Contents

1. New Article

Sefer Nifloat/Book of Miracles
or, my murdering forefather

Pinhas Yehuda Leib, 1774

• • •

FOREWARD

Lucie Ondrackova, a Czech researcher, sent me information about various Skrainka families in Moravia, a part of the Hapsburg Empire now in the Czech Republic. Lucie knew from my website, angielittlefield.com, that I had Skrainka ancestors. Lucie mentioned that she had also recently translated a book by Pinhas Yehuda Leib from Hebrew into Czech. Leib wrote Sefer Nifloat/Book of Miracles in 1774, from a Jewish perspective.

The short book described a murder committed in Holešov by Jewish Abraham Skrainka when he murdered a Christian maid servant. Lucie explained the gist of the story in an email as I could not read Czech. I loved the charming way she showed concern about my feelings as a descendant of Skrainkas:

The whole story begins with a murder. A young Jewish man kills a Christian woman. She was a poor maid who was trying to earn some extra money with prostitution. And this man loved her. The whole history described in this book is fascinating. Yes, Abraham was probably the murderer, but please, don’t be scared, it was not premeditated, nothing like that. It was a great tragedy for both of them. He was very young and married to another woman, but fell in love with this one, desperately. Sefer Nifloat literally says, that he held her with all the powers, that his nefesh, physical soul, had. This poor woman was said to be beautiful, but probably didn’t have a very good character. Their love affair had ended badly when she tried to blackmail him and even attacked him with a knife. Abraham was known as a fiery man and things went terribly wrong from there. And, of course, it’s 1774 and this is just a perfect pretext for an angry mob. So pogroms follow. But Pinhas called his book, Book of Miracles and he means it. He called it this way, because of all the miracles that happened that led to the greatest one: During these pogroms, no one was killed. And Pinhas, who witnessed all this, was absolutely sure, it was nothing less than a miracle. Series of miracles, to be exact. Even for less pious readers than Pinhas Yehuda Leib was, it is still a pretty miraculous story, full of good people, both Christian and Jewish, who decided to stay close together in those dark times, helped each other and managed to save innocent lives.

I loved Lucie’s paraphrase and wanted to read the whole story. I also wanted to be absolutely certain there was no doubt that my forefather, Abraham Skrainka, was a murderer. I did not want to be guilty of a 21st century false accusation of murder. Jews, throughout history, had been frequently, and falsely, accused of murder, to such a degree that there was a term for it, “blood libel”.

I found Martina Storek to translate Lucie’s Czech version of Sefer Nifloat into English.  After I read the translation, it became clear that Abraham Skrainka was a murderer. At first I thought it could be argued that he defended himself against Josepha as she’d brandished a knife. That thought disappeared when I read that two relatives found him with Josepha in his arms. Abraham dropped Josepha to the ground and the relatives counted 42 stab wounds on her body. Blood was all over Abraham and the walls. He eventually confessed and sought to make amends with his family and his conscience.

It is a privilege to bring this true, yet uncharacteristic, murder story from 1774 to English language readers and researchers. I welcome comments about my “Murdering Forefather”.

Angelika Littlefield

• • •

INTRODUCTION

The book of Miracles

The case of blood accusation from year 534 according to small count

From Mr. Pinchas Jehuda Lejba from Lipnik

For my first book I chose the name Sefer Niflaot, because it is my opinion that the other Hebrew expression for the word miracle, nes, indicates something obvious. As in “The Lord has the mark “in the book Shemot 17,14, or when Moshe stopped the sun in the sky. Or like the wonder from the book Be-midbar 26,10. (where “the earth opened her mouth and gulped down the whole battalion, when 250 men burned down”) Also two other expressions for miracle – ot and mofet indicate something visible. In the book Devarin it clearly says: “and he would show you a sign or a miracle…” Also philosophers use the expression mofet when meaning something clear and evident, that can be proved. On the other hand, the word pele (niflaot in plural) talks about hidden miracles. As in the same book 17,8: “If it were something difficult…” (referring to obscure legal cases – rem.) even Rashi and Targum speak of it. In the writings of Nida (perek Mapelet) 31a it is written: “Rabi Eleazar said: What is meant by the verse, that is odd in itself? This means, that not even the one the miracle is meant for, does recognize its existence.”

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Now you can see for yourselves that for hidden miracles the word niflaot is best suited. The story that I present here, I wrote to commemorate such hidden miracles, performed by our Lord. Nor did we recognize the fact that it was a miracle. The reader will also think initially, that the things that happened were natural. But if you look closer, I am sure that you will recognize and understand, that what happened during those days was the work of our Lord. And that it was part of a greater plan, which was meant to help his chosen people as well as to protect them. But since we were not ready yet to understand his affection, he acted secretly and performed his miracles for us in a secret way. For this reason, I called this short book The Book of Miracles (Sefer Niflaot). When adding up the letters in the word niflaot, it equals the add-up of the letters in my full name - Pinchas Jehuda z Lipníka

These are the words of Pinchas Jehuda, who was born, just like his ancestors in Lipník:

At the time I lived in Holešov, the town where the decisions of the wise and the laws of God ruled, I could not be quiet about what happened, on the contrary I had to put everything down in writing.

The book tells about what one man did, how the law caught up with him and how the whole thing affected all inhabitants of our town. Because without our Lord’s merciful intervention, we could have all been wiped out from this earth. It was him who softened the hearts of the ruling men, turned their minds away from lies and false accusations. He stopped those who intended to harm us from their intended actions.

3.

There will still be many occasions for our generations to be watchful. In this book I wanted to plead with my people to take this as a warning and did not succumb to mean temptations. So that they wouldn’t meet the same fate as in the book of Proverbs 7,22: “As the ox for defeat walks, he walks behind her …”  I also intended with the help of my book to rid the Jewish hearts of weakness. To firm up flooring knees and to strengthen weakened hands. Because he who will succumb to his senses, will only be met by imprisonment and the ruin of his house. The prophet will no longer be the announcer of the Word of God, we will see no more of his signs.

Even in our times it happens that people start to turn away from our Lord and from his wise followers. They run away from wise men, men of faith disappear from the country and the loyalty to the Lord vanishes. That makes our God angry with us and we thus loose his protection. At the same time, we can then see with our own eyes, that he still loves us and that we had lost nothing of His favor. God had not forsaken his people, and has mercy on them in his affection.

I also hope that the reader will understand in his heart, once he is acquainted with our story and all the things that happened to us, what the Highest had done for us. He gives His mercy and praise. We might not have been the generation that deserved to have miracles revealed, nor were we capable to see His power. But behold, He stood behind the wall, looking out of his windows, and doing his wonders in secret, to strengthen and save the spirit of the Jews.

As soon as the Lord has made this all understandable, we have known that He is ours, we have been waiting for Him, that He will save us and bring us salvation. He will take his second hand and he will find his lost people; gather together the scattered. Like the shepherd, the grazing herd shall be gathered in his arms, and the pregnant shall he gladly lead. And he will bring them into the beautiful country, the most beautiful of all lands. He will pick up his Temple from the wreckage and rebuild it for them. And, as in the days of exile from the land of Egypt, we might see His miracles with our own eyes. Amen.

It will be written for the future descendants and the people who are to be created, to praise the God. For God has come down to the earth, to see from the heights of his holiness, the crying of the prisoners, and he freed those who were already resigned to death.

• • •

Everything happened year five thousand thirty-four after the creation (1774 – rem.), under the reign of Her Majesty the Queen Maria Theresa, our ruler and ruler over Hungary, Bohemia, Austria, Moravia and parts of Silesia. There was a man called Avraham in the town of Holešov, who was the son of Mr. Aharon. His mother’s name was Rejzl and his wife’s name was Nisl. This man was ruled by the bad side, he always took what his heart and his eyes desired. Through all his bodily soul, he attached himself to a Christian woman of free morals and slept with her many times. It was the fourth day of the unleavened bread, and the fourth day after the holy Sabbath. She came to see him as usually, in the evening hours. He then got up, hit her and hurt her with forty-two blows before he killed her. She also hurt him, on his cheek and hands.

His wife Nisl had an uncle called Moshe. Mr. Moshe was that night coming back from his prayers in the synagogue and walked in to his son’s house. His son, Mr. Zalman, had his windows across the street from Avraham’s house. Moshe then heard a loud and hurting cry and said to his son: “I can hear someone moaning in the house of Avraham! I bet he is hitting his wife again!” It was known that Avraham had a habit of fighting with his wife and hitting her. So he hastened to run across, but the door was locked! ”Open the door” he yelled while he banged on the door. But Avraham did not obey. When Moshe realized that he didn’t want to open, he walked into the room of his brother-in-law – Mr. Lejba (he was the husband of Avraham’s wife’s sister) and told him everything. Mr. Lejb and Avraham lived in the same house, each in a separate room. Together they walked to the entrance of Lejb’s room that was in the back. Both carried a candle and went to Avraham’s back door. And since every room had a front and a back door, they were banging from both directions.” Who’s banging on the door?” Mr. Lejba answered him: “It is me, Lejba, your brother-in-law!” Mr. Moshe didn’t want to reveal his name. Avraham’s wife was his niece, and he feared that when Avraham knew her uncle was going to help, he would be afraid to let him in. Finally, the door gave in and they entered the room. When they looked around, they saw a woman, whose face was covered by hair. They could not comprehend what was going on. Before they came to their senses, the woman suddenly fell to the floor and they then understood that Avraham had killed her.

Mr. Lejba did not wait for anything and hastened to run to his mother and father, to tell them what their son had done. How horrified his parents were! Then Avraham himself turned up. Father and mother cried out: “What have you done?” “Go to my house and you will see for yourselves!” he answered. Then he ran out of the house and disappeared into the dark of the night.

His mother quickly grabbed some vinegar and alcohol and all trembling set out to Avraham’s house. She washed the murdered woman and she pored vinegar in her mouth to try to rescue her, as she was hoping that she might just be unconscious from all the wounds … But she could not be helped or saved, for her soul had left her, and she was dead. The parents sent for a Christian doctor because they hoped that with the good medication that doctors know, it would help her and the spirit would return her. When the doctor came and saw that she was dead, he looked at her from head to toe. He discovered forty-two wounds that looked like stabs. He said: “This murder could not be the doing of one man! So many wounds must have been done by several people….”

Meanwhile, Mr. Aharon went to Mr. Herz, who was at that time our superiors, and told him everything his son had committed. Mr. Herz shuddered in horror, did not wait for anything, and hurried to the city clerk to tell him everything, for our governor was in the royal city of Vienna. An official sent two Christian men from the city councilor to the site of the crime. They were honest men, faithful to their principles, men who liked the Jews. When the judges came home to Avraham, they saw that the woman lay on the ground and was dead. They sent for her mother and brother, for she had no father any longer. They told them that she had been murdered in a Jewish street and said, “Go to the Jewish Street, take a tub along, put her in and take her away.”

As soon as the mother and brother of the dead woman stepped into the house and saw the body, they burst into a loud cry. They did not have a tub so Mr. Aharon gave them his own, they put her in it and the Christians carried her away. Our dear judges accompanied them and when the relatives cried out loud, they tried to quiet them: “Don’t cry so loud, everybody is fast asleep …” They feared that if the Christians woke up, saw the dead body, they would feel a rage in their hearts and murder all the Jews. Therefore, our judges tried to make them quiet and begged them to let the people sleep. For it was a special providence that the Christians were already asleep and did not wake up until in the morning. The murder occurred at the beginning of the night, and if this fact was known to them at that time, there would not have been a single Jew spared.

And they came with her to the marketplace, and put her in a guardhouse guarded by soldiers. That night the judges led Mr. Lejba to prison because they said, “He was living with Avraham under one roof, so he must have be involved in the murder.” When we heard about the terrible act committed by the murderer, our hearts sank, we fell low in our spirit, and our feast turned into mourning. That night we could not fall asleep, nobody even tried to go to bed, we just sat and wept over the turn of our fate, what had happened to us. It was clear to us that we lost the sympathy of our compatriots. They had always been good to us, wishing us all prosperity. We lived in absolute safety, such that even a small boy could walk alone at midnight, and nothing bad happened to him. Now we feared that the people would gather and destroy both us and our homes …. In the morning, all Christians in the city learned about the matter, and they flared up with great anger. They didn’t think that they would be able to pillage the way they needed to on that very day. There were six hundred men and boys in the Jewish city, and many Christian friends too, that defended us. And they said to one another, “On Sunday is our holiday, we will quietly prepare and wait until people from nearby villages join us. Then we will throw ourselves at the Jews and do with them as we please.“

And so it went day after day, until the fifth day after the Sabbath, when a crowd of people from the countryside and the city had gathered at Avraham’s house. They stared into the windows, looked at the inside of the house, and saw the woman’s blood on the wall. Since she had been standing by the wall at the time of the murder, the wall and the floor were stained with blood. And there was a cloud of wrath in them, and they cried, “There is no point in waiting any longer, lets do the same to the Jews as what they did to her!”

That day the judges arrested Mr. Moshe. When they investigated and interrogated Mr. Lejba and asked him how the abomination had happened, he said that he and Mr. Moshe were both present. That’s why he was arrested. They also took Avraham’s wife Nisl and her sister Devor (Mrs. Lejba’s wife) and locked them up in jail. There was also a woman named Cemach who had come to buy some wine from Mr. Lejba that night, and she saw the woman at Avraham’s house. Avraham shouted at her to go in and the woman came to him. So now Cemach went and told the Jews that Avraham and the woman had spoken that night. And the Jews went to the judges, and they told them all that Cemach had told them. The judges sent for the woman to hear from her what she had told the Jews. But they did not arrest her, they said she was not present at the time of the murder, and so she is innocent. On Friday, Mr. Lejba, his wife and Nisl (wife of Avraham) were released from the prison because the judges and found that they did not participate in the murder.

Since they did not have the power to process such cases and to make death sentences, our judges sent for the judges and counselors of the town of Kroměříž and let them be acquainted with the case. They came, entered the house of Avraham, looked at the blood, and went out again. On the day of Sabbath, they sent for Lejba, and said to him: “Tell us the whole truth without omitting any words. Tell us how this awfully bad thing happened.“ And so he told them everything he saw and did not conceal anything. Mr Lejba added, “If you do not believe me, there is Mr Moše or the maid in Mr. Zalman’s house, too, they were with me and they saw the same thing as me. Ask them, they will testify to you that I am telling the truth.” So they sent for Moses and the maid and asked them, and they confirmed his words. Then the judges from Kroměříž ordered the judges of our city to arrest Mr Moše, the young lady, Mr Lejba, his wife and Nisl. Until it was decided what to do with them. The judges obeyed and did so. On the very day, their superiors commanded them to burry the dead immediately after their departure, and returned to the town of Kroměříž. And the Christians took the old sheet from Avraham’s bed, wrapped her in it, and buried her.

And our enemies hastened to come with false accusation: “Without Christian blood, the Jews can not celebrate their feast of unleavened bread at all!” They spread these false accusations, about many Jews taking part at the murder, stabbing this woman and collecting the blood in cans. This way they flattered the ear of the foolish people that believed every word and due to their ignorance, they could not distinguish between truth and lies. And it did not make any difference that all wise Christians, their priests and their representatives urged people not to listen to these lies. They could not get rid of the hatred from the hearts of the crowd, that continued to succumb to the hate and let themselves be seduced by the words of our enemies. The adversaries of the Jews sent a letter to the city of Brno, the royal city of the land of Moravia, the seat of the noble and honorable princes. All these were seated on our throne by our mighty and good ruler to judge and lead all the people of the country, who were obliged to obey every instruction from their mouths.

The incoming papers were a true copy of what had been confined to the crowd. They did not even put their names, so as not to be identified, for they were aware of the lies they spread. They even accused Mr. Moše that he had given her the last deadly blow. And the songs about it were sung on the marketplaces and in the streets. They rendered a portrait of the dead woman in two different ways. In one she had a beautiful figure and face, in the other she was dead, wounded and covered with blood. These images were made and distributed throughout the country, and there were no settlements to which they would not send them. They were even sent abroad, so that they would bring on an anger and hatred towards the Jews.

On the second day after the Sabbath, on the twenty-third day of the first month (which is nisan), the judges of Kroměříž sent a message to our judges to send over the detained people. In iron chains, as though they were leading them to death. And the judges did so, and sent guards to watch them.

On the third day of their feast, the twenty-fourth day of the month (nisan), the villagers gathered together in hundreds and thousands, joined by many people from the city, and invaded the Jewish quarter. The Jews fled the streets and rushed to their homes to try to secure the door at least, and to block the shutters. But both the burghers and the villagers seized axes and thick sticks. And they pounded with them on the doors and the shutters until they had broken them. They broke the unprotected windows, and where they failed, at least the lead lining was thrown out. In some houses, window frames were broken, even the walls into which they were inserted. They threw big stones into the houses, the stoves were broken, and all the fine china they found in the houses. As soon as the robbers got inside, the Jews fled and hid in the attics and cellars, some found refuge with their Christian friends. And some of them stayed in their houses trying to defend their property, but they could not withstand the big stones that were thrown at them, so they too were soon forced to flee and hide. Both the villagers and the burghers were stealing …. They took all the valuable things, gold, silver, clothes and dishes; in some houses they smashed the candlesticks, in other houses they took them. In some houses they took pillows and duvets and ripped books. But the God of Jisrael is good and looks after us from his heights, so not one person was killed. Only two or three of the Jews who stayed and defended their homes were injured, but not deadly.

And they said to one another, “Now let’s go to the synagogue and do the same as what we have done with their houses!” They all gathered together, came to the door of the women’s room, and broke the door and the doorway. From here, they climbed the stairs to the lower gallery, and then higher, to the upper women’s gallery. There, the crowd turned and walked through a wooden wall that separated the female and male floor areas. People penetrated men’s quarters, smashed the red-painted columns that stood next to the stairs and joined the hall of the main, lower hall for the men with the upper men’s compartments. Through the door they then reached the upper male prayer room. Beside the steps leading to the sanctuary, two columns stood on the left and on the right, as the precept of the sanctuary. The column on the left side they destroyed. They stole the temple curtain that hung in front of the tabernacle, they took the coils of the Torah from the ark, pulled the coats and the coins from it, and then took it with them. They tore the texts of praise and prayers hanging on the walls. But they did not get into any of the rooms for women, they did not get into the upper, the lower, or the main inferior prayer room for men, they only broke the outside, and the lower windows they broke with stones, the higher windows they broke with sticks. And it was said that the Christians, who loved the Jews, stood up to the crowd and did not allow him to enter the main, lower hall.

Destruction and pillaging lasted about two hours, then ceased. But even after all they had done to us, they were not ready to leave. They stayed in our streets, the newcomers joined the villagers, and we did not understand what was going on. The Jews left their homes with broken doors and shutters, for they feared the peasants standing on the street; that they will gather for the second time, slaughter them, and take the last thing that is left to them. They went to hide into fortified houses, whose doors, shutters and barriers could not be broken easily, and the windows of which were covered with lattices, carried away what was left and locked themselves inside.

The villagers still hung around in the streets when a man on horseback appeared suddenly, it was one of the soldiers of Her Majesty, our ruler, the beloved queen. He came to the Jewish street and screamed at our countrymen: “Get up and leave the Jewish streets! Go home! The commander of the village of Pravčice will come here, and he has with him sixty brave warriors, trained to fight. They have rifles in their hands to defend the Jews. Leave them alone, or you will upset the commander and then you will surely regret it!” Suddenly, one of the villagers swung the ax over his head and wanted to strike him. As the soldier saw it, he flared with anger, pulled the rifle from his shoulder, and the with the bayonet stabbed him right next to his eye. His clothes were covered with blood. When the villagers saw what the soldier had done to one of them, they shouted, “Have you seen what the man did to him? He killed one of us because of the Jews! “And the wounded raised his voice and called,” That’s why I shed blood on them! You won’t let my soul rest without vengeance, will you? “ And we heard it all, hiding in the houses that gave us shelter, and we were trembling.” They will kill all of us, we will all die now, for the villagers will surely avenge their brother’s shed blood,” we said. We did not know that he was not dead but just wounded. Then the crowd rushed to kill the soldier, but he escaped them and hid in the house of one of the judges, and then saved his life by escaping to the house of a Christian priest.

Then the commander of the company appeared with his men; sixty men trained to fight. He was calming us down when he spoke to our hearts: “Do not fear the villagers and do not be scared, my men and I are ready to defend you.” He divided the patrols and set them on guard in the Jewish streets to watch them day and night. Even the house that was on the very end of the town and close to the fields. The villagers often came this way from their fields, so the house was transformed into a guardhouse with twenty soldiers, and fourteen gunmen were patrolling access to the city. We paid and fed them. The Jews guarded the streets in the night; at sometimes they were twenty at other thirty men. Later they watched the streets, night after night, without the assistance of their troops, until the Shavuot feast.

Because there was a rumor that our enemies wanted to burn down the Jewish quarter, no Jews stay to sleep behind the broken doors and shutters of their houses. They were sleeping on the floor in the houses of their friends, four or five families crowded with their children. Some Christians still frightened us and said, “Just you wait when they com down from the villages in the mountains! They are more than fifty and have weapons to fight with. And what they will do to you, you have not even experienced from us!” And we were terrified and afraid, and we told the soldiers who guarded us. They replied: “Do not be afraid of the villagers, and do not get depressed. Even if there was three thousand of them, we would overcome them.”

A gentleman from the town of Olomouc region heard about the evil that the villagers caused us and it made him very upset. He was a merciful man, and a seeker of justice, who disapproved of injustice, and he was fond of the Jewish people. He sent his mediator to see for himself and thoroughly inquire what had been done to us. It was the twenty-sixth day of the month (nisan), the fifth day after Holy Sabbath when he came to us and walked through our streets and visited every house.

When he saw the terrible damage they had caused us, he was very surprised and told himself that it had to be caused by a terrible anger. He entered the synagogue to see what they had done there. Just as he entered, we prayed Jehi Racon, a prayer following the book of Psalms. Since the end of the feast, we prayed one of the five Psalms every morning and in the evening. When he heard how we cried and how we called for the help of the Most Mighty, he was so touched that he wanted to cry. Eventually he could not take it anymore and had to go out. Then he went to the house of judges to hear from them what they had to say about the accusations that our enemies spread about the Jews. Our judges had unanimously agreed that it was no more than mere lies. Only one man called out that the Jews are guilty. This man who sat in to the council hated all the Jews and he tried throw bad light on them in front of this gentleman. But when our gentleman heard what the man had said, he flared up with anger, and said to him, “Get up from your seat, and leave this council, because you are unfair to the Jews!” And he removed him from the list of people of this council, once and for all.

When the gentleman saw that we were giving the soldiers their reward from our own pocket, he did not like it and said to us: “You are unnecessarily cheating on yourself and wasting your money. You better listen to my advice: Keep six of them in the streets and the others can withdraw to the house on the market where they normally stay. The soldiers have always stayed there, so you will not have to pay such a reward. If the villagers gather and attack your streets, it will suffice when they hear the voices of the few guards with drums and rifle shots. And they will make the rest of the soldiers come out of the house at the marketplace, so that they can come to your rescue. And the Jews followed his advice.

The villagers also gathered in the town of Přerov. They did the same thing to the homes of the Jews, to their windows and their doors that had been done to ours and they stole their property. They did the same with the villages in the circle of three leagues. Also in the town of Kromeriz, Christian youngsters gathered, and were about to assault the Jewish streets and to do the same as crowds had done everywhere else. But there was a Christian priest who liked the Jews very much, he followed justice, and hated meanness. And this man showed us great goodness. He instructed the teachers there: “I ask you to show me if you have enough authority with your students! Keep them in their classrooms; prevent evil and the plundering of the Jewish streets!” The teachers obeyed him, summoned the students, and said clearly to all, “Stop the looting and plundering in the Jewish streets!” And they discouraged them until the students abandoned their intentions and left the Jews alone.

Our town could not be attacked from the outside, because it was surrounded by walls and guarded by its army. But it also meant that our people were trapped inside. It was impossible to get out of town and whoever tried it, met with hostility and stones slung at him. They beat us with sticks, so we were unable to look after ourselves, our wives or our little ones.

In the royal town Brno lived a man named Eliezer. He was a Jew and he was our Land representative. Because in the past, the Jewish community would choose one representative who then defended their interests and represented them before the government in matters that required it. Mr. Eliezer was a wise and reasonable man, who avoided getting in trouble. That’s why the Lord arranged his mercy in the eyes of the noble of the country, and they showed him their favor and liked him. As soon as the accusatory letters (which our enemies were spreading) arrived, the masters were very angry because they loved mercy and they loved the truth. And they thought to themselves: “The murder was committed in the middle of the city! Why didn’t the Jews get the killer themselves? This way it looks like they are all guilty since they let the killer escape.” And they told our deputy, “We hear from all sides about the terrible abomination of the innocent blood you shed in the middle of the city!“ He replied: “God is the witness that my people would ever be capable of such cruelty to a living being, only one man is a murderer, and the others are not guilty.” The gentlemen said to him, “It is easy to prove, let the Jews choose a man amongst them who will go after the murderer until he is arrested and stands in court. Then we will be sure that they speak the truth and they will not have to worry about anything. They will live and trade peacefully in this country. But, if they refuse to chase him, it will be the evidence that all the Jews were involved in the murder, and that they chose to blame one man to keep themselves out of suspicion. If that is the case, we know what will happen with them.”

This is when our deputy realized that we were in danger and he knew that until the murderer had been caught it would not be good. The message of the rulers could not have been clearer: “Show him before us!” So, he hurried and wrote a letter. We received it at dawn, the sixth day after Holy Sabbath, on the twenty-seventh day of the month. And these are the words that he sent to the Jewish Superiors: “You must know that the rulers of this country are greatly disconcerted by the act of the man who had behaved so poorly that he has killed a citizen. Only one thing can reconcile us with the ruler. That is if you hunt down the murderer and put him in front of a jury, in such case you will be left in peace. But if you do not do that, I’m afraid that you will then approach the gates of death, and the entire Israeli community will be hated. Listen to me now and save your life: Get up and be strong. Act like soldiers, chase him and do not stop until you get him. Then you and the whole of Israeli people will live in peace.” Also, the Jewish representation of the country asked us in a letter, that anyone who knew where the fugitive had escaped would immediately announce the matter. If he fails to report, he will be arrested and will dearly pay for his sin.

People were confused and could not decide the way they should take. Would it be better to give him to them? Or will it be better if they defend him? People split into two camps. Some said, “We advise not to give him out. For as soon as Avraham comes before them and sees that he will not be saved from death, his wrath will flare up like fire. No doubt he will think: Is this how my people treat me? Are these my brothers? They did not take pity over my soul, they did not save my life, instead they drove me to death. Now I will repay them anyway, and I will die together with them! “ And before the jury he will say, “Why should I die by myself? Did not the entire Jewish city help me? They murdered as much as I did! “

And then there was the other camp who said this was not a good advice. For if we refuse to persecute him, the judges will surely say, “This proves that the celebration of the feast of unleavened bread with the blood of Christians has been the custom of the people of ISRAEL for ages. The Jews have put their fate into their own hands. Therefore, they were reluctant to give him out, even though they stood at the very gates of death, because he acted according to the commandments of their faith and habits, with their permission and according to their law. And then the Jews in this city will suffer, and with them all the Jews in all corners of the earth for salvation will not be for them in the whole diaspora. Therefore, let us now listen to the words of the ruler, let os obey their regulations – let us go after him until he is caught. We shall summon all strength of our people, and the Lord will do what he sees appropriate. He who always finds the answer to our affliction, grants us grace in the face of the mighty, and softens their hearts, judges His people righteously. And the governors themselves are merciful and kind, and they will not wish to shed blood. Even if Avraham spoke against us, they would not listen to him and trust his words, for they would know that he was uttering them in wrath and vengeance.”

Supporters of the persecution soon prevailed over the opponents (for there was more of them), and two of the men offered to hunt down the fugitive. It was Mr. David and Mr. Tovje. They saddled two horses and the governor supplied them with the necessary documents. In every and each town and village that they would visit, the judges should be helpfull to them. Whether the fugitive is found by Jews or Christians, they should hand him over to these two men.

Meanwhile, Avraham tried to save himself from escaping into the country of Hungary. On the night of the murder he escaped to the village called Veselá and then to a village called Kamenná Lhotka. There he shaved his beard so that no one knew he was a Jew and so that no one would imagine that he was the killer. Then he escaped to the village of Štítná and then to Bošic to his aunt, his mother’s sister. It was the last day of the unleavened bread.

And that night both his aunt and her husband had the same dream. They saw the aunt’s father and mother that had long been dead, and they told them about everything that had happened to their grandson Avraham in Holešov. As they awoke from sleep, they felt totally depressed and terrified.

It was after the holidays, and Avraham went to the river Vah, close to his aunt’s house. He stood there looking for a ship or other craft that would take him to the other side. When his aunt saw what he was about to do, she got alarmed. “Once across the water, he will be able to walk many miles a day” she said. “And when they come to get him, who knows where they will find him.” She tried to confuse him with her words her words, and she said, “Do not try to cross the river! It will take you up to the heights and then it will drop you into the deep water, do not let your soul disappear in that depth! Until now, no one has been looking for you, your pursuers have surely given up the search. Nobody knows where to look for you. Stay at my place for a couple of days, we will find out what really happened in your town and you can then make a decission”.[1] He trusted her words and he returned with her, just the way she wanted him to do. And the Lord opened his heart to her temptation, so that he would be caught. The Lord had taken compassion on his people and he didn’t want more blood to be lost.

There was a certain Mr. Menele, who was the brother of the husband of Avraham’s aunt. When they came to him, he got terrified, and he asked them why they came to him on the Sabbath day. When they had told him everything, Mr. Menele did not wait for anything, sat down, and although it was a Saturday, he wrote to his brother. These are the words: “Hear me my brother in all that I write to you! Do not let Avraham come out of the door of your house or do not hide him. Just put him in the hands of the two men who will come to you. Do not exchange the lives of all the Jews in the city of Holešov for his life!” The persecutors took the message and rode to the village of Bošice.

As they arrived, Avraham stood outside. As soon as he looked up he saw the two riding men approaching on the horses, and he said to himself: “The reason why they’re riding on a Sabbath is that they’re coming for me!” And he ran inside the house, found a barrel in one room, and hid under it.

In the meantime, the two men entered the house and told his aunt and her husband what had happened to their town due to Avraham. And the man and his wife said to them, “We knew all that before you came.” “How could you know, are you some prophets?” The pursuers wondered. So they told them of the dream that both had dreamt and the men in turn gave them the message that Mr. Menele wrote to his brother. And the man and his wife said, “We have seen him in the other rooms, perhaps he is hiding there.” And they searched for him and found him hiding under the barrel. The guards grabbed him, tied him up with a rope, set him on a borrowed cart and took him back to our town.

Back home in Holešov on the Sabbath day, the twenty-eighth day of the month (nisan), we were just reading in our book of Law by our teacher Moshe, the way it should be done on a Sabbath. When suddenly we heard a cry from our streets and the cries grew stronger and closer, spreading throughout the synagogue. Everyone who was there got horrified, swirling Torah scrolls, running out and running to their homes. But these newcomers were not here to hurt us. On the contrary, the Governor had sent them to protect us. The words of the Law were fulfilled among us: “You will run away, even if no one will chase you.”

As soon as we ate a little, there was a letter from our land representative. This is his wording, “Woe to the lives of many, if you do not bring that murderer! Our young people, children, women, they all are in danger. Tomorrow, therefore, two of the leaders of our community will come to me and together we will discuss what to do in the case of emergency and threat.” When the fruit needs to come out, but there is no strength in the mother.” These words and the consciousness of what was going on turned us all pale with horror, and we all hugged with shaking hands. Gone was the pleasant mood of the Sabbath, instead words of the book of the Law appeared in our minds: “And thy life shall be ashamed before thee, and thou shalt fear in the night and in the day, and thou shalt not be sure of thy life.” The next day two men from our community went to our representative in Brno. Immediately upon arrival, they heard of all the anger that the rulers directed at us. And about the hostility of the local people, so they were afraid to leave the house of the representative so that the crowd did not attack and kill them.

On that day, the judges of our town received a letter from the superiors of Kromeriz. They ordered him to send them Mr. Aharon and his wife Rejzl (parents of Avraham), and our judges obeyed them. They arrested Mr Aharon and his wife, guarding them until midnight, before they decided to transfer them to Kroměříž. There, the judges thoroughly interviewed them and investigated them. When they found that their words were true, good and just, they left them to leave in peace. The woman returned to her house that night, Mr Aharon was released on the third day just after noon.

In those days, a Polish renegade lived in Brno. (Jacob Frank) He got to believe that the Jew Shabtaj Cvi, the convert of Ishmael, was Messiah of Jacob’s God and then he turned to the Christian faith. The Polish Christians noticed that he was not faithful to their law, so they put him in prison, and left him there for many days. When our emperor Josephus (the son of our ruler Her Majesty the Queen Maria Theresa) took over parts of Poland, he begged him to release him and accept him as a supporter of their faith. Our Emperor took pity on him and let him out of the prison. He then left and settled down in Brno. When he heard all the accusations that our enemies spread about us, he readily added to the fire: “Being a former Jew, I know best that Jews can not celebrate the feast of unleavened bread if they do not have Christian blood.” He sent two renegades to our city, who were his followers and they were living with him in Brno. Like him, the two of them were skilled in the Jewish tradition. They arrived on the first day after the holy Sabbath, in the evening. Under the veil of the night, they went to the judges and the scribe of the city, and told them all these lies. But the judges and the city scribe got angry at them, saying, “You should be ashamed of yourselves! “ And they slandered them and drove them out of the door. And what more, the judges and the scribe told the Jews everything in the morning everything, and as a reliable proof of the whole thing they wrote a report on the matter. Then they put a seal on it and gave it to the Jews to defend themselves against these lies in front of the rulers and the judges of this country.

On the first day of the second month, that is, the month of the ijar, it was just four hours after midnight when the pursuers returned. Throughout the city they immediately declared that they were leading Avraham held by guards. They brought him two hours later, tied up with a rope, and led him through the marketplace to the town hall. And the judges commanded the city guards to arrest him and put him in prison.

All of sudden we felt revitalized, for we said, “Now the rulers will know, and all who are righteous that our hands are clean of blood, and that he was the only murderer. They will believe us, for we have brought him and set him up before their court.” The scapegoats saw that they were unable to stand before the judges, and now that the murderer was brought in, they understood that they had nothing in their hands to hurt us anymore. So they left and went where they came from, to the city of Brno.

About two hours later, two top-level officials from Brno arrived and looked for Christian judges from the town hall, as well as the Jewish leaders from the council. They wanted to arrest them and take them to Brno, because they said that they had let Avraham escape! Just as they were raising the accusation, the city judges answered, “The Jews have brought him at this very moment.” And the officials said only, “That’s good.” And had no other commentary.

Just before noon, the guard together with the official brought Avraham, who they tied up in chains and put on a carriage. The carriage was accompanied by thirty soldiers heavily armed to ward off the crowd from the prisoner. Once they arrived to Kroměříž, the crowd was so thick that the carriage could not continue and the soldiers were busy making the way. Two important officials arrived from Brno at the same time.

To begin with, they put Avraham in prison before the judges called him in to the town hall. They then asked him why he had done it, why he had killed a person and who else was guilty.” It was not me! I was in the synagogue and when I had returned from there, I found her at my house in bed with a soldier that I did not know at all. He got up abruptly and killed her! I tried to save her but he started to attack me with a sword. I have wounds in my face and on my hand that are the testimony!” so they asked him: “Why did you run away then?” He answered: “I was afraid that since the dead girl was found in my house, everybody would think I was the guilty one and they would kill me!” So, they put him back into the prison for another day and night.

On the third day of the second month, everybody was called in to the High court in Brno. The arrested persons travelled in heavy chains, that were even heavier than what they had in Kroměříž. They were chained inside three carriages. Avraham was put in a separate carriage. Around his neck he had a metal ring which stopped him from turning his head and another ring was around his torso. In Brno they were yet again thrown into a prison, where they each sat in a separate, dark cubicle. Avraham’s wife Nisl was eight months pregnant.

When we heard about all the arrested people being transferred to Brno, we got depressed, imagining them getting the death sentence. We feared that they might confess involvement in the killing if they would be tortured. That kind of suffering might make at least one of them lose their mind. In this state of madness, they might tell things on their Jewish brothers that never happened nor had ever entered anybody’s heart. At this point we realized that the real cause of all these problems was hidden in our hearts. Our own sins were the real cause of all this persecution.

We started a fast and called a big meeting. It was the fifth day after Sabbath, fourth day of the month. Old and young arrived, all men – from thirteen-year old boys and all women came. Who knows? Hopefully our lord will take pity on us and change his plans. That he will still his anger and doesn’t let us all die. We all called to him:” Dear Lord, don’t let us die because of this man! Don’t blame us for the sins of others!” We intertwined the prayer of eighteen blessings (between the “Goel” and “Rofe” blessings with prayers of forgiving, the way it should be done to be proper. When we left the Assembly house, we went to the graves of the most righteous and dedicated rabbis in the country and continued to pray there. Those of us that felt it in their heart and were generous, gave money to the poor, according to their ability.

The same day that the judges informed us about the renegades, we sent out men from our town to Brno, to warn our representative about the mean plans of the converts. We did the same thing when Avraham was brought to town. We sent a messenger to our defender to inform him about the captured man. When the messenger arrived in Brno it was almost midnight. He immediately informed our defender and our representative about the state of things. Both were happy and said: “Now our Lord has given us a chance.” Our defender did not wait for the morning but hastened to inform the authorities. This stopped their anger and they looked at things from a different angle.

After these incidents our dear ruler the Majesty Queen, sent letters to all Moravian regions. In these, there were instructions to all judges and authorities to protect Jews. Anybody who might try to harm Jews will be given fines. Her son, our Emperor, supported her words and gave out same instructions as his mother, the Queen. Many of those who had been robbing and steeling, were now forced to return our property or to replace it. Not much was returned though, since it was hard to prove who the culprit was.

But not even all this stopped the village people being nasty. There was once a Jew who had to leave the town so that he could make a living with his own hands and this man nearly lost his life. The villagers threw stones at him and beat him hard with sticks, so that he almost died. But our Lord did not let him die.

Two representatives from our community went therefore to Olomouc, to ask the Governor to protect us from the villagers and to make them friendlier towards us. He said to them: “Fear no more. I will send a letter to all regions to warn them from harming you.” And he was very angry at the mayor of our town, who had not stopped the looting. He wanted to take him to Brno to have him under arrest there. Our representatives asked the Governor to forgive, so he listen to them and said: “I will respect your wish and I won’t do as I planned”. He wrote him a letter instead, in which he demanded that there would not be any more persecution of the Jews. Apart from that he sent out a message to all villages and towns in the region, with a warning that anybody who would kill a Jew will without any exceptions be hung from the nearest tree.

But the hearts of the villagers had turned hard and none of this made a difference and their hands were always ready to strike. On the other hand, most of the Queen’s and the Emperor’s officials had changed their ways. Because those that governed the country knew that we were honest people and therefore they offered us justice. Naturally, there were exceptions that were of different opinion, but they had little power. But we were protected by their superiors. We were the slaves, but our Lord did not leave us in our misery. And he fulfilled the words of the Old Testament, that he had given to Moses: “Yet even if they were in the land of their enemies, I would not forsake them, and have not made them come to perish, and to break my covenant with them; I’m the Lord, their God.”

Meanwhile the documents that accused us and had been sent to the royal town of Brno, had now reached the royal town of Vienna, to the Deputy. At the same time, the judges and the officials had sent their letter, in which they described the way things really happened. So, the Deputy asked the officials to protect the Jews from the masses and he also promised that he would come to town personally. These were great news to us. The deputy had always been good to us, took pity on the poor and lend them money. We were hoping to stay in his protective shade and if necessary he would protect us from a certain death.

But when the Deputy finally arrived, he was first met by our enemies. They told ugly lies about us and awoke his anger towards us. In the end he almost believed all they said. At this point our representatives arrived and begged him: “Dear Mr. Deputy, please come and save us and make justice between us and the villagers, who had destroyed our homes and taken our property!” He answered them: “How dare you asking for compensation? You should be grateful that you are alive, that should be your property!”

Seeing that he had lost his fondness for us, our people were astonished and frightened: “Why this sudden change? Why does he act like an enemy now? Our hopes about him helping us were gone….” He was obviously acting this way due to all the badmouthing by our enemies. Further he was annoyed that he had a killer in his region. But once we had proved to him that we were innocent he would come back to his senses.

It was the first day after Sabbath the thirteenth day in the month, when the Christians started to dig at the end of the Jewish street. The ditch was on one side on the border of the garden owned by the Christian pharmacist and on the other side there was a field. This is where they dug up a disembodied head. There was no knowing whether it was buried there many years ago or if was taken from a grave and placed there intentionally. Our enemies were celebrating: “The day that we have been waiting for has finally come! This is a head of a Christian that has been killed by the Jews!” Lot of people came to scrutinize the skull.

Mr. Herz, the Governor of our village, went to the judges to tell them about the accusations they had come with and which were purely in the minds of our opponents. Then the judges went to the place of the skull and saw how many people were there. And the judges mocked them, and said to them, “Why are ye doing this? Why do you put another blame on the Jews?” But the peasant people did not listen to them; they heard a different voice. The voice of the whole city: “They found the head of a Christian that the Jews had slaind!” There was a great crowd gathering at that place, when somebody left, others replaced him. Eventually, one woman grabbed the head, wrapped it in her scarf, and ran to show it to the Christian priest to show him what the Jews had done. But the priest got angry with her: “When will you finally get rid of the lies? And you ought to be ashamed of those shameful things that come out of your mouth! How can you tell if it is the skull of a Christian and not a Jew? And how do you know if he was murdered or if he simply just died? Moreover, it is obvious that he was buried there a long time ago. They also found coins next to the skull, that were hundred and fifty-five years old. So the woman put the skull again in the scarf, had it with her all night, and took it to to the governor the next day. But he picked up the skull and said to the woman, “Go home ….”

So the Governor understood that all the accusations were just lies. And as a sign of goodwill, he gave us the glass to repair the windows of the synagogue, and the same to our poor. On top of that, he gave fifty shek (old measurement) of wheat to the poor.

At that time, a document that was two hundred years old was found at Kyjov’s municipal court. It was a message from the Emperor and the Pope of that time, written in their historical language. And it testified that the Jews did not use Christian blood. The Jews who were present, asked the magistrates whether they would be willing to copy it and sign the seal that they really came from the Emperor and the Pope. And they did. When the Jews sent the copy, we were very pleased. We immediately sent it to the powerful men of law.

Following these events, the Governor decided to return to the Royal City of Vienna. He summoned all the city judges and urged them to be a refuge for the Jews, to guard them and to protect them from all evil. Then he went to Brno, where he arrived at evening time, and he went to the local government that night. There he spoke about Mr. Moses, that he was a blameless and honest man who had not been guilty of anything all his life. And then he went to Vienna.

After this, all the arrested people were put in front of the court in Brno. There they were thoroughly interrogated about the whole event. And they told the same things that they had already said in Holešov and Kroměříž. Then they brought in Avraham so that he would not meet the other prisoners. He insisted on his testimony, did not deviate from what he had already uttered in Kroměříž.

On the Sabbath day, on the nineteenth day of the month, the gentlemen asked our city judges to bring to justice both Aharon and his wife, and also the wife of Cemach. So they ordered them to go. On the first day after the holy Sabbath, on the twentieth day of the month, they set out on the road to Brno, where they on the same day as they arrived, stood in front of the tribune. They questioned them, their story was examined, and they answered with openess and honesty. So the judges realized that they were telling the truth; that they had not sinned and decided that they could return home to Holešov. They arrived to our town in peace, it was the fourth day after the holy Sabbath, the twenty-third day of the month.

The day before, the third day after the holy Sabbath, on the twenty-second day of the month, the lords brought to justice all the arrested. Together with Avraham, they would testify in each other’s presence. And the judges said to Avraham, “Here, tell us how it happened, in front of everybody.” And Avraham continued to say what he had said all the time before. Then they called the other arrested witnesses: “Tell us how it was.” And they all told them, step by step.

On the sixth day after the Sabbath, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, the tribune commanded Moses and Mr. Lejba to take the Torah scrolls and swear that they only uttered truth and nothing else. And to testify that there was no soldier in Avraham’s room, but only Avraham himself. And they did so. Then they led them back to the arrest, and left only Avraham in the court building.

The guard struck him six times with a strong belt, to make him honest and to confess. When he beat him, Avraham cried out, “Let me go, leave me! I’ll confess, I’ll tell the truth! “And he called to him, “Speak! “ “I slept with her,” Avraham said. “She came to me and wanted 50 gold. I did not want to give it to her … She threatened to sleep with a Christian, and then tell everyone that she was expecting a baby with me. When I heard it, I grabbed her hair and knocked her down in anger. But she got up, took the knife that was on the floor and wanted to kill me. She swung the knife against me and injured my face and hands. In fear of life, I grabbed the ax and cut at everything I had in my reach. That way I caused her all the injuries and cuts you saw, and so I killed her.”

When the judges heard his confession, it was clear that he had killed her alone, and that the Jews were innocent. And they released the captives from the prison, and freed them from the chains. Each of them received into their hands a document where it was clearly written and signed by the judges that they were innocent in this the matter.

When they were released, it was the sixth day after the holy Sabbath. They went to their local friends and stayed with them during Saturday. Next day they travelled to Kroměříž in a covered carriage. Two local Jews immediately hurried to tell everyone that the captives were coming and that they were in Kroměříž. Our enemies immediately began to threaten that if Mr. Moses would return to his house, they would kill him. But when they came the next day, in broad daylight, nobody opened their mouth. For, when they saw them, the fear of God had fallen upon them before the great deliverance in Jezreel, which they did not believe in before. And the faithful and abominable gentlemen have shown us one more grace. They let print a notice where the confession was clearly and fully stated. So that the accusation of us may be taken away so that those who lie will shut their mounths and stop their nasty plans.

On the eleventh day of the third month, that is, the month of Sivan, on the Sabbath day, they took Abraham from the cell and presented him before the jury.” You are the son of death,” they told him, and made a verdict: He would be beheaded, the head put on a spear and the body would be intertwined in a wheel. When Abraham heard the verdict, he wrote a testament for his household, in the language of the Christians. And these are his words:

“Beloved Father and Mother, I beg you to forgive me, forgive me my sins against you so far. And you, my three sisters, I wish all my sins against you would be gone. And you, my wife Nisl, my beloved, I wish I could take back what I did to you. Please take care of the baby for me, it does not matter if it’s a boy or a girl. It will be my remnant on earth, and my name will not be erased from Jisrael. If he is already born, I wish much luck to his birth! And please arrange this for me: let two men study instead for me during two whole years – Mr. Beer Dajan and Mr. Pinchas Lejba. Two other men, the husbands of my sisters, may they forgive me for all the bad I had done to them. Mr. Mordecai, the son of Mr. Avrell, may he forgive me that I hit him in the face. And also, Mr. Lejba, my sister’s husband, may he forgive me the sins I had commited to him. It’s so terribly difficult for me to think of you, the Jewish brothers, my neighbors. When I think about those losses of property, all the damages you suffered because of me. I beseech you, please, forgive me.” He also thought about it, and wrote how much he owed to whome, who owed him, and ordered to balance the debts from his money.

And Abraham turned to his God, with all his heart, and with all his soul. From the day he returned to the prison in Brno, he fasted for three days and three nights. From the first day after the Sabbath to the fourth day, he ate in the night. Then, for three days, day and night he fasted until the Sabbath. And he did this until his death. On the fourth day after the Sabbath, on the twenty-first day of the month, the judges told him that he would die on the Sabbath (that is, the twenty-fifth day of the month).

And Abraham sent his servant to bake bread, to cook meat and fish, and to buy him wine and to send it to worship during the Sabbath. And the servant did so. On the sixth day after the holy Sabbath, Avraham washed himself in warm water and put on the garment of the dead, that is, the shroud from white cloth. When Saturday night came, he welcomed the Sabbath and, with love and joy, he blessed the cup of wine. Then, without any fear he lay down to sleep.

On the Sabbath day, they led him in a shroud behind the city to the place of the execution. When they came to this place, the executioner swung the sword, and Avraham said, “The Lord is God, hear Jisrael, our God our Lord, God is one!” And the executioner severed his head from his body and his soul immediately left his body. Then he speared his head on a lance and twined his body in a wheel. And his spirit returned to God his donor He who had received him to eternal life life.

On the next day, Avraham’s wife Nisl gave birth to a boy. Like his father, his name in Jisrael was Avraham.

[1]The author doesn’t want to imply that Avraham admitted what he had done to his aunt. The aunt only knew the truth thanks to her dream. Avraham had probably told her that he was innocent.