Dear Anne,
The Beilis affair had to do with the framing of Beilis in the alleged
ritual murder of an 11 year old boy. The anti-semetic nature of the
accusation and trial was secretly funded by the Duma. Amazingly for the
times, the jury found Beilis innocent. Bernard Malamud uses this
incident as the basis for his book, The Fixer. Carol Blumenthal-Cohen