''A Protocol of 1919'' is a fabricated text published as an appendix in some editions of '' The Protocols of the Elders of Zion''. It was purportedly found on 9 December 1919 among the documents of a Jewish Red battalion commander killed in the Estonian War of Independence. The document's supposed authors, the "Israelite International League", gloat over their success at reducing the Russian people to "helpless slaves", and urge their fellow Jews to "excite hatred" and "buy up Government loans and gold", in order to grow in "political and economic power and influence". The text has been cited, as with other antisemitic canards, as evidence for the

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

belief that the Jews are conspiring to take over the world.

History

''A Protocol of 1919'' was first published in the Estonian newspaper '' Postimees'' (morning edition) on 31 December 1919. ''Postimees'' detailed how the originally Hebrew text was found from the pocket of Shunderev, a Jewish Bolshevik battalion commander in the 11th Rifle Regiment who had been killed in action on the night before 9 December. At the time, ''Postimees'' was owned by Jaan Tõnisson, an Estonian nationalist politician. The text appeared next on 5 February 1920 in ''

Prizyv ''Prizyv'' was a daily newspaper published in Berlin, Germany from June 22, 1919 to March 14, 1920. It is notorious for having translated and republished '' A Protocol of 1919'' from the Estonian newspaper '' Postimees''. The 1934 300-page comp ...

'', a Russian newspaper in Berlin. ''Prizvy'' described it as "an interesting document". Later it was reproduced in the appendix of a greatly expanded English-language edition of ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'', published in 1934 by the Patriotic Publishing Co., operating from a

post office box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door to door delivery ...

in Chicago, Illinois.''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion – with Preface and Explanatory Notes'' (trans.

Victor E. Marsden ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...

). Chicago: The Patriotic Publishing Co. 1934. Hoste
online
by David Dickerson, Institute for Global Communications. Walter Laqueur, an American historian, states that "the German right-wing extremist press was supplied for years with information first published in ''Prizyv'' during its nine months of existence", and points to ''A Protocol of 1919'' as a "typical" example.Laqueur, Walter (1965)
''Russia and Germany: A Century of Conflict''
Transaction Publishers. p. 131. .

Content

The document consists of eleven short paragraphs of vague antisemitic generalizations, with eight admonitions to be "careful" or "cautious", and is signed by "The Central Committee of the Petersburg Branch of the Israelite International League".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Protocol of 1919, A Literary forgeries Political forgery 1934 documents Jewish Russian and Soviet history Jewish Bolshevism Protocols of the Elders of Zion 1910s hoaxes Jewish Estonian history Antisemitism in Estonia Antisemitism in Germany Estonian War of Independence