The Massena Blood Libel

The Most Vicious Assault on American Jews

On September 22, 1928, Barbara Griffiths, a four-year-old girl, seemed to have disappeared from her home in Massena, New York.  Her parents searched their house and all its surroundings but could not find the child. They therefore called the local police for help.

The police organized search parties of local citizens, none of whom could find Barbara. This led the Massena community to the conclusion that their local Jewish neighbors must have killed the child in order to use her blood in a Jewish ritual associated with Yom Kippur, which occurred two days later.  The mayor of Massena agreed that the local Jews were murderers.

Blood libels of this sort have been common throughout the Middle Ages and even in modern times in Europe, particularly in Poland and the Ukraine.

In Massena, the local rabbi was interviewed by the police, as newspapers spread the accusation over the United States. Then, suddenly, the child walked into her home and told her parents she had fallen asleep in some woods and needed some time to find her way home. This led the residents to the claim that the Jews had released the child they meant to kill because they feared the police would discover their guilt. Indeed, the mayor published an apology for this atrocity, but the Christian population continued in assuring themselves and each other that Jews kill children for ritual purposes.

Massena has about 10,700 inhabitants. The census does not mention religion, as the first amendment to the constitution prevents this. The Massena blood libel is unique in American history, although common in Europe.

Professor Edward Berenson has published a book concerning this malicious hate episode.

No other community in the United States has ever indulged in the anti-Jewish blood libel, although religious bigotry against American Jews is common in the Muslim community.

Shalom u'vracha.

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