Gompich

Gompich lived in Frankfurt around 1500. He was a community servant, probably a cantor or shames. In 1471 he was sent to Regensburg as an envoy to the emperor to settle tax issues. In 1504 he was the victim of one of the most vicious slanders made against Jews, the claim that they killed Christians because they needed their blood for ritual purposes.Several years earlier Jews had been accused and condemned in Trient on charges of killing a Christian youth, Simon of Trient, for this purpose. The Frankfurt city council took note of the event and as a warning erected an antisemitic painting on this theme on the Sachsenhausen bridge. Then Gompich was accused of this: a Frankfurt cobbler who owed Gompich money claimed that Gompich had forced him to give him the blood of his stepson, who he had killed, for use in rituals. Gompich was arrested but refused to confess, even under torture. In fact, as it turned out the cobbler had lied: he had falsely accused Gompich because of the debt. When this became known Gompich was released at once.