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Draft:International Working Men's Educational Club

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International Working Men's Educational Club
SuccessorWorker's Friend Group
Formation8 June 1885; 139 years ago (1885-06-08)
Dissolved1906
Legal statusDisbanded
Location
Membership75–80 (1888)

The International Working Men's Educational Club (IWMEC), colloquially the International Workmen's Club or the Berner Street Club, was a left-wing meeting spot in Whitechapel, London for socialists, anarchists, and social democrats, modelled after the ideals of the International Workmen's Association. The club was a centre for London's Jewish socialist community and acted as an editorial and publishing house for various Yiddish-language newspapers. It operated between 1885 and 1906.

On 30 September 1888, the body of Elizabeth Stride, the third "canonical" victim of the Whitechapel murders, was discovered in the passageway of the club, with members of the IWMEC testifiying at Stride's murder inquest the following week.

Tensions between anarchist and socialist members of the club led to a split-off in 1891. The former group went on to form the Jubilee Street Club.

History

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Background

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Main article: Working men's club

Similarly named institutions have existed in London and Great Britain as a whole since the popularisation of socialism, mainly through the Working Men's Club and Institute Union, established 1862. Early club locations include Leicester (1866), Weybridge (1867), Upton-on-Severn (1867), Bromsgrove (1868), and Loughborough (1868). One of the earliest "working men's" clubs in London was formed on Stamford Street before May 1868.[1][2]

Early years

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The International Working Men's Educational Club was founded by the Socialist League in 1885, at 40 Berner Street in Whitechapel. The founders were followers of Morris Winchevsky, one of the publishers of Der Poylisher Yidl ("The Little Polish Jew"), a Yiddish socialist newspaper founded the prior year and beginning in 1886, Winchevsky's follow-up newspaper Der Arbeter Fraint ("Worker's Friend") was edited and published from the club.[3][4][5] One of the original members at the club's founding, Woolf Wess, also known as William West, took the position of secretary, handling English and Yiddish learning courses. By July 1888, the anarchist faction of the club had stylised itself as the "Knights of Labour".[6] William Morris gave speeches at the club on 2 February 1886, 22 September 1888, and 8 June 1889.[7][8] Theodor Herzl visited the club on at least two occasions as a guest speaker in July 1897. The club was popular amongst recent immigrants from mainland Europe, but disliked by more orthodox Jews, who did not see purpose in socialist ideals.[9]

Sketch of Louis Diemschütz from the 6 October 1888 issue of the Pictorial news

Since March 1888, the club's steward was 26-year-old Louis Diemschütz (commonly rendered Diemschutz), who lived on the property with his wife Sarah and Philip Krantz, editor of the Der Arbeter Fraynd. He was born c. 1862 in the Russian Empire into a Jewish family, emigrated to London in the early 1880s, and became fluent in English.[10][11] Diemschütz primary work was as a costume jewelry salesman, so his wife was also heavily involved in managing the club.[12] Diemschütz's first name has also been written as "Lewis" while common misspellings of his surname include variations of "Deimschutz", "Diemschitz" or "Diemholz". At the inquest of Elizabeth Stride, his name was spelled "Lewis Dienishitz" while that of his wife was spelled "Deimschitz".[12]

Membership was free to any nationality, but consisted primarily of fellow Jews, mostly Russian, German, and Polish, and numbered between 75 and 80 in October 1888. Initiation required backing by two members who would vouch for the candidate's support of socialism.[12] Primary languages at the club were English and German. It was common for the members of the club to drink alcohol and in the late hours, locals would regularly overhear hymns sung by club members in their native languages from inside.[13][14][15]

Jack the Ripper murder

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"The Discovery in Berner Street", artist's depiction from the 6 October 1888 issue of Penny Illustrated Paper.

Diemschütz spent the entirety of 29 September selling costume jewelry at Westow Hill Market in Sydenham Hill and shortly after midnight on 30 September, Diemschütz headed back home on his horse-drawn carriage. The entrance of the International Working Men's Educational Club was directly adjacent to the Dutfield's Yard, a passageway roughly 9 ft and 2 inches in width, leading into an inner courtyard. Club member Joseph Lave stated that before Diemschütz's arrival, at around 12:30 am, he had walked outside for fresh air, while Woolf Wess was in the courtyard. Neither saw anyone else, with Lave having stayed near the club wall and briefly walking into Berner Street. They separately headed back inside after ten minutes. At around 12:45 am, Morris Eagle arrived at the club by foot, similarly without noticing anything amiss. The gates were locked when Eagle came, passed the yard and entered through a back door.[12][15][16]

Diemschütz arrived at the clubhouse at 1:00 am. He steered into the Dutfield's Yard, taking note that the gates were open, when they were usually closed after 9:00 pm.[17] When his horse veered to the left while advancing, Diemschütz stopped and swept around the ground with his horse whip for any obstruction. Feeling something solid but unable to turn it over, he jumped from the carriage and lit a match, catching a glimpse of the body of Elizabeth Stride before the flame was blown out.[15][18]

Diemschütz told coroner Wynne Edwin Baxter that he did not have a good view in the darkness and was unsure if the woman was dead or simply passed out from intoxication, a common sight in the area at the time. Diemschütz went inside to check on his wife, leaving the body unattended for approximately a minute, before telling others of his find. Another member named Gilleman ran upstairs to inform the rest of the club. He grabbed a lit candle and led another member, Isaac Kozebrodski, to the corpse. The men now saw that the woman was bleeding from an open wound to the neck, with Kozebrodski running out towards Grove Street to find an officer on patrol. Diemschütz was soon joined by a clubmate named Jacobs from the first floor, with Kozebrodski returning shortly without police, which was attributed to 1:00 am being in the middle of night shift change. Diemschütz and Jacobs then proceeded to go in search of a constable towards Fairclough Street, shouting "Murder!" and "Police!" on the way to alert others. Kozebrodski was left to watch over the body, with Morris Eagle, having also arrived from upstairs, joining him. Kozebrodski and Eagle similarly took off in search of help when more club members, as well as neighbouring residents began to arrive at Dutfield's Yard.[12][17]

Diemschütz and Jacobs were unable to find police, but did encounter two others, Edward Spooner and his girlfriend, on Grove Street, in front of the Bee Hive pub. Diemschütz informed Spooner about the woman with the cut throat, then headed towards the site accompanied by Spooner. Kozebrodski and Eagle alerted constable Henry Lamb on Commerical Road and returned shortly after Diemschütz. Constable Albert Collins on Christian Street overheard the club members' shouts and also headed towards the Berner Street Club. A crowd of around fifteen to twenty people, both club members and neighbours, had gathered around Stride's body during this timeframe. A club member lit a match for a better look, with Spooner lifting the chin of the body. Lamb told the crowd to step away and that there would "get in trouble" for those whose clothes got covered with Stride's blood. Lamb told an arriving backup constable, identified only by his badge number 426H, to fetch a doctor who lived nearby, Frederick William Blackwell. The doctor arrived at either 1:10 am or 1:16 am and was joined by George Bagster Phillips at 1:30 am. Around this time, 28 members of the Berner Street Club were searched and questioned, though some could not give answers due to being unable to speak English.[19][16][20][21]

Police were of the opinion that Diemschütz most likely interrupted the murderer, who would have heard the galloping of the horse and that he snuck away as Diemschütz was either examining Stride's body or shortly after he entered the club. This would explain the lack of otherwise telltale mutilation on Stride's body.[22][23][24][25]

Inquest

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Depiction of the protest outside the International Working Men's Educational Club in the 6 October 1888 issue of the Pictorial News

Four members of the Berner Club testified at the inquest at Kensington Vestry Hall: Woolf Wess (as William West), Morris Eagle (occasionally named as Morris Siegal) and Louis Diemschütz (as Lewis Dienishitz) appeared on 1 October. Philip Krantz appeared on 6 October.[12][26] Diemschütz's wife, the unofficial stewardess, and member Julius Minsky also provided additional statements.[27]

Due to newspaper publicity of the inquest, residents picketed the International Working Men's Educational Club. Antisemitism was rampant in London's East End at the time and the fact that Diemschütz, a Russian Jew, had found the murder victim's body, coupled with the Goulston Street graffito connected to the murder of Catherine Eddowes that same night, led to unfounded accusations that he and his club were responsible for the Whitechapel murders. The East London Observer wrote it was the belief of the local populace that "no Englishman could have perpetrated such a horrible crime".[28]

Later years

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Berner Street riot

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Diemschütz continued to operate the club. On 16 March 1889, the IWMEC organised a protest march "against Jewish unemployment and for Sweaters' Victims", consisting of around 2,000 participants, from Berner Street to Mitre Square, located behind the Great Synagogue of London, where an open-air rally was to be held. The club was blocked from entering the square by the synagogue's rabbi and instead redirected by Metropolitan Police to the Mile End Waste. The demonstration ended between 2 and 3 pm after a few speeches were held. As the protesters returned to the club, followed by a crowd of around 200 to 300 counter-protesters while a troop of policemen, sent by Commissioner James Monro, were waiting at Berner Street.[24]

Constables James Frost and George Harris, as well as witnesses Israel Sunshine, Isaac Solomons, Emanuel Snapper, Julius Barnett, and Emanuel Jacobs claimed that the IWMEC attacked without provocation. The IWMEC alleged that the counter-protesters had threatened them with shouts and rock throws, and that police did nothing to stop the harrassment, even joining the mob outside in their attempts to breach the building. Contrarily, Sunshine testified that "some boys and girls" had knocked on the IWMEC's entrance when between twenty to thirty club members, led by Samuel Friedman and wielding brooms, canes, and umbrellas, rushed out. Friedman was quoted as saying "I will do for someone tonight and do not care if I get twelve months for it" before assaulting both counter-protesters and uninvolved residents. Sunshine, Snapper, Solomons, and Jacobs said they were amongst those assaulted. Diemschütz is alleged to have assaulted Barnett, then beaten constable Frost for attempting to intervene. Isaac Kozebrodski was accused of attacking constable Harris and being one of a group of men and women to drag Harris into Dutfield's Yard, where he was severely beaten.[29][30]

On 26 April, Diemschütz and Kozebrodski were tried at Thames Magistrates' Court for disorderly behaviour and assaulting two police officers. In May, Diemschütz was sentenced to three months of hard labour, a £40 fine to be paid in two sureties. Kozebrodski was fined £4. Samuel Friedman, the reported ringleader of the mass assault, failed to pay bail.[30][31][32]

On 21 March 1891, members of the Berner Club wear in attendance at a Paris Commune-themed convention hosted at 1. W. M. (Working Men) Club in Manchester. A certain "Diemshitz" was listed as a speaker at the event.[33]

In April 1891, internal strife led to the anarchists taking control of the club and expelling the social democrat faction from the club. In 1892, the tenants were evicted. The group moved between several temporary headquarters before settling in 165 Jubilee Street in 1906, renaming itself the Worker's Friend Group a.k.a. the Jubilee Street Club, with Rudolf Rocker as its chairman.[34][35][36]

After the socialist club was removed, the Berner Street building was used as a shopfront before being demolished in 1909. A new structure was built the following year and since 1998, Harry Gosling Primary has stood in its place.[10]

Jack the Ripper theory

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In 2016, American private investigator Randy Williams named Louis Diemschütz and two of his clubmates, Isaac Kozebrodski and Samuel Friedman, as Jack the Ripper suspects, claiming they had committed the murders for Pyotr Kropotkin, a prominent figure in the Russian-speaking branch of the First International and occasional speaker at the Berner Street Club, to cause social unrest in England and rally popular support for anarchism and/or socialism. Williams stated that he identified Kropotkin specifically because he made a reference to Jack the Ripper in his 1889 book Anarchist Morality, arguing that the actions of the killer were indirectly a result of England's "cowardly and hypocritical society".[37][38]

In 2017, Williams published the book Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror expanding on his theory. Parts of the book were co-written by forensic pathologists Michael Baden, Cyril Wecht and Henry Lee. Framed in the narrative of a detective novel, the book posits that Diemschütz killed Stride and invented his testimony supported by his fellow club members, with Kozebrodski and Friedman killing Eddowes while Diemschütz was being questioned by police during the latter murder. Within the book's narrative, a larger socialist conspiracy is uncovered, organised and funded by Kropotkin. Diemschütz is presented as a former officer of the Imperial Russian Army, who was sent to England by Kropotkin as an undercover agent. Williams asserted that under Diemschütz's command, Kozebrodski was selected to "do the dirtiest of 'wet work'" while Friedman primarily acted as a lookout. Forensic analysis of the various crime scenes is presented within the story by in-universe equivalents of Baden, Wecht, and Lee. The connections made by Holmes during the story were, according to Williams, based after his own research into determining Diemschütz and co. as the Whitechapel murderers. The book was praised for its storytelling, but the theory, although described as "intriguing" by Richard Jones, author of Jack the Ripper: The Casebook, has been called far-fetched and convoluted in its reasoning.[38][39]

Williams does not provide factual evidence for his thesis, mostly relying on circumstancial speculation and guesswork. Williams included three sections told from the perspective of Diemschütz, Kozebrodski, and Friedman committing the murders. The foreword by "Jacob S. Watson IV" states that the content is sourced from a combination of crime scene records and a diary by Diemschütz that was translated from Russian, Polish, and Hebrew, containing detailed descriptions of his agenda. However, it is made evident that the diary exists only within the book's narrative, as the aforementioned Watson is described as a great-grandson of the fictional character John Watson. Similarly, Williams reasons that Diemschütz's work selling costume jewelry indirectly linked him to Martha Tabram, Mary Ann Nichols, and Annie Chapman, who were known as buyers and seller of such item respectively, and also tied him to the detailed yet questionable description provided by George Hutchinson in the murder of Mary Jane Kelly, with Williams highlighting the gold chain, an uncommon sight for the impoverished Whitechapel area, as also potentially being costume jewelry.[31][40]

Williams claims that "Diemschütz" was an alias and translated to "protector of noble women" or "protector made of smoke" in German and Russian. The suspicion that Diemschütz was a moniker is based largely on the widely inconsistent spellings of the name. Diemschütz appears to be a uncommon, seemingly Germanised variation of the Russian surname Dymshits (Дымшиц). The closest approximations to Williams' translations in either language would be "Damenschützer" (for "protector of noble women") in German and "Dymzashchit" (Дымзащит; for "protector made of smoke", in this case more literally "smoke protection") in Russian, neither being natural or commonly used words. Other potential coincidences cited by Williams include the March 1889 protest march being held near a synagogue whose serving rabbi Hermann Adler was supposedly "despised" by Pyotr Kropotkin, the assault of one of the police officers occurring at the Dutfield's Yard, where Elizabeth Stride had been found, and one of the witnesses in the riot case, Israel Sunshine, living in the Wentworth Model Dwellings at the location of the Goulston Street Graffito. Williams suggested that the graffito, alleged to be an anagram criticising the false accusation against John Pizer, had been sketched at the Eddowes murder site to bring suspicions to Sunshine, who had reportedly been opposed to the club.[31][40]

Williams points to some witness descriptions as potentially resembling Diemschütz. Standing at an average height with dark brown hair, Diemschütz matched the majority of witness descriptions and at age 26, he would be a close fit to a description by Constable William Smith of a roughly 28-year-old man seen in company of Elizabeth Stride before her murder. The book acknowledges that no contemporary physical description exists of Kozebrodski or Friedman, the latter two having not been called upon for the Stride inquest. Instead, two drawings in a style similar to the existent sketch of Diemschütz are provided. Kozebrodski was 17 years old at the time of the Whitechapel murders, significantly younger than any description given by witnesses while Friedman was 47 years old, slightly older than most descriptions.[31][38][40]

References

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  1. ^ Occasional Papers of the Working Men's Club and Institute Union, on the formation, progress, and results of working-men's clubs etc. no. 1-24. 1863.
  2. ^ Bensimon, Fabrice (3 November 2022). "The International Working Men's Association (1864–1876/7)". The Arrival of the Hostile Siblings: Marxism and Anarchism.
  3. ^ "Papers of William Wess (1861-1946), trade unionist, socialist and Jewish activist". Warwick Library.
  4. ^ "Vintshevski, Moris (August 9, 1856–March 18, 1932)". Congress for Jewish Culture.
  5. ^ Renshaw, Daniel (20 March 2018). Socialism and the Diasporic 'Other': A Comparative Study of Irish Catholic and Jewish Radical and Communal Politics in East London, 1889-1912. Liverpool University Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-1786948755.
  6. ^ "Settlement of the Matchmakers' Strike". The Commonweal. 21 July 1888.
  7. ^ "William Morris In The East End". Spitalfields Life. 11 May 2024.
  8. ^ "The William Morris Internet Archive: Chronology". Marxists Internet Archives.
  9. ^ Endelman, Todd E (March 2002). The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000. University of California Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0520227200.
  10. ^ a b Chisholm, Alexander; DiGrazia, Christopher-Michael; Dave, Yost (17 September 2002). The News from Whitechapel: Jack the Ripper in The Daily Telegraph. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476607146.
  11. ^ Robinson, Bruce (13 October 2015). They All Love Jack: Busting the Ripper. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0062296375.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Inquest: Elizabeth Stride". Ripperologist. October 1888.
  13. ^ Burgan, Michael (15 August 2017). Jack the Ripper. Simon and Schuster. pp. 51–53. ISBN 978-1481479448.
  14. ^ Underwood, Peter (1987). Jack the Ripper: One Hundred Years of Mystery. ISBN 978-0713719543.
  15. ^ a b c Eddleston, John J. (15 November 2012). Jack the Ripper: An Encylopedia. Metro. ISBN 978-1843580461.
  16. ^ a b Püstow, Hendrik; Schachner, Thomas (13 January 2017). "Elizabeth Stride". Jack the Ripper: Anatomie einer Legende (in German). Militzke Verlag. ISBN 978-3861899785.
  17. ^ a b Cornwell, Patricia (28 October 2003). Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper -- Case Closed. Penguin. ISBN 978-1101204443.
  18. ^ Kendell, Colin (15 October 2015). Jack the Ripper: The Theories & the Facts of the Whitechapel Murders. ISBN 978-1445615899.
  19. ^ Alexander, G. (13 August 2015). Jack the Ripper Case Solved?. Lulu.com. pp. 46, 78–79. ISBN 978-1326389680.
  20. ^ Yost, Dave (11 October 2018). Elizabeth Stride and Jack the Ripper: The Life and Death of the Reputed Third Victim. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476636153.
  21. ^ Rumbelow, Donald; Evans, Stewart P. (21 May 2010). Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates. ISBN 978-0752499253.
  22. ^ Roland, Paul (23 June 2017). The Crimes of Jack the Ripper. Arcturus. ISBN 978-1788284196.
  23. ^ Gordon, R. Michael (2001). Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond the Usual Whitechapel Suspects. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786408986.
  24. ^ a b House, Robert (11 March 2010). Jack the Ripper and the Case for Scotland Yard's Prime Suspect. ISBN 978-1118003237.
  25. ^ Stapleton, Victor (20 October 2014). Jack the Ripper: The Murders, the Mystery, the Myth. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1472806079.
  26. ^ Begg, Paul (3 October 2013). Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1317866336.
  27. ^ "Casebook: Jack the Ripper - Daily News - 2 October 1888". Ripperologist.
  28. ^ Blair, Sara (June 1996). "Henry James, Jack the Ripper, and the Cosmopolitan Jew Staging Authorship in The Tragic Muse". ELH. 63 (2): 489–512. doi:10.1353/elh.1996.0012.
  29. ^ "POLICE". Times. 19 March 1889.
  30. ^ a b "COUNTY OF LONDON SESSIONS". Times. 26 April 1889.
  31. ^ a b c d Williams, Paul; Parker, R.J. (28 March 2018). Jack the Ripper Suspects: The Definitive Guide and Encyclopedia. Rj Parker Publishing. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-1986324694.
  32. ^ Storey, Neil R. (24 August 2007). A Grim Almanac of Jack the Ripper's London 1870-1900. The History Press. ISBN 978-0752496269.
  33. ^ "COMMUNE OF PARIS". Anarchy Archives. 24 December 2001. Archived from the original on 30 April 2005.
  34. ^ Knepper, Paul (2008). "The Other Invisible Hand: Jews and Anarchists in London before the First World War". Jewish History. 22 (3): 295–315. doi:10.1007/s10835-008-9059-6.
  35. ^ "Rudolf Rocker". Itineraire: Une vie, une pensée (in French). 33 (4). December 1988.
  36. ^ "« Rudolf Rocker » - Années d'exil : Au service des tailleurs". Partage Noir. 17 October 2023.
  37. ^ "A break in the case: Was Jack the Ripper actually three men?". Malay Mail. 21 September 2016.
  38. ^ a b c "Luzerne County Man Claims He's Solved 'Jack The Ripper' Killings". AP News. 2017-12-03.
  39. ^ Ramsland, Katherine (10 July 2017). "Jack the Ripper Was Not 'He' But 'They'". Psychology Today.
  40. ^ a b c Guy, Fiona (2017-06-12). "Jack The Ripper Was Three Killers: New Theory in Sherlock Holmes and the Autumn of Terror". Crime Traveller.
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