While the Protocols are generally unknown here, it is worthy of note that on October 27-28, 1919, the Philadelphia Public Ledger printed long excerpts from them in an article calling the attention of the American people to the document and to the terrible program which it presents. The article in the Ledger was somewhat misleading, however, since it was published under the captions “Red Bible” and “Bolshevist Propaganda.” All words in the text itself indicating that the Protocols were of Jewish origin were omitted. The Hebrew word “Goys,” signifying “Gentiles,” used in the Protocols, nowhere appears in the Ledger article. Furthermore, wherever in the Protocols the expressions “our people” or “we”—meaning the “Jewish people” or the “Jews”—are used, the author of the article makes it appear that the people thus referred to are the “Bolshevists,” and speaks of the Protocols as a “Russian document,” which clearly it is not. Mr. Nilus shows that the Protocols came into his hands in 1901. In 1901 the Bolshevist Party did not exist, for it was founded only in 1903 and was not really organized for work until several years later. Nowhere in the Protocols does the word “Bolshevist” appear, while the word “Jews” is used many times, although the writer more frequently uses the word “we” when speaking of the Jews. There is only one hypothesis upon which the Protocols could possibly be considered “Bolshevist,” namely, that the Bolshevist movement was of Jewish origin, in which case the plan outlined in the Protocols might have become “Bolshevist” by adoption.

The very fact that a document purporting to be written by a Jew for Jews could be so easily described as “Bolshevist Propaganda” is of interest.

Now, for the first time, the document entitled by Mr. Nilus “Protocols of the Meetings of the Zionist Men of Wisdom” is published in full in the United States, correctly translated from the Russian. For this purpose we have used the Russian text as it appears in Mr. Nilus’s book, “It is Near, At the Door,” 1917, published in the printing office of the Sviato-Troitzky Monastery.

Before proceeding to examine the contents of the Protocols, let us briefly give Mr. Nilus’s account of the way in which they came into his possession and of his views in regard to their origin.

Mr. Nilus, at pages 86 to 92 of his book, “It is Near, At the Door,” states that he received the manuscript containing the Protocols of the Meetings of the Zionist Men of Wisdom in 1901 from Mr. Alexis Nikolajevich Souchotin, at one time Marshal of Nobility in the District of Chern, Central Russia, and later Vice Governor of the Government of Stavropol, South Russia, and that when giving the manuscript to Mr. Nilus, Mr. Souchotin said:

“Take it into your full possession. Read it. Become inspired and make out of it something useful to the Christian soul. Otherwise it might remain with me unused. From a political standpoint it is useless, for it is too late to act on it. From a spiritual standpoint, however, it might be otherwise. In your hands, with God’s help, it will bear fruit.”

Mr. Nilus states that Mr. Souchotin told him that the manuscript was originally obtained by a lady whose name is not given and who, he said, obtained it in a mysterious way. Mr. Nilus showed it to several Russians of high standing, one of whom said:

“Slavdom has not yet spoken its last word and, therefore, no matter how cunning and strong the Zionist Men of Wisdom may be, their efforts are doomed to failure, and for this reason there is no need to despair.”

Mr. Nilus states that prior to 1905 he submitted the Protocols to Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovitch, who, having examined them, sent him a message of two words only: “Too late.”

Subsequently, Mr. Nilus made several attempts to call the attention of the proper officials to the contents of this document but without result. In 1905 he published the second edition of his book, “The Great in the Little.” In this edition the Protocols were for the first time incorporated.

In his last book Mr. Nilus writes:

“These Protocols produced a scarcely noticeable impression upon the world outside of the Christian church. The periodical press, which in the main is in Jewish hands, or under the guidance and influence of the Jews, sought to conceal their publication, scarcely mentioning them or referring to them as a fallacious invention or a fairy tale. Among loyal Christians, however, the Protocols bore fruit and created a success for my book far greater than could have been anticipated, for they spread the knowledge of the hidden mysteries of our time in a wide circle of those belonging to the Christian family. Since then my book, with all the Protocols, has appeared in its fourth edition; but only now I learn authoritatively from Jewish sources that these Protocols are nothing else than a strategic plan for the conquest of the world, putting it under the yoke of Israel, the struggler-against-God, a plan worked out by the leaders of the Jewish people during the many centuries of their dispersion, and finally presented to the Council of Elders by “The Prince of Exile,” Theodor Hertzl, at the time of the first Zionist Congress, summoned by him at Basle in August, 1897.”

Again he writes:

“In what way these documents, constituting the Holy of Holies of the hopes of Israel, the century-old mystery of its leaders, reached the general mass of the uninitiated has not been ascertained. As already mentioned, they were given to me in 1901. In that year, in circular No. 18, as well as in others dispatched to the Zionists on behalf of the Zionist ‘Actions Committee,’[1] Theodor Hertzl stated that certain confidential information, notwithstanding the admonition, has not been kept secret, and has been given undesirable publicity.”

Finally Mr. Nilus declares:

“The Protocols are signed by the Zionist Representatives of the 33rd (highest) Degree of Initiation. These Protocols were secretly removed from the complete file of Protocols which, as we now know, pertained to the first Zionist Congress, held in Basle in August, 1897. All this was taken from the secret vaults at the main Zionist office which, at present, is located in French territory.”

In 1918 the “Protocols” were again published in Russian by a book publishing firm, “The Sentinel” at Novocherkassk, South Russia. The pamphlet referred to bears the title “Zionist Protocols. The plans for the Conquest of the Universe by the Judo-Masons.” In the introduction to the pamphlet it is stated: “The ‘Protocols’ are a program carefully worked out in all its details for the conquest of the universe by the Jews. The greater part of this program has already been realized, and if we will not come back to our senses, we are inevitably doomed.” In the concluding part of this introduction the publishers state as follows: “The ‘Protocols,’ indeed, are not only the key to our first unsuccessful revolution, but they are also the key to the second, in which Jewry played such a sinister rôle for Russia.... For us, who are witnesses of the self-destruction of Russia, for us who hope for her regeneration, this document is all the more significant as it discloses the means of the enemies of Christendom for our enslavement. Only after having obtained the knowledge of the means it may become possible to successfully combat the enemies of Christ and of Christian culture.”

There is not, and in the nature of the case there hardly can be, any direct evidence as to the authenticity of the Protocols. There is, however, a considerable body of facts having a bearing upon this question which the publishers of this book put before the reader, leaving him to draw his own conclusions.

The facts to which we refer may be roughly grouped under three heads:

(a) There is a remarkable similarity between the policies of destruction outlined in the Protocols and the actual measures of destruction put into effect by the Bolshevist régime in Russia, and there is evidence that this régime is under the control of Jewish leaders.

(b) There is also a striking parallelism between certain passages in the Protocols and the statements of recognized Jewish leaders, both religious and political, appearing in their published writings and speeches.

(c) Finally, certain Jewish activities outside of Russia coincide in a remarkable degree with certain parts of the Protocols.

In Part Two of this volume evidence under these various heads is set forth. This evidence, however, can be intelligently considered only after a careful study of the Protocols themselves, a translation of which appears in the following pages, preceded by a short summary prepared for the convenience of the reader.

SUMMARY OF THE PROTOCOLS

The title under which the Protocols are presented in Mr. Nilus’s text, according to the literal translation from the Russian, is:

“PROTOCOLS OF THE MEETINGS OF THE ZIONIST MEN OF WISDOM”

The word “Protocols” can be used in several senses, but in the present case the context would indicate that the word means simply the written minutes of certain meetings—i.e. meetings of the Zionist Men of Wisdom. The arrangement is in twenty-four separate Protocols, each Protocol apparently recording the contents of an address to the meeting by one of its members. The context would also indicate that all the addresses were delivered by the same person, and it should also be noted that each Protocol deals with a more or less distinct part of one complete subject, like the chapter of a book.