George Chapman

[How Brown]

I have a question about this Chapman that I have been meaning to ask anyone for a while. Maybe it isn't a big deal,but here goes...

On page 442 of Sugdens' Complete History, Chapman is said to have spoken to Wolff Levisohn in 1890 in a mixture of Polish and Yiddish. For anyone who knows what both languages sound like,and I do,they aren't alike. Yiddish is closer to German .
On the same page, we have Chapman and Lucy Baderski getting married in a German Roman Catholic service,in October 1889.
My question is this.....While it is true that Eastern Europeans usually could speak more than one language ( my Grandmom,who thought the Moon was a 'hole in the sky",could speak 4 languages,nonetheless.), would it not be a very rare occasion that a non-Jew could speak in Yiddish ?
Chapman's ethnicity is irrelevant. However,the statement by Levisohn,if true,would indicate that Chapman was Jewish...
Whats your take?

[A.P. Wolf]

How, in that exact regard you might find this piece from 'The Times' of March 31st 1903 of some interest:

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT

'At the conclusion of his address the Recorder said that in charging the Grand Jury last sessions in the case of Klosowski, who was subsequently tried before Mr. Justice Grantham and convincted of murder, he inadvertently stated that the man was a Polish Jew. It seemed that he was not a Jew at all, but a Russian Pole. He had no connexion at all with the Jews, and as no nationality seemed anxious to claim him he thought it right to make this correction.'

[How Brown]

Senor Lobo...

Thanks not only for providing the excerpt...but for diggin' deep down in the memory hole...that original post was from back when Henry The VIII was on the throne.

Chapman was baptized Catholic at some point,wasn't he A.P. ?

[A.P. Wolf]

Okay, first thing George Chapman was not a 'faldscher'.
Documents revealed at his Old Bailey trial disprove that, as does the following witness statement:

'
WOLFF LEVISOHN . I live at 135, Rosslyn Road, South Tottenham, and am a traveller in hairdressers' appliances—I have known the prisoner since 1888, when I met him in a hairdressers shop in Whitechapel—I spoke to him in Yiddish—he said he came from Warsaw—I knew him as Ludwig Zagovski—we met from time to time up to 1890—he told me that in Warsaw he had been practising in the medical line as a "faldscher" at the Prague Hospital—f have been a "faldscher "myself—I had seven years' training in the Russian Army—a "faldscher "is an assistant to a doctor—I talked to the prisoner about medicines—he asked me if I could get him a medicine—I said no; I did not want to get twelve years—I had a customer named Haddin, at 5. West Green Road. South Tottenham—about 1894 or 1895 I called at Haddin's and saw the prisoner there—he was an assistant—he afterwards bought Haddin's shop himself—it was in the High Road, Tottenham—he sold that, and went away for several months, and then came back to a shop opposite Bruce Grove railway station—I called upon him there—I lost sight of him for a time, and I next saw him in custody—when a man becomes a "faldscher" in the Russian Army we get a book given us which states everything right through the service, and in the civil hospitals they get certificates—the prisoner could not be a soldier because he was too young when he came over here.'

Severino Klosowoski also used the name 'Ludwig Schloski', and it is likely that he travelled to and from America under that name.
The exact date of his departure is mentioned in the trial, and in his diary was found the following entry:
'came from America in 1893, independent.'

There is a goldmine of information in the trial transcript and I would urge all to read it, for it will finally clear up the question of Chapman's complicity in the Whitechapel Murders.

[A.P. Wolf]

Here is Georgie boy's actual medical career:

'
JOSEPH BETRIKOWSKI . I live at 30, New Street, Kennington Park Road, and know Polish—I have made a correct translation of these documents, and also of this little book, which is a book of 500 household prescriptions—on the front page there is S. Klosowski—one of the papers,. dated October 29th, 1882, certifies that on December 15th, 1865, Antonio Klosowski, a carpenter, and native of the village of Nagorna, with two witnesses, arrived at Kolo, and stated that Emilie, the wife of Klosowski, had given birth to a child on the previous morning, whose name was Severin—the next paper is dated December 19th, 1880, and is a certificate to the effect that Ksaverii Klosowski, son of Antonio, attended the Krasseninsk school from October 1873 till June 1878 and completed the full term of his studies, and that his conduct was good—the third paper is a certificate from the magistrate of the county of Zvolen to the effect that Severin Klosowski, a resident of the village of Zvolen, was a well-behaved man, and had never been found guilty of any crime, it is dated November 16th, 1882—the next paper is a certificate issued to the surgical apprentice Severin Antoniovich Klosowski was in die surgery in the village of Zvolen from December 1st, 1880, to June 1st, 1885, that he had accurately discharged his duties, and that he was diligent, of exemplary conduct, and studied the science of surgery with zeal, dated June 27th, 1885—the next is a certificate dated October 22nd, 1885,. to the effect that Severin Klosowski had been employed for 4 1/2 years in the village of Tymenitsa, as a surgery pupil, and had given skilful assistance to patients—there is also a certificate dated January 2nd, 1886, to the effect that Severin Klosowski from-October 1st, 1885, to January 1st, 1886, had received instructions in practical surgery at the Hospital at Praga, and that: his general conduct was good—(There were other certificates to the effect that Severin Kloswski had been employed as surgeon-assistant; that he had fulfilled his duties with zeal; that he had been of good behaviour; and that he had performed his surgical functions with a full knowledge of the subject.)'

[How Brown]

Nice additions,A.P.
:kiss:...
The right man is doing the Old Bailey transcripts righteously !

[Sam Flynn]

It's worth noting that the Old Bailey records appear to have been scanned in. Whilst they're largely accurate, the Web transcripts which AP is excerpting here are strewn with errors caused by glitches in the scanning process.

I'd strongly recommend referring to the original scanned images if something piques your interest, if only to avoid getting the wrong end of the stick.

[How Brown]

Thanks Sam. Your advice shall be taken,sor.

How