,
Index
225
61, 70, 104– 5; primary suspects
William of Norwich, 2– 3
in, 23– 27; punishments in, 152;
witchcraft prosecution: decline in,
reconstruction of events in,
factors responsible for, 4, 156;
confessions leading to, 72– 77;
inquisitorial procedure used
reopening of, 60; ritual murder
in, 9; Jewish ritual murder cases
accusations preceding, 1, 7– 8;
compared to, 11, 29– 30, 117,
ritual murder trials following,
132, 136; refusal of charity and,
153– 54; rumors and, 2, 17, 23– 24,
29– 30; rumors and, 131
103, 121; Senate review of, 144–
witches: belief in, in Belarusian folk
47; State Council on, 147– 52;
traditions, 12; heretics compared
Vitebsk provincial court on, 28,
to, 156; ritual of, description of
29, 60. See also under criminal
forced conversion to Judaism
investigation
and, 74
Vezmenskaia, Genia, 25
witness testimonies, inquisitorial
Vil’na (Wilno): Jews in, 34, 173n14;
procedure and, 9
Napoleon’s invasion of, 43, 44;
witness testimonies, in Velizh ritual
ritual murder cases in, 6
murder case, 23– 24, 61– 64, 67–
Vitebsk: economy of, 47, 48, 175n51;
69, 71, 119– 29; contradictions
famines in, 42, 44, 47; filth and
in, 69, 70, 122, 125, 126, 127,
diseases in, 52– 53; Jews in, 46;
149– 50; vs. forensic evidence,
medical services in, lack of basic
150, 151; questioning of veracity
infrastructure for, 53; mortality
of, 149– 50; role of Uniate priest
rates in, 52; Napoleon’s invasion
in, 71, 121, 129; shaping of
and, 43; province of, origins
corroboration in, 71– 72; story
of, 34; ritual murder cases in, 6;
line in, 72– 77
transportation revolution and, 49
written statements: inquisitorial
Vul’fson, Feiga, 162
techniques used to extract, 134;
Vul’fson, Itsko, 162
Velizh ritual murder investigation
and demand for, 82, 84, 85, 89
Walsh, Robert, 139
Walter, Jacob, 43
Zaikovskii (Velizh investigator), 77
Wengeroff, Pauline, 55
Zalman, Shneur, 46– 47
western borderlands. See East
Zaretskii, Leizar’, 162
European borderlands
Zarkha, Berka, 99
Western Dvina: bodies found in, 7, 8;
Zaslav, ritual murder case in, 6, 154– 55
transportation revolution and, 49
Ze’ev- Wolf, R. Hillel b., 106
Western Europe: history of
Zhelnova, Melania, 70, 136
ritual murder libel in, 2– 5;
Zhitomir: restrictions on Jewish
humanitarian intervention in,
residence in, 173n14; ritual murder
110– 11; inquisitorial system in,
trial in, 138
9, 168n30; sensationalization of
Zonnenberg, Zundel’, 107, 108
crime in, 8, 9; witch- hunts in, 11
Zwierki, ritual murder case in, 7
26
28
Document Outline
Cover
The Velizh Affair
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Fedor Goes for a Walk
2. Small-Town Life
3. Tsar Alexander Pays a Visit
4. The Confrontations
5. Grievances
6. The Investigation Widens
7. Boundaries of the Law
Epilogue
Appendix: Jewish Prisoners Held in the Town of Velizh
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
The Velizh Affair Page 35