The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion

by Anonymous, Matvei Vasilyevich Golovinski

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.

We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Politics, History

110 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1903

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Malaika Kanwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost everywhere on the Internet, it says that this book is a forgery against the Jews. But when you read it, bearing it mind that it was compiled in early 1900s, one will know by judging the relevance it holds in contemporary world, if it really is a forgery or is exposing some of the most powerful people in the entire world and their agendas.

[Starch]

[EDIT: Only after posting the review did I read some of the other reviews. And... wow. It blows my mind that people in 2025 will say things like "they say it's a forgery, but who knows" -- just look up how we know it's a forgery. Look it up. It's so easy. Just check. Then you have others saying things like "if it's not real, how did it know what will happen in the future more than 150 years ago?" first of all, it wasn't written more than a 150 years ago. It just claims it was. Also, it's so vague that it would have worked even if it was indeed written 150 years ago. That's why people today still believe certain passages in the bible predict political events in the 21st century.]

DNF 17%

The one thing interesting about this book: though ridiculous, proven to be forgery, and easily dismissed by anyone with a basic knowledge of history, still this book became highly influential among many groups of people, who all swear on its authenticity. The conclusion? people will believe anything, which is why they will always be controlled by others. Which funnily enough, is exactly what the "elders" in the book are telling the reader: people are stupid, emotional, and weak. As long as you can make up a story that makes them feel the right kind of feelings, you can always keep them under your control.

The book is a proven forgery. Feel free to look up the evidence. My interest in it lies elsewhere: it's ridiculous. The Elders of Zion, on a supposedly secret meeting recorded on a supposedly internal and very secret document, seem to spend most of the page-time telling each other how evil they are, how weak everyone else is, and how Jews will soon control the world through their evil means and through tricking the Christians into thinking it's better to be "good". It reads like a propaganda book, the kind a dictatorship would give its citizens, but that makes no sense here because it's supposed to be a secret book read only by the leaders.

Why would they write this? The parts that describe a plan I can understand, but the rest? it's ridiculous. Especially since this whole plan is built around Jews being far smarter than everyone else. Then again, the number of people who read this book decades ago and thought it real sort of proves the book's point about people being idiots.

Another important part: the historical. The elders claim their power comes from mastering two things: force and make-believe. They claim to control the Christian population by combining force and a fake narrative. But when had that been true? for two thousand years, Jews were always at a disadvantage in terms of force, and always lost to the Christian population the moment force entered the equation. As for controlling the narrative: for two thousand years Jews were hated by Christians in Europe, hurt and murdered by them, and seen as the most evil group in existence. Where is the narrative control, which the elders claim is one of their two best weapons? there is no evidence for anything like it anywhere in Europe before the 20th century, as far as I know.

The elders claim their plan is based around convincing the Christian population to idealize "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", which are the poisons that ruin their countries. But when was this poison supposedly employed? True, it's not very Jewish, but that's because it is Christian. The equality of people, their freedom, their brotherhood regardless of race or nationality -- those are Christian ideals. To believe it is a Jewish plot, one would have to believe Christianity itself is a Jewish plot, created at the time of Jesus with the foreknowledge that Christianity will make its way to Europe and become dominant there.

The Jews have, historically, gained power through financial excellence. Whenever they became too rich, there would emerge a new tax on Jews to make them poor again, only for them to soon become rich once again. But that kind of story makes the Jews look good and the Christians look bad, while the fantasy of evil Jews poisoning Christians (by convincing them to follow Jesus' teachings, apparently) is much more appealing.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The chosen ones really don’t want you to read this book. Read it and decide for yourself. They will call it a forgery or antisemitic in order to discourage you from reading it. If this book is a forgery, the forger must’ve been some Nostradamus level psychic to be able to predict EXACTLY what is going on today, over 150 years ago. Or maybe the chosen ones occasionally tell on themselves and their secrets get out….

[Mia]

اینو فقط برای مسابقه کتابخوانی، توی دانشگاه، خوندم آخرشم تصمیم گرفتم نرم کلاً
جالب اینجاست که نویسنده کتاب رو "ژرژ لامبلن" میدونن که وجود خارجی نداره :) یا حداقل من نتونستم پیداش کنم. کل کتابم خیلی conspiracy طوره ولی درمورد هر نوع حکومت توتالیتر صدق میکنه.

[Петър Стойков · Rating 3 out of 5]

Може би най-известната книга против евреите - сборник от множество по-стари писания на същата тема, изготвен около началото на 20ти век от неизвестен автор в тогавашната Руска империя.

Стилът е точно какъвто може да се очаква от четиво с пропагандна и "народно будителска" дейност и разбира едва ли има каквато и да е фактологическа, научна или академична стойност.

Ползите за съвременния читател съответно също не са големи и са свързани по-скоро с разбиране на историческия контекст на епохата и местоположението, на обществените настроения спрямо евреите тогава и там и как те се свързват с подобните настроения срещу евреите през цялата история на Европа - и миналите и бъдещи брожения срещу техните общности.

Дали тия настроения са продукт на чист безпричинен антисемитизъм, дали на типичното недоверие към middleman minorities, или на други реални причини, оставяме на всеки читател сам да си прецени.

А фактът, че книгата от линка в последния ми абзац все още не е изтрита от този сайт (преди беше но наскоро пак я добавиха) показва, че обществената култура последната година-две се нормализира и пика на woke идеологията премина.

[Scott Benowitz · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's pretty rare that I'll intentionally read a book which is antisemitic in theme and concurrently a famous work of plagiarism.
However- this is the mid 2020's now, people throughout much of the world can now easily access AI software, and there is now as much misinformation and disinformation spreading rapidly throughout all corners of the web today as there was spreading throughout printed media throughout the world 125 years ago. The only way to debunk disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories is to comprehend the reasons that people intentionally create conspiracy theories, the methods that people use to craft conspiracy theories, the methods that people use to publicize disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories, as well as the reasons that people will sometimes be eager to accept and believe conspiracy theories without questioning the motives of the sources.
Briefly: The modern zionist movement began in 1897 in Switzerland. It DOES make sense that in the early 1900's, people throughout Europe would have curious about zionism. It is potentially healthy to be at least a little bit skeptical of all new movements and organizations throughout the world for the very simple reason that when any political party, organization or movement is initially formed, most people who are not involved with the party or the movement do not know anything about the people who form new parties and movements, so I'm not questioning whether it can be potentially healthy for people to always question the motives of people who organize and administer new political parties, organizations and movements.
Approximately 5 years after the first meeting of the World Zionist Congress, someone in Russia wanted to spread a vast disinformation campaign about the zionist movement and about Jews in general.
125 years later, it's still not yet known whether "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" was compiled by one (1) individual sociopath who had been working alone, or whether "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" had been compiled by a team of plagiarists.
In 1902, someone approached the offices of a Russian newspaper as well as the offices of a publishing company in Russia with the initial draft of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," which the original source claimed had been his notes that he'd written based on his having secretly observed a meeting of zionists. Fortunately, even afer the creation of the former Soviet Union in 1917, 2 world wars, the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1992, and all of the recent and current conflicts, enough documentation has been preserved that anyone who researches the origins of this book will see that some of the people who had been working at the newspaper which had originally published "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as a series in 1902 - 1903, as well as some of the people who had been working at the publishing company which had originally published the entire text as a full length book in 1905 had clearly intentionally concealed the original sources who had been submitting this text, claiming that this text was original material.
The entire text is an elaborate and eloquently worded forgery. Whomever the original author(s) were, he, she or they had selected passages from various books which had originally been written in different languages, and they'd selected texts which they'd known that most people who were not highly familiar with 19th century literature would have been familiar with when they'd pieced this text together.
Today, in 2026, it would take no more than a few minutes for anyone who is familiar with AI software to identify all of the sources from which this text had been plagiarized from. It does make sense that with the technologies that had been available in the early years of the 1900's, it would have taken longer for the plagiarism to be discovered and subsequently exposed.
However- it took nearly 20 years for the plagiarism to be exposed, this text was not exposed as a work of plagiarism until 1921.
After "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" had initially been published in book form in 1905, it had been translated into numerous languages, and many people in many countries accepted it without questioning the authenticity of the text.
Briefly: In this book, the author claims to have secretly observed a meeting in which Jews from various countries throughout Europe had been discussing plans to control media outlets and financial institutions throughout the world. As I've mentioned, the modern zionist movement had begun in 1897, so it does make sense that people would have been curious to learn what the movement had been about. The zionist movement which had been created in 1897 had been intended to explore the possibility of the creation of what would eventually become the modern state of Israel 50 years later. Anything else that various people have attempted to associate with the zionist movement at various tines since the movement formalized in 1897 has been the result of disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories.
SO: While "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a notably obvious work of plagiarism, I still encourage people to read this book in its entirety. "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" illustrates one of the manners in which people intentionally create disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories, this book illustrates how people publicize and spread disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories, this text illustrates some of the ways that conspiracy theories can seem to be appealing and hence, believable to many people in some countries, and this book also illustrates how easily some disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories can be debunked IF people are willing to research the sources.
Because the original sources who had assembled this text have not yet been conclusively identified, it's not possible to know with 100% certainty the reasons that this disinformation campaign was created. A number of credible modern linguistics experts have identified Matvei Golovinski as having been the likeliest source, though the evidence is largely based on the wording styles which are found throughout the chapters of this text. The identity of the author or the authors have still not yet been conclusively proven.
Why did somebody take the time to assemble this book, and why did some of the administrators who had been working at publishing companies in Russia approximately 120 years ago knowingly participate in publicizing this disinformation campaign?
I'm a journalist myself, I write a politics column. From my perspective, I suspect that in a regime which had been built on successive centuries of greed, corruption and racist ideologies, which was on the verge of collapsing, it can often be easier to attempt to create disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories in which people can look for various groups of people to assign blame for widespread poverty, lack of infrastructure, the lack of a fully functional education system, and the lack of access to healthcare than it is to attempt to look for effective long term solutions which could potentially create a healthier society for future decades and centuries.
Why did so many people believe the disinformation and the conspiracy theories which "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" had publicized?
The plagiarism had been exposed in 1921. For the past 105 years, historians, sociologists and psychologists throughout the world have written thousands of books in numerous languages in which they attempt to analyze the various reasons that people throughout the world accept disinformation campaigns and the reasons that people believe conspiracy theories. This is an impressively complex topic, I'm not going to attempt to summarize all of the reasons that disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories can become appealing and hence, believable to people during different eras. Briefly- from what I've read, in any society which has lacked a fully functional educational system for many years, and in which large segments of the population have been living in poverty for many decades, some people seem to become willing to accept discrimination and conspiracy theories as fact, without questioning the original sources of the information that they're receiving.
This is nothing unique to Russia in the earliest years of the 20th century; this same phenomenon can be observed repeatedly in numerous countries throughout the world throughout the first quarter of the 21st century.
So- while "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" had been exposed as an obvious plagiarism in 1921, unfortunately, the implications are still very relevant to the world that we're living in today. There are still quite a few countries throughout the world in which large segments of the population have never had access to a fully functioning education system, there are many countries throughout the world in which large segments of the populations have been living in widespread poverty for many decades, and various people still thrive on publicizing disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories.
As I've mentioned, it only becomes possible to debunk disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories when we initially analyze the reasons that people create disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories, the methods that people use to publicize disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories, the various reasons that under certain circumstances, large numbers of people seem to be eager to accept disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories as fact without questioning the motives of the sources, and we also have to analyze how disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories which had been widely publicized, and which had been widely believed by many people in some countries in previous centuries had eventually been exposed. It is within this context that I encourage people to read "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
Anyone who is interested in the history of disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories will want to read this book.

[Ahmad Khalifa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A disgusting book indeed, and is an obvious authentic text. It's written in early twentieth century, and boy oh boy, most of the protocols are achieved nowadays. Zionism is ruining the world and controlling it, and 90% of the protocols are applied nowadays by Christians or Goys according to the text.

[Ember · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was originally going to rate this three stars, namely due to the controversy surrounding whether these are “legitimate documents”. They are believed to be fabricated, although interestingly, the wording is usually “plagiarized”… I find that interesting.

However, I’m realizing that whether these are really “meeting minutes” isn’t at all the point of this piece. In my opinion, it reads like a satire and is quite similar to Orwell’s 1984 & Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (but more realistic). The key differences are a) it directly suggests “who” is in power or will rule b) it puts more emphasis on matters of economics & religious authority as opposed to technology.

Truthfully, I think that if the “speaker” was from a group that we are free to criticize, such as white men, the Germans during the 1940s, or even Muslims, the document would suddenly be “historical” proof of their prejudice. Additionally, if “goyim” were replaced with any protected minority, this would suddenly be a “must-read” used to push against “x totalitarianism” (well, if it wasn’t so anti-communist maybe).

It was definitely interesting, but I personally wouldn’t reference it more than any other dystopian work unless I was presented with evidence of its authenticity. The discussion of democracies, debt, (implied) national banks, and loans was spot-on.

[D. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a deeply problematic and discredited text. While it has historical significance in understanding certain antisemitic ideologies, the book is entirely based on falsehoods and conspiracy theories that have caused widespread harm. Due to its fabricated nature and hateful content, it is not a reliable or constructive source.

[Joshua Thomas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I mean its not good.

[Giorgi Nemsitsveridze · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, without a doubt, the most consequential book after The Bible and as such, it has shaped the modern world order.

Purpose of The Protocols was to give 'Jevvish' people a blueprint by which they would dominate the non-'Jevvs' on their world conquest.
one by one, the prophetic instructions (Protocols) have all come to fruition so that any politically informed person will see how the book describes the current order in the West, and given how the secretive book was written prior to 20th century and first uncovered and published 1903, it's impossible to regard it as inauthentic.

The best way to illustrate what the book is by providing some of the key quotations:

“Our power will be more invincible than any other, because it will remain invisible until the moment when it has gained such strength that no cunning can any longer undermine it.”

“We shall absolutely control the media, so that not a single announcement will ever reach the public without our control. In this way we shall have a sure triumph over our opponents, for without the media, they are helpless.”

“We will distract the brainless heads with vain conceptions, fantastic theories, rotten amusement, games and filthy passions, so that they will be unable to use what intellect they have. They will never suspect that they have been stage managed by us.”

“We shall establish huge monopolies so that all will go to ruin when the political smash-up comes. We must at all cost, deprive them of their lands, we must lower wages and raise the price of all necessities of life.”

“We shall create an economic crisis, which will stop dealings in all exchanges and bring industry to a standstill. We shall throw onto the streets whole mobs of workers, simultaneously, all over the world, who will rush to loot property and delight to shed blood.”

“In our government, besides ourselves, there must only be the mass of enslaved people, a few billionaires devoted entirely to us, police and soldiers. To do this we must create chaos and hostilities and we must use all deceit, treachery and falseness possible. Our greatest weapon is the media.”

“We shall establish one king over all of earth who will annihilate all causes of discord, such as borders, nationalities, religion, state debts, etc. and get peace and quiet which cannot be secured in any other way. To attain our ends we must foment trouble in all countries, utterly exhaust all of humanity with hatred, struggle, envies, torture, starvation and diseases so that the people will be forced to take refuge in our complete sovereignty.”

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://just-another-inside-job.blogs...

[KHALID "CHAINSMOKER MONEYSPREAD" JOHNSON]

Lots of truth nukes

[Cagdas Ilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic zionism, it gets repetitive after a while

[Samuel Lewis · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s written like fan fiction.

[মুহাম্মদ এহ্সান · Rating 5 out of 5]

রিভিউ পরে লিখবো। আবার রিরিড করতে হবে।

[Lianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

It might be a forgery but it ain't false