Subsequently, Mr. Nilus made several attempts to call the attention of the proper officials to the contents of this document but without result. In 1905 he published the second edition of his book, “The Great in the Little.” In this edition the Protocols were for the first time incorporated.
In his last book Mr. Nilus writes:
“These Protocols produced a scarcely noticeable impression upon the world outside of the Christian church. The periodical press, which in the main is in Jewish hands, or under the guidance and influence of the Jews, sought to conceal their publication, scarcely mentioning them or referring to them as a fallacious invention or a fairy tale. Among loyal Christians, however, the Protocols bore fruit and created a success for my book far greater than could have been anticipated, for they spread the knowledge of the hidden mysteries of our time in a wide circle of those belonging to the Christian family. Since then my book, with all the Protocols, has appeared in its fourth edition; but only now I learn authoritatively from Jewish sources that these Protocols are nothing else than a strategic plan for the conquest of the world, putting it under the yoke of Israel, the struggler-against-God, a plan worked out by the leaders of the Jewish people during the many centuries of their dispersion, and finally presented to the Council of Elders by “The Prince of Exile,” Theodor Hertzl, at the time of the first Zionist Congress, summoned by him at Basle in August, 1897.”
Again he writes:
“In what way these documents, constituting the Holy of Holies of the hopes of Israel, the century-old mystery of its leaders, reached the general mass of the uninitiated has not been ascertained. As already mentioned, they were given to me in 1901. In that year, in circular No. 18, as well as in others dispatched to the Zionists on behalf of the Zionist ‘Actions Committee,’[1] Theodor Hertzl stated that certain confidential information, notwithstanding the admonition, has not been kept secret, and has been given undesirable publicity.”
Finally Mr. Nilus declares:
“The Protocols are signed by the Zionist Representatives of the 33rd (highest) Degree of Initiation. These Protocols were secretly removed from the complete file of Protocols which, as we now know, pertained to the first Zionist Congress, held in Basle in August, 1897. All this was taken from the secret vaults at the main Zionist office which, at present, is located in French territory.”
In 1918 the “Protocols” were again published in Russian by a book publishing firm, “The Sentinel” at Novocherkassk, South Russia. The pamphlet referred to bears the title “Zionist Protocols. The plans for the Conquest of the Universe by the Judo-Masons.” In the introduction to the pamphlet it is stated: “The ‘Protocols’ are a program carefully worked out in all its details for the conquest of the universe by the Jews. The greater part of this program has already been realized, and if we will not come back to our senses, we are inevitably doomed.” In the concluding part of this introduction the publishers state as follows: “The ‘Protocols,’ indeed, are not only the key to our first unsuccessful revolution, but they are also the key to the second, in which Jewry played such a sinister rôle for Russia.... For us, who are witnesses of the self-destruction of Russia, for us who hope for her regeneration, this document is all the more significant as it discloses the means of the enemies of Christendom for our enslavement. Only after having obtained the knowledge of the means it may become possible to successfully combat the enemies of Christ and of Christian culture.”
There is not, and in the nature of the case there hardly can be, any direct evidence as to the authenticity of the Protocols. There is, however, a considerable body of facts having a bearing upon this question which the publishers of this book put before the reader, leaving him to draw his own conclusions.
The facts to which we refer may be roughly grouped under three heads: