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Luxembourg
FAUSTO GARDINI
NICHOLAS GONNER AND THE JEWS
- DRAFT
JACKSONVILLE, AUGUST 2015
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The second comment in the Luxemburger in der neuen Welt is found on page 82 and addresses purported
calamities in dealing with Jews. (Translation):
It is true that the peasantry is not yet as deeply in debt and worse off than in other parts of
Germany and Austria, but the ruin closes in; the middle class shrinks more and more. Chamber and
government do a lot to improve farming; but these are drops on blistering rocks. As deficient as the
notarial legislation in the Grand Duchy is, it is still better to borrow from a notary than from Jews
as the people in the Eifel and Lorraine areas do. Foreclosures are common in Luxembourg, but,
thank God! much scarcer than in the Trier region and in the lands of the (German) empire. Though
the cattle borrowing practice is still little known to the sons of Israel in the Grand Duchy, the
descendants of the chosen people are increasing rapidly, and that is a bad, very bad sign. Only a few
Jews in a Canton suffice to reduce soon the people to extreme poverty because their moral code is
different than that of the Christians3.
Though clearly anti-Semite the second assertion in the book pales in comparison with the campaign
that Gonner conducted in his Luxemburger Gazette in 1887-1888; with ramifications on the other side of
the Atlantic. A list of the most antagonistic articles in the Luxemburger Gazette of that period includes:
January 3, 1888:
Dangerous Power of Judaism4
In Luxembourg the Luxemburger Wort newspaper quoted in its editions of January 4 and January 5,
1888 two articles from Gonners Dubuque 1887 Luxemburger Gazette: Gefhrlichkeit der Juden (Danger
of the Jews) which contains such statements as:
Franzosen 1,313. Unter den sonstigen Eingewanderten fanden sich 496 Italiener; 74 Schweizer; 34 Englnder; 68
Niederlnder; 5 Schweden und Norweger; 21 Russen und 15 Amerikaner; aus dem brigen Europa 5, nebst 262
Personen, deren Staatsangehrigkeit nicht ermittelt ist. Bis auf 1,141 Protestanten, 866 Juden und 173 Personen, die
keiner Religion angehren oder deren Bekenntni nicht ermittelt wurde, bekannten sich alle Uebrigen zum rmischkatholischen Glauben.
3 Nicholas Gonner Luxemburger in der neuen Welt, Dubuque, Iowa 1889, page 82 - Original German text:
Richtig ist, da der Bauernstand noch nicht so tief verschuldet und gesunken ist, als in andern Theilen Deutschland's
und Oesterreich's, aber der Untergang zieht heran; der Mittelstand schwindet mehr und mehr. Kammer und Regierung
thun viel zur Hebung der Landwirthschaft; aber es sind Tropfen auf dem heien Steine. So sehr mangelhaft die notarielle
Gesetzgebung im Groherzogthum auch, ist immer ist es noch besser, beim Notar als beim Juden borgen, wie es der
Eifeler und Lothringer thut. Die Zwangsverkufe sind hufig im Luxemburgischen, aber, Gott sei Dank! noch viel
seltener, als im Regierungsbezirk Trier und den Reichslanden. Ist auch der Viehborg beim Sohne Israels im
Groherzogthum noch wenig bekannt, so mehren sich doch die Nachkommen des auserwhlten Volkes zusehends, und
das ist ein schlimmes, sehr schlimmes Zeichen. Wenige Juden in einem Canton gengen, das Volk in Blde an den
Bettelstab zu bringen, da ihr Moralecodex ein anderer, als der des Christen ist.
4 Luxemburger Gazette - Original German titles:
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How serious the Jewish danger is can therefore no longer be in doubt, after one has proved again
that all their aspirations are directed toward eradicating Christianity, subjugating the world and
establishing Jewish world domination.
Nitwits may be startled by this revelation but all educated folks of all nations are beginning to see
the danger, and are looking for advice and help in order to protect the Christian peoples from the
Jews barbarism5.
The article Die Juden, die Knige unserer Welt (The Jews, the Kings of our World) contains such
statements as:
The Jews are lap babies of the rich Jewish press which always materializes everywhere in defense of
'their people' with all its power and insolence6.
In Luxemburg the publication of the two articles led to a grievance filed by the local Rabbi, Dr.
Blumenstein, and a lawsuit referred to at the time as Judenproze (Jews Trial). The editor of the paper,
Andr Welter, acknowledged his responsibility for publishing the incriminated articles; with his defense
attorney, Philippe Bech, postulating, among other disturbing statements, that: it is the first time that such a
trial will be conducted in this country. Already for years in the press of all countries a struggle against Judaism has been waged.
The fight has been continuing for centuries. More than 300 works have been written about this fight. The result thereof is not in
favor of the Jews. The morality that is included in the Talmud and Shulhan Arukh (small Talmud. German: set table), is
a very dangerous one and it totally legitimates societys struggle against Judaism7.
The trial began on June 5, 1888 with the sentence rendered almost a year later, on April 2, 1889; on
which day the Luxemburger Wort published the following article. (Translation)
Luxembourg, April 3. Yesterday afternoon the local police court rendered the judgment in the case
brought against our paper in the so-called Judenproze, which had been delayed for more than a full
year creeping along from one session to another. The responsible editor was being sued in this
affair, which, we do not know exactly why, was adjourned a total of 13 times. The judgment in first
instance is: The accused editor Welter is fined 500 francs. He further must bear the costs of the trial
and publish the verdict in the Luxemburger Wort. We have no comments as regards the sentence
of the court, may however include here the words of the famous University Professor Dr. Rohling,
from a hand-written letter regarding the trial. Dr. Rohling wrote verbatim: The editor, who wrote or
published the two articles, which are totally true, deserves a merit medal rather than a punishment. As stated
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above we acknowledge the first-instance judgment and hope that Rabbi Dr. Blumenstein will now
be satisfied and reassured8.
The articles published by Nicholas Gonner as well as the transcripts from the trial in Luxembourg
reveal an overwhelming dependence on the writings of the most virulent anti-Semites of the nineteenth
century, the ground workers for the twentieth century World War II catastrophe and its indescribable
atrocities. Besides the aforementioned August Rohling (1839-1931), a fierce anti-Semite; hatemongers cited
include French utopian socialist Alphonse Toussenel (1803-1885); romantic poet Petrus Borel (Joseph-Pierre
Borel dHauterive)-(1809-1859) and politician douard Drumont; Russian judeophobes Jacob (Iakov
Aleksandrovich) Brafmann (1825-1879) and Kalikst De Wolski (1816-1884); German politician Heinrich
Gotthardt von Treitschke (1834-1896), who first coined the phrase Die Juden sind unser Unglck (The Jews
are our misfortune), a catchphrase that became the slogan for Julius Streicher (1885-1946) national socialist
smear sheet Der Strmer (The Attacker); German preacher and politician Adolf Stoecker (1835-l909) and
publicist Friedrich Wilhelm Marr 1819-1904), who popularized the term anti-Semitism - (German:
Antisemitismus) in 1879 and others.
The Luxemburger Wort somehow toned down its anti-Semite rhetoric following the trial, not after
publishing, at length, their lawyers argumentations with many quotations by selected suspicious experts as
those mentioned above.
Nicholas Gonner in Dubuque, Iowa continued his campaign in the Luxemburger Gazette with
articles whose offensive titles speak volumes: The Insolence of the Jews (Unverschmtheit der Juden),
March 6, 1888; Jewish infidelity (Jdische Treulosigkeit), March 13, 1888; The Jews as Leeches (Die Juden
als Blutegel), March 20, 1888; The Jews as Revolutionaries (Die Juden als Revolutionre), March 27, 1888
and a long series of articles under the header Die Juden-Gefahr (The Danger of the Jews). The following
quote is the conclusion to No. III in that series (October 2, 1888):
Jews or Chinese
Our Chinese are useful citizens because for little money they perform a lot and work hard, while
the Jews accumulate for themselves without work through haggling and speculation Americas
treasures. The Chinese always remain our humble and obedient servants, while the Jews have
already become our tough masters in towns and throughout the country9.
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