Who was Jack the Ripper? The Barber (Suspect 2)

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

History Hit

Myths, Folklore, Mystery, History, Ghosts, Society & Culture, Murder, Ufos, True Crime, Paranormal, Supernatural, Serial Killers

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Part 2/4. By looking at the men accused of being Jack the Ripper, we uncover dark truths about Victorian society - and our own. Why were these men, most of them almost certainly innocent, singled out as monsters?

Today Anthony Delaney tells Maddy Pelling about Aaron Kosminski, a Polish Jew living in Whitechapel who later became suspected of being Jack the Ripper. It's a story of immigration and antisemitism; of mental illness and of an effort to use DNA to link Kosminski to the crime.

Written by Anthony Delaney. Edited by Tomos Delargy. Produced by Freddy Chick and Charlotte Long.

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Warner Brothers and Salem's Lot, the spine-tingling new horror film from the legendary Stephen King.
0:09.1	It is so exciting, it is that time of year. It is spooky season.
0:13.0	Oh, it's just the best time of year.
0:15.0	No surprise that we love this time of year, of course.
0:19.0	There is no better fit for this season than a good horror film.
0:22.0	Salem's lot is one of Stephen King's
0:25.1	favorite stories, I'm sure you've heard of it, and it's adapted from the 1975 best-selling
0:30.0	novel. Salim's Lot follows an author who returns to his hometown in Maine, but things are not as they should be. The place is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire.
0:42.1	Of course it is.
0:43.0	Why wouldn't it be the place is called Salem?
0:45.0	Salem's lot is the latest adaptation of Stephen King's bestseller.
0:49.0	From the creators of the record-breaking horror franchise, The Conjuring Universe.
0:53.0	So take yourself, your mom, your romantic date, or just a pillow to hide behind to see this
0:59.6	after dark endorsed vampire movie.
1:02.3	Salem's lot in cinemas October 11th.
1:09.0	Aaron Mord Kikusmanski was born to a Jewish family on the 11th of September, 1865 in Poland. Between
1:16.0	1881 and 1882, we know that he emigrated to Whitechapel with his sisters and their families.
1:23.0	Whitechapel at this time was an overcrowded slum in the east end of London.
1:28.0	It's very easy to imagine damp, gasslet cobbled streets and an atmospheric fog enveloping the neighborhood.
1:35.0	You can, when you imagine this area, likely hear the jovial sounds of the working poor,
1:41.0	enjoying themselves altogether in local taverns after a long day's work.
1:46.5	But as so often as the case, the reality is very different, and that is that nearly two in every
	...

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