Once Again about the Beilis Case: Based on an Analysis of Edmund Levin's Monograph
( Pp. 151-158)
More about authors
Tatiana V. Raeva
Cand. Sci. (Hist.), Associate Professor of the Department of Russian and Foreign History
South Ural State University (SUSU)
Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation
South Ural State University (SUSU)
Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation
Abstract:
The article is devoted to the analysis of Edmund Levin's monograph, published in Russian by the New Literary Review publishing house in 2022. E. Levin, an American journalist who addressed the high-profile case of the murder of A. Yushchinsky, which occurred in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century. Having studied a wide range of sources, which included investigative and judicial materials, newspapers, and ego documents of participants and contemporaries of the events, the author created a large-scale detailed narrative about this high-profile crime, its investigation, and the trial of the accused, the Jew Mendel Beilis, thereby filling a gap in Russian historiography. In addition to the well-founded nature of the work, its advantage is the genre of true fiction and popular science style of presentation, which is in demand among modern readers. Using artistic techniques, the author presented to the audience the living scenes of the past, the heroes of the events, their thoughts, motives, actions, without detracting from the importance of the book as a serious and objective study. However, solving the problem of historical contextualization of the «Beilis case», E. Levin outlined the state of Russian society and ruling circles in separate strokes, without creating a complete picture of the colossal modernization shift and the complex nation-building process experienced by Russia, the symptom of which was the «case».
How to Cite:
Raeva, T.V. (2026). Once Again about the Beilis Case: Based on an Analysis of Edmund Levin's Monograph. History and Modern Perspectives, 8(1), 151-158. 10.33693/2658-4654-2026-8-1-151-158. EDN: LZAAWS
Reference list:
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Davletshina A.M. Problems of Identity of Jewish Citizens in the Legal Reality of Austria in the Pre-War and Interwar Periods. Bulletin of the Ural Federal University. Series 3, Social Sciences. 2017. Vol. 12. No. 3 (167). Pp. 5–14. (in Rus.).
Ioffe G. The Beilis Case. Free Thought. 1993. No. 5. Pp. 89–104.
Katsis L.F. Blood Libel and Russian Thought: A Historical and Theological Study of the Beilis Case. Moscow: Mosty Kultury, 2006. 494 p.
Levin E. The Beilis Case and the Myth of the Jewish Conspiracy in Russia in the Early 20th Century. Moscow: NLO, 2022. 368 p.
Mints M.M. Levin, E. A Child of Christian Blood: Murder and Conspiracy in Tsarist Russia: the Beilis Blood Libel. New York: Schocken Books, 2014. 377 p. Social Sciences and Humanities. Domestic and Foreign Literature. Series. 5, History: Information and Analytical Journal. 2016. No. 2. Pp. 90–99. (in Rus.).
Pidzharenko A.M. Non-ritual Murder on Lukyanovka. Criminal Investigation of Kyiv at the Beginning of the 20th Century. Kyiv: KVIC, 2006. 219 p.
Sankova S.M. How the Beilis Case Became the Shulgin Case. Problems of Ethnophobia in the Context of Mass Consciousness Research: A Collection of Scientific Articles. 2004. Pp. 95–110. (in Rus.).
Sankova S.M. M. O. Menshikov and the Beilis Case. On the Influence of the Periodical Press on the Course of the Trial. History of the State and Law. 2008. No. 19. Pp. 21–23. (in Rus.).
Stepanov S.A. The Black Hundreds in Russia (1905–1914). Moscow: VZPI, 1992. 329 p.
Tager A.S. Tsarist Russia and the Beilis Case. Moscow: Sovetskoe za-legislation, 1933. 306 p.
Khasin V.V. Methods of Forming "Ritual" Motivations in Russian Legal Proceedings at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries: the "Lutsin Case". Historical, Philosophical, Political, and Legal Sciences, Cultural Studies, and Art Criticism. Theoretical and Practical Issues. 2012. No. 5 (19). Part II. Pp. 208–211. (in Rus.).
Levin E. A Child of Christian Blood: Murder and Conspiracy in Tsarist Russia: the Beilis Blood Libel. N. Y.: Schocken Books, 2014. 377 p.
Davletshina A.M. Problems of Identity of Jewish Citizens in the Legal Reality of Austria in the Pre-War and Interwar Periods. Bulletin of the Ural Federal University. Series 3, Social Sciences. 2017. Vol. 12. No. 3 (167). Pp. 5–14. (in Rus.).
Ioffe G. The Beilis Case. Free Thought. 1993. No. 5. Pp. 89–104.
Katsis L.F. Blood Libel and Russian Thought: A Historical and Theological Study of the Beilis Case. Moscow: Mosty Kultury, 2006. 494 p.
Levin E. The Beilis Case and the Myth of the Jewish Conspiracy in Russia in the Early 20th Century. Moscow: NLO, 2022. 368 p.
Mints M.M. Levin, E. A Child of Christian Blood: Murder and Conspiracy in Tsarist Russia: the Beilis Blood Libel. New York: Schocken Books, 2014. 377 p. Social Sciences and Humanities. Domestic and Foreign Literature. Series. 5, History: Information and Analytical Journal. 2016. No. 2. Pp. 90–99. (in Rus.).
Pidzharenko A.M. Non-ritual Murder on Lukyanovka. Criminal Investigation of Kyiv at the Beginning of the 20th Century. Kyiv: KVIC, 2006. 219 p.
Sankova S.M. How the Beilis Case Became the Shulgin Case. Problems of Ethnophobia in the Context of Mass Consciousness Research: A Collection of Scientific Articles. 2004. Pp. 95–110. (in Rus.).
Sankova S.M. M. O. Menshikov and the Beilis Case. On the Influence of the Periodical Press on the Course of the Trial. History of the State and Law. 2008. No. 19. Pp. 21–23. (in Rus.).
Stepanov S.A. The Black Hundreds in Russia (1905–1914). Moscow: VZPI, 1992. 329 p.
Tager A.S. Tsarist Russia and the Beilis Case. Moscow: Sovetskoe za-legislation, 1933. 306 p.
Khasin V.V. Methods of Forming "Ritual" Motivations in Russian Legal Proceedings at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries: the "Lutsin Case". Historical, Philosophical, Political, and Legal Sciences, Cultural Studies, and Art Criticism. Theoretical and Practical Issues. 2012. No. 5 (19). Part II. Pp. 208–211. (in Rus.).
Levin E. A Child of Christian Blood: Murder and Conspiracy in Tsarist Russia: the Beilis Blood Libel. N. Y.: Schocken Books, 2014. 377 p.
Keywords:
Edmund Levin, the murder of A. Yushchinsky, ritual murder, blood libel, Jews in late Imperial Russia..
