The History of a Lie "The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion"; a Study

Deals with the origins of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". Both versions of the "Protocols"--The text first published by Nilus in 1905 and the text published by Butmi in 1907 - had two sources: a chapter from the novel "To Sedan", from the series "Biarritz" by the German antisemitic writer Hermann Goedsche (who wrote under the pseudonym of Sir John Retcliffe), translated into Russian in 1872; and "The Rabbi's Speech" by the same author. Both versions of the forgery pursued political goals and were amended by Nilus and Butmi according to the topic of the day. After World War I, Western publishers of the "Protocols" identified the "Wise Men of Zion" with the Bolsheviks.