When the holy people of the sacred community of Mainz heard that some of the Jews of Speyer had been killed and that the community of Worms had been attacked a second time, their courage failed and their hearts melted like water. They cried out to the Lord and said: “You, Lord God of Israel, will You destroy the remnant of Israel? Where are all Your wonders of which our ancestors told us, saying, ‘Did You not bring us up from Egypt?’ Now You have abandoned us and delivered us into the hands of the nations to destroy us.”

All the leaders of Israel from the community assembled and went to the archbishop, his officials and his servants. They said to them: “What shall we do concerning the report we have heard about our brothers in Speyer and Worms, who have been killed?”

They answered: “Listen to our advice. Bring all your money into our treasuries and into the treasury of the archbishop. Then you, your wives, your children and everything belonging to you shall enter the courtyard of the archbishop. In this way, you will be able to escape from the crusaders.”

They gave us this advice so that they could hand us over, gather us together and catch us like fish trapped in an evil net. The archbishop also assembled his officials and servants, including powerful princes, nobles and officers, to help us and save us from the crusaders. At first he wished to save us, but in the end his intentions changed.