Courtroom Trials in Jewish History

By Esther Zaretsky

These trials teach us how the Jewish people struggled through the ages to resolve their controversies while faithfully embracing their moral compass of justice and equality. From the treason trial of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, we learn how France separated church from state in politics and how Zionism influenced the creation of the modern state of Israel. From the trial of Leo Frank, we learn how his lynching inspired the creation of the Anti-Defamation League. The aftermath of the alleged trial of Jesus of Nazareth inspired a new religion that has flourished around the globe. The verdicts from these trials formed policies and shaped societies for generations to follow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664164741

Esther Zaretsky

Esther Zaretsky practices law in West Palm Beach, Florida, since 1975 with her husband, Richard Zaretsky. They have three children: Dr. Sophia Zaretsky, a psychiatrist in New Orleans; Max Zaretsky, an attorney married to Johanna; and Zev Zaretsky, a bank analyst married to Brittany. Esther earned a BS at Syracuse University in 1972, and she toured with the SU Repertory Theatre Company. She received her JD from Delaware Law School in 1972 when there were few women attorneys and still remembers being asked at her first deposition if she was the court reporter. She was past board member of the Everglades Chapter of the Florida Audubon Society, Dorot Bat Gurion Chapter of Hadassah, Anti-Defamation League, Commission for Jewish Education Palm Beach County, and she lectured for the National Business Institute: Continuing Legal Education.

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by Esther Zaretsky.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 03/31/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

826584

CONTENTS

Introduction

Capt. Alfred Dreyfus Affair

Trial of Menachem Mendel Beilis

The Trial of Leo Frank

Trial of Natan Anatoly Sharansky

The Trial of Leon Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronstein)

Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

The Trial of Jonathan Jay Pollard

The Trial of Ariel Sharon

The Trial of Maria Bloch Altmann v. Austria

Biblical Trials of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Sodom and Gomorrah, Binding of Isaac Akedah, and King Solomon

The Trial of Jesus of Nazareth

Other Suggested Readings

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Dr. Haviva Langenaur and Dr. Paul Klein, co-founders and past presidents of the Midrasha High School of the Commission for Jewish Education, Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, Florida. Your encouragement inspired me to teach these trials and law classes at the school, and research and write this book.

I extend a grateful thank-you to my dear friend, Jacob Mitzner, for his sage input and edits to this manuscript.

INTRODUCTION

Often, the dirge of great adversity culminates in a trial where the issues between the parties are judicially examined and resolved. The results can form policies and shape a society for generations to follow. This book is about how the Jewish people struggled through the ages to resolve their conflicts and how they tenaciously and faithfully embraced their culture and ideals. Through their trials, the Jewish people fought for their human dignity, moral integrity, and their very survival. In these chapters, we will take a brief look at some of their courtroom ordeals so that we can better understand the legal resolution of their conflicts.

In the trial of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, we learn how France separated church from state in politics, and we learn how Zionism was born. In the trial of Leo Frank, we learn how his lynching encouraged the creation of the Anti-Defamation League. After the trial of Adolf Eichmann, we learn it was the only time in its three-thousand-year history that the Jewish courts imposed the death penalty—for genocide. With the wrongful conviction and execution of Ethel Rosenberg, we see the privations inflicted on alleged communist sympathizers during the McCarthy era. The aftermath of the alleged trial of Jesus of Nazareth inspired a new religion, Christianity, that has flourished around the globe.

In these trials, we also learn of the disastrous consequences that result when courts fail to affirm society’s most precious values of justice, equality, morality, and the preservation of human rights. These struggles have greatly influenced the course of western cultures and the moral compass of civilized man.

CAPT. ALFRED DREYFUS AFFAIR

Separation of Church and State

The Dreyfus Affair led to the separation of church and state in France. In current-day France, a secular state, religious symbols are forbidden in public primary and secondary schools. The wearing of the burka or niqabs by Muslim women is banned as a full-face covering, but discreet scarfs or hijabs are allowed in some areas. The wearing of a yarmulke by Jewish men in public school is banned, but a small Star of David is allowed. Ostentatious Christian crosses are banned in schools, but a discreet small cross or Hand of Fatima is allowed. In 1905, the laïcité law was passed separating the church and state and maintaining absolute neutrality of the state with respect to religious doctrines in public schools.

Zionism

The anti-Semitic outbursts that accompanied the Dreyfus trial and military degradation of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus proved monumental for the history of the Jewish people. Theodor Herzl, a Viennese journalist residing in Paris, who covered the trial for the newspaper the Ghetto was present in the military courtyard. He was so shaken by the affair that he resolved to lead a worldwide action on behalf of the Jews. He dedicated the rest of his life to fighting for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Herzl is the founder of modern Zionism, the movement that finally led to the creation of the State of Israel.

The Third Republic of France, 1871–1940, arose after the shame and defeat of the French in the Franco-Prussian War. Anti-Semitism continued after the French Revolution, in spite of Emperor Napoleon giving legal equality to the Jews in France. Capt. Alfred Dreyfus was born October 9, 1859, in Mulhouse, Alsace, France. After the defeat by Bismarck in the Franco-Prussian War and the unification of Germany, the Alsace-Lorraine region of France was ceded to the Germans. General Bismark gave the French citizens living in Alsace-Lorraine the option to become German citizens or move to France within one year. Capt. Alfred Dreyfus elected to move to France and retain his French citizenship. However, members of his family remained in Alsace and became German citizens.

The French initiated a military espionage system called Section due Statistiques, and they monitored the German embassy in Paris for spies. On September 18, 1894, the cleaning lady in the German embassy in Paris, who worked for the French military Section due Statistiques, retrieved a paper torn in six places from the waste basket of Maxim Van Schwartz Popen. The sensitive paper revealed that French military weapons were for sale, including a secret cannon the French developed. At this time, Capt. Alfred Dreyfus was thirty-five years old. The letter was called the Borderau, was not signed or dated, and stated the writer was leaving for Paris for maneuvers in the near future. Capt. Alfred Dreyfus was stationed in Paris for the next year. His handwriting samples were not identical to the writing in the Bordeaux letter. However, he became the Alascan Jewish scapegoat who was charged with spying for the Germans. On October 15, 1894, Capt. Alfred Dreyfus was arrested. After a secret military court martial of four (4) days, where he was not allowed to examine any of the evidence against him, he was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.

Capt. Alfred Dreyfus was an artillery captain who embodied every decent sentiment in France, including honor and family. He was the only Jew on the staff who would have knowledge of the secret weapon information. His record as a solider was outstanding, and there was no evidence to justify even a suspicion of guilt. On January 5, 1895, he underwent military degradation in the Les Invalids, the famous French military headquarters with the golden cupola in the center of Paris. He was surrounded in the courtyard by a mob screaming anti-Semitic diatribes such as Kill the Jews, while he was stripped of his insignia, had the buttons cut from his coat, and had his sword broken. He remained upright and proud and shouted back, Long live France, long live the army, you are convicting an innocent man. Today, a statue of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus stands in France. He is holding the broken sword as he is being degraded by the military.

The spying by the Germans continued after he was convicted and sent to Devil’s Island, a tropical penial colony off the coast of Guyana, South America. Georges Picquart, the head of the French general staff in 1896, found documents proving Dreyfus was innocent, but he was ordered by his superiors to drop the matter. The documents show that French army officer Charles Esterhazy was the actual spy for the German Empire and the actual perpetrator of the treason to which Capt. Alfred Dreyfus is wrongfully accused. Charles Esterhazy squandered his inheritance and his first wife’s inheritance, lost a fortune in gambling and on the stock exchange, and was pressed by his creditors. Lieutenant Colonel Picquart showed that Charles Esterhazy’s handwriting matched that of the Borderau. Esterhazy’s military superiors would not entertain this evidence and transferred him to Tunisia in an effort to silence him. However, the information was forwarded to Dreyfus’s lawyers, who started a campaign to bring Esterhazy to justice. Estehrazy’s ex-lover publicized letters in which he expressed his hatred of France and contempt for the army.

By 1898, the Dreyfus scandal became an international affair. The military and church, the right-wing political powers