The Emigration of Jews from the Province of Posen Commemorative Article by Commission of the Union of German Jews, Written by It
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The Emigration of Jews from the Province of Posen Commemorative Article by commission of the Union of German Jews, written by its first Director of Publications, Justizrat Bernhard Breslauer Printed by Berthold Levy, Berlin C., Berlin, 1909 translated by Irene Newhouse, 1995 [I have not included the data from Tables A-D at the end of the article; I’ve only translated the column headings. Thus you’ll need the original article from http://www.gehove.de/antisem/texte/breslauer_abw.pdf .] The Jews of the Province of Posen and their fates have already often been subject of scholarly examination, and have been so again very recently. It therefore seemed appropriate to us to check these studies with a complete examination, and to ascertain the true reasons for the significant decline in the number of Jews in the province. Originating in West Germany, where they'd been settled for hundreds of years, had obtained property and homes, and become thoroughly German, they emigrated eastward due to religious persecution. Here they preserved their German language among Slavic peoples. Even if this language has occasional words of Hebrew, Polish, and Russian mixed in, the basic nature of their language has remained German; yes the Jews have preserved the idiom of their previous German homeland to the extent that one can, from their way of speech, recognize the German state and region from which their ancestors came to Poland and Russia. As Prussia created the Province of South Prussia in 17931, the Jews of this region, which belonged to the Province of Posen, formed a large part of the population, and at any rate, the majority of those who knew the German language, and who generally used it even for everyday speech. The Prussian government thus had a burning interest in learning more about the circumstances of the Jews, & Kammerkalkulator Zimmermann was charged with studying the circumstances. Zimmermann's report stated that the majority of the Jews lived in cities, and the majority had bourgeois occupations, but that Jewish craftsmen were "often the only ones in some places". He said further: "A few of them also raise grain & livestock. This occupation is very common in Siradia & Rawa, but particularly in the villages & districts of Jewish farmers"; he finishes by reporting that Jews are day laborers, craftmen, and drivers. This Zimmermann Report constitutes the guiding thread, according to which Jewish life in South Prussia was regulated legally. However, among the conditions wich were instituted on 4 July 1793 for marriage among Jews, Section 5 states: "that the Jew living in open country... obligate himself to move to a city in which there are already Jews. If the Jew wishing to marry 1 The Netz District already came to Prussian possession in 1772. In the beginning of the 19th century its souther protion was united with the Province of South Prussia, in 1815 the entire district with the Province (Grand Duchy) of Posen. already lives in a city, he must obligate himself never to move to the country". Since then the history of the Jews in the province of Posen is a continuous battle for equal civil rights. Minister von Boss, who generally dealt fairly with Jews and showed them good will, recognized in a comment of 24 Januarly 1794 that "all in all, the Jew in South Prussia is a more cultivated person than the citizen of the small towns & the farmer in the country". In spite of this, all the rights granted the Jewish inhabitants of other provinces were initially expressly withheld from the Jews of the Province of Posen. The Edict of 1812 was purposely not extended to the Jews of the Province of Posen, the conditions that pertained in 1793 when the province was taken over were maintained. It finally became provisional for Jews in the province on 1 July 1833, became permanent by the Law of 28 July 1847, and finally with the Law of 3 July 1869, full equal rights were granted. But all the rights that the Jews of the province of Posen had won for themselves one by one with strenuous effort, were only hesitatingly approved, and realized in fact only after strong resistance. Untiring battles were required to make the promised rights reality, and even today some rights, to which Jews are entitled like all other citizens of Prussia, are not allowed them. This was all the more risky in Posen, as there a German population had first to be established, and the Jews formed a significant foundation for such a population from the start. But one only recalls this fact in times of need. If there was no danger to a German population, one believed that there was no reason to grant Jews civil rights. However, as soon as the Polish danger grew, then one recalled the important German cultural element & sought to, if not attract it, at least make use of it. [He’s referring to Polish nationalism here -IN]. The right to participate in city government was extended only unwillingly, & one sought, where one could, to prevent their joining the governing bodies; but when the danger existed, that Poles could hold the majority, then the Jews, systematically excluded until then, were immediately & without any fanfare brought into city government. As long as the Poles in the province could be kept down relatively peacefully, one didn't need the help of Jews, and therefore gave them no part in general government. But as soon as there was danger of a Polish uprising, one again called on the Jews & accepted their help in preserving Germanness. Up to the 3 great wars one did not in reality grant the Jews the equality which they sought. During the wars of 1864, 1866, & 1870, every difference suddenly disappeared. Jews were declared equal, & considered such. From 1878/9 one employed all efforts to oppress the Jews again & to keep them out of all positions which they had held. As the Polish danger grew, one remembered them again. And so it was no wonder, that in a time in which the settling policy was in great difficulty, the authorities as well as the Ostmark Union proclaimed that no distinction based on religion would be tolerated in the Province of Posen, that for the battle against the Poles, all Germans, regardless of religion or creed, would be equal, including Germans of Jewish faith. The Jews in the Province of Posen know such pronouncements by officials & their Christian fellow-citizens of old. They know that the ingratitude with which the Poles reproach them is a legend, but they also know that the enthusiasm of German officialdom for religious toleration is only operative during crises, and that any rights they happen to Have, they've won for themselves with hard work. In the meantime, conditions in Posen have changed significantly. It isn't only that general progress & social development have made great changes, in particular modernization of political & economic institutions has not failed to have great effect on internal affairs in Posen. But for the Jews, their incredible emigration from the province appears as a characteristic sign. The following tables, which are for the most part based on official figures, yield a clear picture of the conditions to be discussed here. The numbers of Jews in each of the 131 cities in the province, since 1793, is given in the tables. In this, the year in which the Jewish population reached its maximum, the peak year, is particularly noted. Then in further workup, the time from the peak year until the census of the year 1905, is contrasted to that of the last 20 years, that is, those years in which the activity of the Settling Commission has had an effect. In the large work of this Commission, published 1906, only the years of its own existence are considered, and the data on the situation of members of individual religions presented in such a way as suits its own purposes. This presentation is inadequate for establishing the condition of Jews from the province Posen. The numbers which are found in this most recent period skew the picture, and therefore the author of that work came to incorrect conclusions vis a vis the Jews. If one considers the result that one obtains from the accompanying tables, one finds the following noteworthy phenomena. The peak years vary considerably for individual cities in the province. While in a few cities the high point had already occurred by the time the province was taken over, was reached in the '20's & '30's in some others, population increase lasted until the '40's in a majority of cities. Thus 37 cities peaked before 1840, 57 between 1840 & 1849, and another 37 peaked between 1850 & 1885. After the year 1885, no city in the province, with the exception of the small border town Schulitz, had a population peak. The cities on the western boundary of the district of Posen, that is, those that were closest to the Mark Brandenberg, were those whose peaks were achieved in the '40's. The reason was that emigration to reach a better political situation in Brandenburg, especially in Berlin, was easiest from here. In the '40's, it was primarily in those cities on the eastern edge of Posen, in which Jews, after reaching their high point, began emigrating. After the '40's, Jews from the district Bromberg, from the city of Posen & its environs & from the southern tip of the province followed, whereby it is noteworthy that: in the years from 1864 to 1870, emigration began in only 2 cities, while in 9 which reached maximum in 1872, emigration first began to be felt at the end of the '70's.