Justinas Pranaitis

• Name — Justinas Pranaitis • Born — 27 July 1861 • Birthplace — Panenupiai, Congress Poland • Died — 28 January 1917 • Place of death — Petrograd, Russian Empire • Other Names — Justinas Pronaitis Justin Pranaitis • Occupation — Catholic priest • Education — Sejny Priest Seminary Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy • Relatives — Julija Pranaitytė (sister)

• Illustration — Sacred Heart Cathedral in Tashkent In 1895, Pranaitis was exiled to Tver for two years. In 1897, archbishop Szymon Marcin Kozłowski sent Pranaitis to survey the situation of Roman Catholics in Turkistan. The following year, he visited regions of Siberia. In 1900, he left Saint Petersburg and relocated to Tashkent for missionary work among the local Roman Catholics. He worked to construct churches in Tashkent (the Sacred Heart Cathedral), Samarkand (St. John the Baptist Church), Ashgabat, Gyzylarbat, Fergana as well as several chapels. He established a Catholic charitable society and a few small libraries. To help with construction, he built a sawmill that produced electricity. He frequently traveled visiting more remote members of the congregation. To help with this task, he managed to get two railroad cars, one equipped for church needs and another with a kitchen and living space. In 1909, Pranaitis accompanied auxiliary bishop Jan Cieplak to Manchuria and Japan. In 1904, he published a proclamation asking for donations for a church in Tashkent. It became the first Lithuanian-language publication after the Lithuanian press ban was lifted. He also published articles in the Lithuanian press, including Lietuvių laikraštis, Šaltinis, Vienybė, Viltis. He also published in Polish Przegląd Katolicki.

• Illustration — Christianus in Talmude Iudaeorum In 1892, Pranaitis published an antisemitic tract called Christianus in Talmude Iudaeorum in Latin, adapted from his Master's thesis, under the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Mogilev, which was subsequently translated into Polish (1892), French (1892), German (1894), Russian (1911), Lithuanian (1912), Italian (1939), English (1939) and Spanish. The English translation of the book is titled The Talmud Unmasked: The Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians (usually shortened to The Talmud Unmasked). According to Anthony Julius, the work contains much that is fabricated, plagiarized, and wrongly translated. Stephen E. Atkins notes that in addition to mistranslation, many are taken out of context. Edmund Levin observes that Pranaitis was exposed as a fraud, ignorant of Semitic languages, and that the book was plagiarized from other antisemitic works, even down to typographical errors. Arthur Kurzweil notes it relies on earlier falsifications from Johann Eisenmenger and others. Ronald Modras and Ben-Zion Bokser note that he plagiarized Eisenmenger and August Rohling as well. In 1912, Pranaitis testified in the blood libel case of Menahem Mendel Beilis in Russia. Beilis was accused of murdering a Christian child to take his blood for alleged Jewish rituals. Pranaitis was called as an expert witness to testify to the Talmudic hatred of Christians, as described in his book. His credibility rapidly evaporated, however, when the defence demonstrated his ignorance of some simple Talmudic concepts and definitions, such as hullin, erubin, to the point where "many in the audience occasionally laughed out loud when he clearly became confused and couldn't even intelligibly answer some of the questions asked by [Beilis'] lawyer". Pranaitis knew little Hebrew and could not read Aramaic, the primary language of the Talmud, at all, so was not a credible translator. In particular, journalist and historian Benzion Katz questioned him about Baba Batra, a Talmudic tractate that Pranaitis cited, phrasing if as it was a person. Pranaitis answered that he did not know without noticing the Baba Batra trick, showing he completely lacked the Talmudic expertise he claimed. Beilis was found not guilty. According to a letter from Baron Rothschild to Vatican Secretary of State Merry Del Val, during a deposition for the trial Pranaitis claimed that he couldn't find a record of Innocent IV's papal bull Sicut Iudaeis against the blood libel in the "usual works of reference", and suspected that it was a forgery. Merry Del Val replied that it was authentic, although the message didn't arrive in time to affect the trial.

Pranaitis was killed at the hands of the Bolsheviks on 28 January 1917 in Saint Petersburg. Other sources maintain that he died from cancer. He was buried by the Sacred Heart Cathedral that he worked to build in Tashkent. In 1923, the grave were destroyed by the Soviets. Bishop Pranciškus Būčys wrote 2118-page biography of Pranaitis but it remains unpublished.

Justinas Pranaitis is recorded with the occupation Catholic theologian. Recorded with the occupation university teacher. Recorded with the occupation Judaic scholar. Recorded as writer, university teacher, priest, judaic scholar and catholic theologian. Identity and origins. The authorities additionally record the headings Justinas Bonaventura Pranaitis and Justin Bonaventure Pranaitis. His recorded language was Yiddish. His recorded confession was Catholicism.