Aaron Kosminski
Aaron Kosminski
In the past 125 years, there have been more than 100 names mentioned as possible suspects - 100 different names that have been accused, at some point or another, of committing the heinous crimes of Jack the Ripper. One of the most well-known suspects is named Aaron Kosminski.While no one can know for sure, experts can make informed guesses about Aaron's background and childhood that would make him a perfect fit to the psychological profile of a sexually motivated serial killer. There is little, if any, physical or circumstantial evidence that ties Aaron to the murders.
Aaron was Jewish, very poor, and born in Russia during the 1860's. Anti-Semitism in Russia was very high during his youth, and perhaps was the reason that his family left Russia around 1881. From 1881-1884, there were more than 200 anti-Jew mob attacks in Russia, called "pograms" in English, during which many Jewish women were raped as a part of the violence. There is a strong possibility that a young, impressionable Aaron could have witnessed the rape of his sisters, mother, or other female relative or friend during this time. Witnessing or experiencing sexual violence can make an unstable person more likely to commit similar crimes.
There are other factors that make Aaron an ideal fit for the profile of a serial killer, such as the injustice he undoubtedly experienced as a Jew in Russia. Also, unstable residency during his youth, possible lack of a father figure, and unstable work history work against the case for his innocence. Despite the theory that he fits the bill of a serial killer quite well, there is no actual evidence that he was involved in the murders. In fact, he never fit the physical description of the killer given by many different eye witnesses. Aaron lived for more than thirty years after the murders ceased.
Comments
T Cratique
25 Jun 2018 18:50It is possible that there is confusion around Aaron Kosminski being Jack The Ripper. Available pieces of evidence highlight that the police from 1881 named Kosminski as one of their prime suspects without giving his first/forename.
This individual was “Kosminski,†who was mentioned as a Polish Jew staying in an insane asylum. Even a hundred years after the last murder was reported, Kosminski became referred to as Aaron Kosminski. It is unfortunate that limited evidence emerged to associate Aaron Kosminski with the insane Kosminski suspected of the murders.
However, it is accurate to argue that considerable amounts of evidence and reports link Aaron to Jack the Ripper. There are other facts that connect Aaron to the murders committed by Jack the Ripper. For instance, the suspect’s early life indicates that he suffered from a severe form of mental illness. Even after his release from police custody, suspicions further developed about his mental wellbeing when his family admitted him to a mental safe house.
Other pieces of evidence and individual claims have also linked Aaron Kosminski to the murders committed in 1881. According to an article published in the Guardian (2014), a self-proclaimed detective – Russell Edwards – points the murders to Aaron Kosminski.
Edwards contends that the insane, 23-year old absolutely, categorically, and definitely emerged as the person behind the grisly murder spree reported in 1888. His claims are supported by the evidence available in the bloodstained shawl he purchased in 2007 in a Bury St Edmunds auction (The Guardian, 2014). The shawl, according to Edwards, held crucial DNA evidence that points at Aaron Kosminski as the paranoid and murderous Jack the Ripper.
Colin Donnelly
03 Jun 2020 20:58According to The National Archives Lunacy Patient Admission Registers 1846-1912 there was an Aaron Kozminski institutionalised in Norfolk. I cannot find the exact date on Ancestry but it could be the same Kosminski who also had a history with asylums?
David
24 Feb 2024 07:30Keep going