ADL Blog: 100 Years Later, Anti-Semitism Around Leo Frank Case Abounds
http://blog.adl.org/anti-semitism/100-years-later-anti-semitism-around-leo-frank-case-abounds
Press Release ADL: Anti-Semitism Around Leo Frank Case Flourishes on 100th Anniversary
http://www.adl.org/press-center/press-releases/anti-semitism-usa/adl-anti-semitism-around-leo-frank-case-on-100-anniversary.html
Leo Frank Trial Still Reverberates a Century Later. Anti-Semitism Spurred Creation of Anti-Defamation League by Abraham Foxman, August 27, 2013
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/183035/leo-frank-trial-still-reverberates-a-century-later/
A Century Later, Leo Frank Tragedy Still Resonates
http://www.adl.org/press-center/c/a-century-later-leo-frank-tragedy-still-resonates.html
References:
Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith: www.ADL.org (Born October 20th, 1913)
“Hang the Jew, Hang the Jew.” 1913-1920 ADL – In Retrospect
Trial of Leo Frank, 1913.
“Hang the Jew, Hang the Jew.” This was the cry of the furious mob outside the Atlanta courthouse where Leo Frank, a Northern Jew, stood trial after his arrest in 1913 for a murder he did not commit. Anti-Semitism hung heavy in the courtroom as Frank was found guilty and sentenced to death. Though a courageous governor later commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, Frank never did serve the term.
ADL’s “Hang the Jew, Hang the Jew” Big Lie, Suggesting Mob Terrorizing of the Jury and Hate Crime Hoax Against Leo Frank: http://archive.adl.org/ADLHistory/1913_1920.asp
In the News – The Forward (8/20/13) “Neo-Nazis Use Leo Frank Case for Anti-Semitic Propaganda Push”: http://forward.com/articles/182404/neo-nazis-use-leo-frank-case-for-anti-semitic-prop/?p=all
[Abraham Foxman Director of the ADL Perpetuates a Most Vicious Anti-Gentile Hate Crime Hoax and Blood Libel about the Leo Frank Case:]
Lessons of the Leo Frank Case Still Relevant
http://archive.adl.org/ADL_Opinions/Anti_Semitism_Domestic/leo_frank.htm
By Abraham H. Foxman
Abraham H. Foxman is National Director of the Anti-Defamation League and Author of Never Again?: The Threat of The New Anti-Semitism (HarperSanFrancisco)
Posted: August 18, 2005
August 17, 2005 marked the 90th anniversary of the lynching of Leo Frank by an anti-Semitic mob in Marietta, Georgia. In 1913 Frank was arrested, tried and convicted of murder, but the results of the trial, and subsequent lynching remain tangible reminders of what America was like in the not too long ago. A New York native, Leo Frank was a manager for the National Pencil Company of Atlanta, Georgia when he was falsely accused of murdering a 14-year-old employee, Mary Phagan.
The murder of Mary Phagan was the catalyst for one of the most virulent anti-Semitic episodes in American history. Frank, a northern Jew, was arrested, indicted and tried for Phagan’s murder without evidence. His trial was a spectacle; threats, intimidation, and a boisterous crowd outside chanting “kill the Jew” and “hang the Jew” could easily be heard through the courtroom’s open windows. When all was said and done, Leo Frank was condemned to death by hanging.
After the Georgia appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected numerous appeals, the Governor of Georgia commuted Frank’s sentence to life imprisonment, sparking riots in Atlanta. The “Jeffersonian”, a racist weekly newspaper, urged that Frank not be allowed to escape “justice”. That same month, Frank’s throat was slashed by a fellow inmate.
Less then a month after he survived the assassination attempt, Leo Frank was abducted from prison by a group of 30 men, calling themselves the Knights of Mary Phagan. The mob drove Frank to Marietta, Georgia, Mary Phagan’s hometown, and lynched him from an oak tree. Leo Frank remains the only Jewish person ever to be lynched in the United States.
The lessons of the Frank case are as clear today as they were 90 years ago; the diversity that makes America unique is too often used as a scapegoat in difficult times. The violence and intimidation against minorities that was responsible for Frank’s murder is still a modern concern as we were reminded with the horrific racist murder of James Byrd Jr. in Texas, the homophobic murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, the bias-motivated murder of Yankel Rosenbaum in Crown Heights, and after the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks against the U.S., with a series of violent attacks against people of Muslim, Arab and Sikh backgrounds. Leo Frank’s story is a cry for acceptance. Too often people are quick to blame the “outsider” and violent hate crimes are too often the result.
It was through ADL’s campaign to exonerate Frank that The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles officially pardoned him on March 11, 1986, 73 years after his conviction.
Leo Frank was buried in Mount Carmel Cemetery, Ridgewood, New York. ADL unveiled a memorial to Leo Frank in tribute to the 90th anniversary of his trial on October 20, 2003.
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
http://archive.adl.org/ADL_Opinions/Anti_Semitism_Domestic/leo_frank.htm
THE TRIAL
Frank’s trial lasted a month. Each day spectators
packed the sweltering courtroom, with hundreds
more waiting outside to catch the latest news.
The proceedings descended into a free-for-all of
hearsay testimony, lurid details, shoddy police
work and mind-boggling contradictions on the
witness stand. Frank’s nervous and rambling testi-
mony did nothing to help his case. Despite
Conley’s conflicting statements and the lack of
any physical evidence linking Frank to the mur-
der, the all-white jurors accepted the word of the
Southern black janitor over that of the Northern
Jewish factory superintendent. Leo Frank was
pronounced guilty and sentenced to death.
http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/People-v-Leo-Frank-Teacher-s-Guide-ADL.pdf
Press Release ADL: Anti-Semitism Around Leo Frank Case Flourishes on 100th Anniversary
New York, NY, August 23, 2013 … One hundred years after the maliciously prejudiced murder conviction of Jewish businessman Leo Frank, anti-Semites are using misleading websites about the Frank case to promote anti-Jewish views, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
August 25, 2013 marks the anniversary of Frank’s death sentence after he was falsely convicted of murdering Mary Phagan, a young girl, who worked at his family’s pencil factory. The ugly anti-Semitism surrounding the Frank case served as a catalyst for the Jewish community in America to organize and fight back against bigotry and discrimination.
In 1915, less than one month after Frank survived an assassination attempt, he was abducted from prison by a lynch mob and hanged from an oak tree. He remains the only Jewish person ever to be lynched in the United States.
“The trial and lynching of Leo Frank was one of the most virulent anti-Semitic episodes in American history,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “Today’s anti-Semites are still attacking Leo Frank by using the Internet as a platform to demonize him and exploit this anniversary by creating distorted websites that ostensibly provide information but actually use deceptive means to relay their own version of events.”
One of the disingenuous websites, “The 1913 Leo Frank Case and Trial Research Library,” accuses Jews of using the Frank case to create a race war against European-Americans. It also claims that Jews control the U.S. government. Another site, which is registered to a known neo-Nazi, has anti-Semitic works cited as resources on the case.
“This is a blatant attempt to turn back the clock and discredit the Jewish community’s historical efforts to fight anti-Semitism,” Mr. Foxman said. “We see this as another example of how the bigots seamlessly use the web to spread their vicious lies.”
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world’s leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
100 Years Later, Anti-Semitism Around Leo Frank Case Abounds
Anti-Semites are using misleading websites to exploit the 100th anniversary of the Leo Frank case and to promote anti-Jewish views.
On August 25, 1913, Leo Frank was falsely convicted of murdering Mary Phagan, whose body was found in the factory he managed in Atlanta. A mob later lynched Frank after the governor of Georgia commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment. The Frank case was a seminal moment in American Jewish history when the Jewish community united to fight against the anti-Semitism that was rampant at that time.
A number of websites, ostensibly providing information about Leo Frank actually use deceptive means to tell their version of the circumstances surrounding the Frank case. These sites provide documents and testimony from that time, but their aim is to create confusion and perversely to accuse Jews of reverse racism. They claim that Jews used the Frank case to undermine whites, especially in the South.
One site is particularly misleading. Calling itself “The 1913 Leo Frank Case and Trial Research Library,” the site contains numerous documents from the Frank case. However, the “About” section of the site reveals the real impetus for its creation. The site, which is registered anonymously, asserts that the Frank case was one of the events of 1913 that started “the Birth of the Jewish Race War Against European-Americans.” According to the author of the section, the Frank case led to the creation of a “Jewish lobby” and “became a political and social front for subverting the majority population of Gentiles by a tiny dissenting minority of Jews.” The author also accuses Jews of controlling the government.
Another deceptive Leo Frank website is registered to neo-Nazi Kevin Strom. Strom was a leader in the National Alliance and then the National Vanguard, two neo-Nazi organizations, until he was convicted on child pornography charges several years ago. This site cites anti-Semitic works as resources on the Frank case. Strom also promotes the articles of “Mark Cohen” on National Vanguard, a neo-Nazi site he runs. According to a July 2012 article on National Vanguard, “Mark Cohen” is “the nom de guerre” of a person who writes extensively about the Leo Frank case. Articles attributed to Cohen, which assert that Frank is guilty of the Phagan murder, appear on numerous extremist sites.
There are other websites on Frank that are also misleading. “The American Mercury,” an extreme right-wing site with anti-Semitic content, is running a series of articles that promote conspiracy theories about the Frank case. There is also a “Leo Frank” Facebook page that pretends to be a personal profile page of Frank. This page disingenuously lists a number of Jewish causes but promotes derogatory articles on Frank that appear on anti-Semitic websites.
The goal of these fraudulent websites is clear. They are using deceptive means to attack Leo Frank and the Jewish community’s efforts to fight back against anti-Semitism.
In the News – The Forward (8/20/13) “Neo-Nazis Use Leo Frank Case for Anti-Semitic Propaganda Push”
http://blog.adl.org/anti-semitism/100-years-later-anti-semitism-around-leo-frank-case-abounds
“Hang the Jew, Hang the Jew.”
This was the cry of the furious mob outside the Atlanta courthouse where Leo Frank, a Northern Jew, stood trial after his arrest in 1913 for a murder he did not commit. Anti-Semitism hung heavy in the courtroom as Frank was found guilty and sentenced to death. Though a courageous governor later commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, Frank never did serve the term. In August 1915, the “Yankee Jew” was lynched by a mob calling themselves a “vigilance committee.”
http://archive.adl.org/ADLHistory/1913_1920.asp
ADL’s History in Brief: The Beginning: 1913
Sigmund Livingston, a Chicago attorney, believed that there was a significant need to form an organization to protect Jews from the blatant anti-Semitism of the day. With the support of the B’nai B’rith organization, Mr. Livingston founded ADL in 1913, with two desks in his office and $200.
In that same year, the Jewish manager of a pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia was falsely accused and convicted of murdering a young Christian girl who worked at the factory.
http://regions.adl.org/new-york/news/adl-kicks-off-centennial-year-1.html
Centennial: The 100 Year Anniversary of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith
During this same time, an event in Georgia makes the need for the organization painfully clear. Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman who moves to Atlanta to manage his family’s pencil factory, is convicted of the rape and murder of a 13-year-old female employee, following a trial which was defined by anti-Semitism.
http://www.adl.org/centennial/decades.html
The 90 Year Anniversary of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith
Quote, “Jewish manager of a pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia was falsely accused and convicted of murdering a young Christian girl who worked at the factory. After a sensational trial, with weak evidence, a jury sentenced Leo Frank to death.”
http://archive.adl.org/PresRele/Mise_00/4227_00.htm
COUNTERING ANTI-SEMITISM: A SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVE
Quote “ADL was founded in the aftermath of one of the earliest and perhaps most egregious anti-Semitic episodes of the 20th century: the unfair and prejudicial trial of Jewish factory manager Leo Frank, who was lynched by a mob in Georgia after being falsely accused of murdering a Christian girl.”
http://archive.adl.org/98audit/regional.asp
Further Reading:
Leo Frank Georgia Supreme Court Records (Trial and State Appeals), 1913, 1914: http://archive.org/details/leo-frank-georgia-supreme-court-case-records-1913-1914