THE CASE OF MENDEL BEILIS AND THE POSITION OF VASILY SHULGIN

The subject of the presented work is the paradoxical position of V.V. Shulgin (1878-1976), a Russian politician of the first third of the XX century, in the odious "Beilis case". In this story, Mendel Beilis himself became a bargaining chip in the political struggle of defenders of the foundations of traditionalism and monarchy with supporters of liberal and revolutionary views. Having a reputation as a staunch monarchist and anti-Semite, Shulgin unexpectedly stood up for the accused - a Jew by nationality, which caused a storm in the then Russian society. He also did not support the myth of the "bloody covenant" – the accusation of Jews in the murder of gentiles (usually children) in order to obtain their blood for ritual purposes. Colleagues in the right camp turned away from him, and ideological opponents, on the contrary, enthusiastically supported him. Not only contemporaries, but also subsequent researchers turned to Shulgin's act, suggesting the motives of his demarche. But for various reasons, in our opinion, they did not give the right explanation. As a result of the study of sources on this issue, the author's interpretation of Shulgin's motivation is proposed. It is concluded that by becoming an unwitting "advocate" of the Jew Beilis and protecting the whole people from the "blood libel", Vasily Vitalievich thereby saved the honor of the Russian government, the Russian people and Russia. In Shulgin's eyes, involving Jews in politics was more dangerous than foolishly accusing them of ritual murders. He opposed the politicization of Jewry sharply and categorically. Some of the arguments he used will now obviously cause condemnation, but in the conditions of the political and legal system of the Russian Empire, Shulgin's statements were quite acceptable.

Abstract licence: CC BY-SA

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