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Paper short abstract:

S. Ansky, writer, folklorist, revolutionary, published in 1920 a book on the destruction of the Jews of Galicia in the Great War. Based on covert ethnography he analyses anti-Semitic rumours where he both defends the truth and strives to understand the mechanism of such narratives

Paper long abstract:

My paper addresses rumour in times of War in Galicia (Western Ukraine) during the First World War, analyzing a work of S. Ansky on that topic. Ansky (b. Vitebsk 1863 - d. Warsaw 1920) was a unique figure: a Russian and Yiddish writer, author of the Dybbuk play, socialist-revolutionary, folklorist, leader of the expedition to study the Jewish Pale of settlement in 1912-1914 (Safran 2010). In a less know work of his, The Destruction of the Jews of Galicia (published in 1920; trans. as The Enemy at His Pleasure) he describes in horrifying detail the fate of the Jews of Galicia in the War. This work combines reports of dry facts in a journalistic manner, with rich ethnographic and cultural insights. Among them, Ansky writes much on anti-Semitic narratives that spread among the Russian soldiers. These he classified as 'rumours', 'dreadful accusations', 'wild and fantastic stories', 'whispered libels', 'false claims'. On the one hand Ansky stands for the truth, debunking these rumours, but on the other hand he uses his folkloristic sensitivity to make sense of why and how these stories circulate. In the context of current crises and the War in Ukraine, my paper aims at addressing this historical case-study in relation to older anti-Semitic tales and theories of legend, rumour, conspiracy and 'fake news'. I maintain that Ansky's unique position as a 'truther' disguised in his fieldwork as a Russian officer, interpreting rumours that accuse Jews for being covertly German, is crucial in comprehending his analysis.