An October 12 editorial in The Jewish Exponent<\/em> mused bitterly, \u201cWhat comfort, the news of this incident, when carried abroad, will bring to the Hitlerites, the Jew-baiters of the old countries of Europe!\u201d The piece concludes, \u201cIt was an act of Providence that the little girl was found so quickly, otherwise who can tell what the mob might have done to the panicky Jews in the small town?\u201d <\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n An October 4 letter from John A. Warner, Superintendent of the New York State Police, to New York State Governor Alfred E. Smith, a copy of which can be found in the Bernard G. Richards Papers (P-868)<\/a> at the American Jewish Historical Society, attests that \u201can exhaustive hearing has been conducted by me this day with reference to the charges preferred that Corporal H.M. McCann, a State Trooper, had revived the ancient slander that human sacrifice was at one time part of the Jewish ritual.\u201d Warner goes on to confirm that the trooper had been \u201cindefinitely suspended\u201d for \u201cgross lack of discretion in the exercise of his duties and for conduct most unbecoming an officer.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside this missive is a copy of the October 4 letter of apology from the state trooper to the local rabbi he had questioned about the girl\u2019s disappearance [see below]. It begins, \u201cI am writing to say I regret more that I can tell you and am very, very sorry for my part in the incident at Massena.\u201d He goes on to blame fatigue and excitement, along with lack of food, for his poor judgment.<\/p>\n The same folder also contains a copy of the October 4 letter of apology penned by H. Gilbert Hawes, Mayor of Massena, and addressed to Rabbi Stephen Wise, President of the American Jewish Congress [see below]. Hawes admits to \u201ca serious error of judgment,\u201d acknowledging it to be \u201ca cruel libel imputing human sacrifice as a practice now or at any time in the history of the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n The minutes of a November 10 meeting of the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee [see pages 2 and 3, below], preserved in the Admiral Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss Papers (P-632)<\/a> at the American Jewish Historical Society, recap the entire affair, and remark on the responses to the incident in the general press, \u201call of them expressing indignation that the circulation of this slander should have been suggested by public servants.\u201d<\/p>\n An October 11 editorial in The American Israelite<\/em> credited the quick resolution of the Massena incident to \u201cthe common sense of the American public, a virtue which has stood many a traduced group and individual in good stead.\u201d <\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This homegrown blood libel was quickly and decisively repudiated, and never repeated on U.S. soil. Nearly 100 years later, in an era of rising antisemitism, it can be read as a cautionary tale.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.cjh.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Image-1-superintendent-letter-786x1024.jpg\")
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