The Plunder: The 1898 Anti-Jewish Riots in Habsburg Galicia

261 Pages·2018·5.052 MB·English

by  Daniel Unowsky

The Plunder
Stanford Studies on Central and Eastern Europe
Edited by Norman Naimark and Larry Wolff
The Plunder
The 1898 Anti-Jewish Riots in Habsburg Galicia
Daniel Unowsky
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2018 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
Some of this material originally appeared in “Local Violence, Regional Politics, and
State Crisis: The 1898 Anti-Jewish Riots in Habsburg Galicia,” pp. 13–35, in Sites of
European Antisemitism in the Age of Mass Politics, 1880–1918, edited by Robert Nemes
and Daniel Unowsky, published by Brandeis University Press in 2014. Reprinted
with permission.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of
Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Unowsky, Daniel L., 1966– author.
Title: The plunder : the 1898 anti-Jewish riots in Habsburg Galicia /
Daniel L. Unowsky.
Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2018. |
Series: Stanford studies on Central and Eastern Europe | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017056338 (print) | LCCN 2017058934 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781503606104 (e-book) | ISBN 9780804799829 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Riots—Galicia (Poland and Ukraine)—History—19th century. |
Antisemitism—Galicia (Poland and Ukraine)—History—19th century. |
Political violence—Galicia (Poland and Ukraine)—History—19th century. |
Jews—Crimes against—Galicia (Poland and Ukraine)—History—19th century.
| Galicia (Poland and Ukraine)—Ethnic relations—Political
aspects—History—19th century. | Europe—Politics and
government—1871-1918.
Classification: LCC DK4600.G3475 (ebook) |
LCC DK4600.G3475 U56 2018 (print)
| DDC 947.7/9083—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017056338
Cover design: Angela Moody
Cover image: Detail from “The Unrest in Galicia.” Die Wiener Bilder, 10 July 1898.
Courtesy of the Austrian National Library.
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10/13.5 Adobe Garamond Pro
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments iv
On Place Names and Translations xi
Introduction 1
1 Jews, Roman Catholics, and Mass Politics in Western Galicia 11
2 The Plunder 43
3 Rioters, Jews, and the State 73
4 The Trials 115
5 Politics, Policy, and Christian-Jewish Relations 147
Conclusion 177
Archival Abbreviations 187
Notes 189
Index 227
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Illustrations
Maps
1. Austria-Hungary, 1867–1914 xiii
2. Galicia 10
Figures
1. Handwritten flyer from Szczurowa xiv
2. Galician Jewish shop 15
3. Tavern in Spytkowice 15
4. Jews in front of a tavern 16
5. Wooden tavern in Orawka 16
6. A and B. Jews from Cracow and the surrounding region;
Peasant family from the Cracow region 18
7. Grand Synagogue, Nowy Sącz 20
8. “Buy only from Christians” 23
9. Mateusz Jeż, Jewish Secrets 24
10. St. Anna Church, Cracow 27
11. “Away with hypocrisy”; “Away with the sausage election!”
Galician Election Advertisement 29
12. Stanisław Stojałowski 32
13. “Long Live the First of May!” Prawo Ludu 34
viii Illustrations
14. Jan Stapiński 40
15. Frysztak’s main market street around 1900 61
16. Nowy Sącz town hall and square 66
17. “The Unrest in Galicia,” Die Wiener Bilder 67
18. A and B. Town square, Stary Sącz 68
19. The well on the market square of Stary Sącz 69
2o. Telegram to the governor’s office from the Jewish community
leadership of Andrychów 100
21. “State of Emergency in Galicia,” Kikeriki 105
22. Military Situation Map of June 27, 1898 106
23. Lutcza indictment 130
24. Compilation of all criminal court procedures related to the
antisemitic unrest 142
25. “The Situation in Galicia,” Kikeriki 152
26. “November Storms in Parliament,” Wiener Bilder 155
27. “Model Letter for Removing the Saloon Keeper,”
Związek Chłopski 172
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to many people and institutions for help and advice
without which this book could not have been realized. I first came across
references to the events at the center of this study while conducting re-
search on my dissertation on Habsburg imperial celebrations written under
the guidance of Columbia University’s István Deák, admired mentor and
advisor to me and so many in the field of central and eastern European
history. I am fortunate to teach at the University of Memphis, which gen-
erously supports the humanities and social sciences. The Professional De-
velopment Assignment Program, the Travel Enrichment Fund, the Faculty
Research Grant Program, and the Department of History at the university
provided vital funding for my research.
I thank the many scholars of Habsburg, Polish, and Jewish history who
read sections of the book, offered advice and assistance, and saved me from
numerous errors (of course, I alone am responsible for those that remain):
Natalia Aleksiun, Harald Binder, Tim Buchen, Gary Cohen, Laurence Cole,
Mark Cornwall, Patrice Dabrowski, John Deak, John Fahey, Anna Frajlich-
Zając, John-Paul Himka, Pieter Judson, Jonathan Judaken, Börries Kuzmany,
Hugo Lane, Artur Markowski, Marsha Rozenblit, Tamara Scheer, Christoph
Schmetterer, Erwin Schmidl, Ostap Sereda, Joshua Shanes, Nancy Sinkoff,
Marcin Soboń, Kai Struve, Veronika Wendland, Nancy Wingfield, Nathaniel
Wood, Piotr Wróbel, and Tara Zahra.
For answers to endless questions regarding my research and my quest
to find historical images related to the 1898 events in Galicia, I am grateful to
the Austrian State Archives, the Jagiellonian University Library in Cracow,