Anti-Semitic manuscript put up for auction 5/6/01

LIZ MACKEAN:
Bold and non-conformist, the tomb befits the man who's buried inside. The Victorian explorer Sir Richard Burton courted controversy in life. It now shadows him in death. A linguist and anthropologist, he translated the Karma Sutra and his talents took him all over the world in a life of exploration and adventure. Sir Richard's travels took him to Damascus. Based on his experiences there, he wrote a book that was so sensitive, it was never shown to the public - until tomorrow when it goes under the hammer. It's being sold by an organisation that, for the best part of 100 years, kept it under lock and key. Details of the manuscript are found in the Christie's catalogue for the sale. Written in Sir Richard's hand, it deals with the arrest of 13 Jews accused of the ritual murder of a priest in 1840. As Sir Richard knew, they were all acquitted. But the story was considered so inflammatory, and the manuscript so damaging to his reputation, that it was never published. Instead, it was acquired by the Board of Deputies, the organisation that represents Jews in Britain. Jo Wagerman, its president, has decided to sell. But after hanging on to the work so protectively, why is it now being sold?

JO WAGERMAN:
Its contents are ridiculous and unpleasant but they're no longer relevant to the modern world. Nobody could believe the ravings of a disappointed 19th century explorer. They don't represent any threat that they might have done in the 19th century.

MACKEAN:
When it goes under the hammer, the manuscript is expected to fetch up to £200,000 - money the Board of Deputies admits it needs to move to new offices. The Jewish community is divided about the wisdom of selling such a work on the open market, with no controls over who buys it.

LORD JANNER:
I think it's a grave error. The Board of Deputies is the representative body of the British Jewish community and for it to put up to auction a cruel, vicious medieval lie, what was described as anti-Semitic racism, is unworthy and wrong.

MACKEAN:
The evidence of history certainly justifies the alarm bells. The Jewish Museum in north London celebrates Judaism's culture and traditions. The accusation of ritualised killing has been made against Jews since medieval times and often used to justify persecution. That's why Sir Richard's manuscript was so troublesome 100 years ago, and why it remains so today.

DR ANNE KERSHEN:
We have, if you like, ignorant anti-Semitism. Kids during the Second World War would look for horns in evacuees. Once they came into contact with Jews, they understood, and lost the fear and a degree of anti-Semitism. But there's intelligent anti-Semitism - people who understand the situation very well and use all the tools they can. Both those who are ignorant and those who are intelligent use cartoons, language and stereotyping as a weapon to demolish and eliminate minority groups.

MACKEAN:
This website promotes books that support its view that humanity is not equal. Sir Richard is one of its heroes and the sale of his manuscript is eagerly anticipated. There's even a link to the Christie's website. So why is the Board of Deputies so convinced the manuscript, once sold, won't be abused?

JO WAGERMAN:
If I weren't doing this, do you think this Nazi group would be stuck for information? If I weren't selling this manuscript, do you think these American neo-Nazis would go silent all of a sudden and their website would suddenly be blank because they couldn't find any libel to put there? They make it up as they go along. They change from a medieval horror to a 19th century horror because that's what people eaten up with race hatred do.

MACKEAN:
Sir Richard's widow, who's buried alongside him, left instructions for the manuscript to be burned. In the intervening years, it's been seen by just a handful of academics. The sale should guarantee a much wider readership. Its author, who claimed that the issues deserved a careful perusal, would no doubt be pleased.