| The Protocols |
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First publication of The Protocols |
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Writers, editors, and publishers associated with The Protocols |
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Debunkers of The Protocols |
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Commentaries on The Protocols |
Harris Ayers Houghton (born February 25, 1874[1]) was a professional physician and military officer of the United States during and shortly after World War I. His fame, or rather infamy is due to the anonymous translation and publication from the Russian language into the English language, of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the United States in 1920. The lead title he's responsible for producing is "Praemonitus Praemunitus."[2]
On or about February 1, 1918, his personal assistant, Miss Natalie de Bogory, brought him an exceedingly rare book, a 1917 edition of Serge Nilus's book on the anti-Christ which incorporated into itself as an ending chapter the notorious plagiarism, literary forgery, and hoax subsequently known briefly as the infamous Protocols of Zion. This rare edition had allegedly been brought to the United States by an unidentified Russian army officer who obtained it in Petrograd, Russia.[2]
At the time of obtaining the text from Miss de Bogorty, Dr. Houghton was a military intelligence officer of the United States Department of War attached to the Eastern Department offices located on Governor's Island in the City of New York.[2]
He was the son of a Methodist minister. In 1901 he graduated from the Syracuse University School of Medicine. He thereafter pursued advanced study in Berlin. In 1911 he received his commission as first lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps, achieving the position of Post Surgeon at Fort Totten, New York, and a few month later was appointed Post Intelligence Office at this installation. And in December 1917 he was transferred and assigned to his position on Governor's Island.[2]
Noted bibliographer of Judaica, Robert Singerman, describes Houghton as a "zealous counter-subversive, obsessed by the [alleged] Jewish threat to America's war effort ...". Singerman further informs us that this obsessiveness led Houghton to engage Miss de Bogory, as his personal assistant, for 9 months, and he paid for her time and work out of his own personal funds. Essentially, he retained her, and another former Russian military officer, former General G. J. Sosnowsky, to translate the Protocols of Zion into English.[2]