Aaron Kosminski was a Polish Jewish immigrant to London named as one of the prime suspects in the Jack the Ripper murders. Through 2010 the opening noted that Kosminski was possibly the victim of antisemitism or confused with another Polish Jew of the same age. The word does not appear anywhere in the article today. A reader today does not learn that Wikipedia's own opening once floated antisemitism as a possible reason he was named a suspect.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “antisemitism” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today it appears nowhere in the article, references included.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2010
Aaron Kosminski (born Aron Mordke Kozminski; 11 September 1865 – 24 March 1919) was an insane Polish Jew who was a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders.1He emigrated to England from Poland in the 1880s and worked as a hairdresser in Whitechapel in the East End of London , where the murders were committed in 1888.2From 1891, he was institutionalized in an asylum.3Police officials at the time of the murders named one of their suspects "Kosminski" (without a forename), and described him as a Polish Jew in an insane asylum.4Almost a century after the final murder, the suspect "Kosminski" was identified with Aaron Kosminski, but there was little if any evidence to connect him with the murders, and the reasons for his inclusion as a suspect are unclear.5Possibly, Kosminski was the victim of antisemitism or confused with another Polish Jew of the same age, such as Aaron Cohen, who was a violent patient at the same asylum.6
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 371281946.
The opening as it stood in 2005
Redirect to: List of proposed Jack the Ripper suspects
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 17089995.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Aaron Kosminski (born Aron Mordke Kozmiński ; 11 September 1865 – 24 March 1919) is a suspect in the Jack the Ripper case .In September 2014, author Russell Edwards claimed to have proved Kosminski's guilt using mitochondrial DNA evidence, though this claim has not been published or verified by the peer-review process.Kosminski was a Jew who emigrated to England from Russian Poland in the 1880s and worked as a hairdresser in Whitechapel in the East End of London , where the murders were committed in 1888. From 1891, he was institutionalized in an insane asylum . Police officials from the time of the murders named one of their suspects as "Kosminski" (the forename was not given), and described him as a Polish Jew in an insane asylum.Almost a century after the final murder, the suspect "Kosminski" was identified as Aaron Kosminski; but there was little if any evidence to connect Aaron Kosminski with the same Kosminski who may have been suspected of the murders and the dates of death are different.Possibly, Kosminski was confused with another Polish Jew of the same age named Aaron or David Cohen (real name possibly Nathan Kaminsky), who was a violent patient at the same asylum.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668808866.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Polish barber, prime Jack the Ripper suspect Aaron Kosminski (born Aron Mordke Kozmiński ; 11 September 1865 – 24 March 1919) was a Polish barber and hairdresser, and suspect in the Jack the Ripper case.Kosminski was a Polish Jew who emigrated from Congress Poland to England in the 1880s.He worked as a hairdresser in Whitechapel in the East End of London , where a series of murders ascribed to an unidentified figure nicknamed "Jack the Ripper" were committed in 1888.From 1891, Kosminski was institutionalised after he threatened a woman with a knife.He was first held at Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum , and then transferred to the Leavesden Asylum . Police officials from the time of the murders named one of their suspects as "Kosminski" (the forename was not given), and described him as a Polish Jew in an insane asylum. Almost a century after the final murder, the suspect "Kosminski" was identified as Aaron Kosminski; but there was little evidence to connect him with the "Kosminski" who was suspected of the murders, and their dates of death are different. Possibly, Kosminski was confused with another Polish Jew of the same age named Aaron or David Cohen (real name possibly Nathan Kaminsky), who was a violent patient at the Colney Hatch Asylum. In September 2014, author Russell Edwards claimed to have proved Kosminski's guilt using mitochondrial DNA evidence from a shawl he believed to have been left at a murder scene.A peer-reviewed article on the DNA analysis was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences in 2019.However, scientists from Innsbruck Medical University have criticised the paper and its conclusions, pointing to a number of mistakes and assumptions made by its authors."Akt urodzenia Aarona Mordki Kuźmińskiego" [Birth certificate of Aaron Mordke Kuźmiński].Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu. 15 September 2014 ."Adam Rutherford calls the Jack the Ripper identification "a joke" " .Why Evolution Is True blog .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964880180.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Polish barber and Jack the Ripper suspect (1865–1919) Aaron Kosminski (born Aron Mordke Kozmiński ; 11 September 1865 – 24 March 1919) was a Polish barber, hairdresser and suspect in the Jack the Ripper case. Kosminski was a Polish Jew who emigrated from Congress Poland to England in the 1880s. He worked as a hairdresser in Whitechapel in the East End of London , where a series of murders ascribed to an unidentified figure nicknamed "Jack the Ripper" were committed in 1888. From 1891, Kosminski was institutionalised after he threatened his sister with a knife. He was first held at Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum and then transferred to the Leavesden Asylum . Police officials from the time of the murders named one of their suspects as "Kosminski" (the forename was not given) and described him as a Polish Jew in an insane asylum. Almost a century after the final murder, the suspect "Kosminski" was identified as Aaron Kosminski; but there was little evidence to connect him with the "Kosminski" who was suspected of the murders and their dates of death are different. Possibly, Kosminski was confused with another Polish Jew of the same age named Aaron or David Cohen (real name possibly Nathan Kaminsky), who was a violent patient at the Colney Hatch Asylum. In September 2014, author Russell Edwards claimed in the book Naming Jack the Ripper to have proved Kosminski's guilt.In 2007, he had bought a shawl which he believed to have been left at a murder scene and gave it to biochemist Jari Louhelainen to test for DNA. A peer-reviewed article on the DNA analysis was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences in 2019. However, scientists from Innsbruck Medical University have criticised the paper and its conclusions, pointing to a number of mistakes and assumptions made by its authors. "Akt urodzenia Aarona Mordki Kuźmińskiego" [Birth certificate of Aaron Mordke Kuźmiński]. Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu. 15 September 2014 . "Adam Rutherford calls the Jack the Ripper identification "a joke" " . Why Evolution Is True blog .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1175329958.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Forbes Winslow Mary Pearcey Legacy In fiction Jack the Ripper Museum v t e Aaron Kosminski (born Aron Mordke Kozmiński ; 11 September 1865 – 24 March 1919) was a Polish hairdresser who is a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders of 1888. Kosminski was a Polish Jew who emigrated from Congress Poland to England in the 1880s. He worked as a hairdresser in Whitechapel in the East End of London , where a series of murders ascribed to an unidentified person nicknamed "Jack the Ripper" were committed in 1888. Beginning in 1891, Kosminski was institutionalised after he threatened his sister with a knife. He was first held at Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum and then transferred to the Leavesden Asylum . Police officials from the time of the murders named one of their suspects as "Kosminski" (the forename was not given) and described him as a Polish Jew in an insane asylum. Almost a century after the final murder, the suspect "Kosminski" was identified as Aaron Kosminski. Still, there was little evidence to connect him with the "Kosminski" who was suspected of the murders, and their dates of death were different. Possibly, Kosminski was confused with another Polish Jew of the same age named Aaron or David Cohen (real name possibly Nathan Kaminsky), who was a violent patient at the Colney Hatch Asylum. In September 2014, author Russell Edwards claimed in the book Naming Jack the Ripper to have proved Kosminski's guilt. In 2007, he bought a shawl which he believed to have been left at a murder scene and gave it to biochemist Jari Louhelainen to test for DNA. A peer-reviewed article on the DNA analysis was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences in 2019. Scientists from Innsbruck Medical University criticised the paper and its conclusions, substantiating that there were mistakes and (mis)assumptions made by its authors, and the journal printed an expression of concern . "Akt urodzenia Aarona Mordki Kuźmińskiego" [Birth certificate of Aaron Mordke Kuźmiński]. Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu. 15 September 2014 . "Adam Rutherford calls the Jack the Ripper identification "a joke" " . Why Evolution Is True blog .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1294237221. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“antisemitism” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today it appears nowhere in the article, references included. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
antisemitism
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2010 and 6 October 2023.
Then
insane polish jew who was a suspect in the jack the ripper murders
Now
polish barber
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.