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James Parkes (priest): what Wikipedia removed

James Parkes was an Anglican clergyman who confronted antisemitism in interwar Europe and survived an assassination attempt for speaking out against Nazism. In 2010 the opening said he was “drawn to his task by first-hand exposure to the brutality of antisemitism on the continent” and that he “grew aware of the brutality of antisemitism and very early on spoke out about Nazism, surviving an assassination attempt in 1935.” Today’s opening describes him only as a clergyman, soldier, historian and activist who published The Jew and His Neighbour; antisemitism does not appear in the opening. A reader today does not learn that Parkes’s work was driven by direct exposure to antisemitism or that he survived an assassination attempt after speaking out against Nazism.

The word “antisemitism” appeared 2 times in this article’s opening at its peak, in 2010. Today the opening carries none; the body carries 14. Checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01.

The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot

Section titled “The tracked words, snapshot by snapshot”
word2010201520206 October 20232025
antisemitism20000

Counts are of the opening paragraph only, the part most readers, search engines and AI training sets ever quote.

What was taken out

Section titled “What was taken out”
  • The opening’s original sentence naming his birthplace, Guernsey, reworded rather than removed.
  • The sentence crediting his 1929 book with founding a Christian re-evaluation of Judaism, reworded rather than removed.
  • The sentence on his first-hand exposure to antisemitism and the roots he traced it to, dropped from the opening.

How it opened then, and now

Section titled “How it opened then, and now”

2010 (revision 369020214):

James Parkes (1896 – 1981) was born on the Island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands and was a clergyman , historian, and social activist. Starting in 1929 with the publication of The Jew and His Neighbour , he created the foundations of a Christian reevaluation of Judiam. Drawn to his task by first-hand exposure to the brutality of antisemitism on the continent, Parkes traced its animus to the obdurate hard-heartedness and wrongheadedness of Christianity vis-à-vis the Jewish people and their faith. He discovered that the principles and practice of historic Christianity was responsible for the sins and excesses that culminated in the Shoah . His life’s work amounted not only to hundreds of a…

2025 (revision 1261877602):

Theologian from Guernsey, 1896–1981 For other people with the same name, see James Parkes . James William Parkes (22 December 1896 – 10 August 1981) was an Anglican clergyman , soldier, historian, and social activist. With the publication of The Jew and His Neighbour in 1929, he created the foundations of a Christian re-evaluation of Judaism . He also published under the pseudonym John Hadham . ^ Chertok 2006 , pp. 7, 470. ^ “Papers of Reverend James William Parkes” . Archives Hub . 2 May 2017 . Retrieved 9 February 2022 . ^ “Select Bibliography of James Parkes” (PDF) . University of Southampton . 7 June 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011 . Retrieved 9 February 2022 .

Section titled “Related”

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