PhD Theses

Krisztina Kurdi

Galicia and the Jewry of with Special Regard to Sámuel Bredeczky’s Reisebemerkungen über Ungern und Galizien

ELTE BTK 2008 Choosing Field – Galicia As Historical Problem

Galicia was and still is handled adversely by Hungarian history and pub- lic opinion until today, however, Habsburgs legitimated their occupation as be- ing Hungarian kings. Nevertheless, I consider as a more signi¿ cant and grave problem that the notion of Galician Jewry is accompanied by false statetment and misunderstandings in present day Hungarian public opinion and public talk. It is a tragic phenomenon that the notion of “Galician” re-emerged as pejorative in the rhetorics of extreme rightist, which is applied to the entire Hungarian Jewry. Besides their declaration is unacceptable from both political and moral perspectives, it is also erroneous from historical point of view, since the majority of the present day Hungarian Jews is not from Galicia. The main objective of this dissertation is to introduce who are and who were the Jewry of Galicia and how they lived and how they live today. We may consider Galicia as individual geographical and historical unit between 1772-1918. From this 146 years, my paper focuses on 40 years: from the beginning of Austrian rule to 1812, which includes the life of main char- acter, Sámuel Bredeczky. His oeuvre and personality may not be compared to also hungarus predeccesors such as Mátyás, Bél Sámuel Tessedik, Károly Windisch Gottlieb, János Mátyás Korabinszky vagy János SzászkyTomka , however, they are adequate to view and understand the spirit and behaviour of contemporary intellectual elite. The personality of Sámuel Bredeczky carries the characteristic features and typical roles of Hungarian hungarus intellectuals of the Enlightenment. He was such a hungarus identity German who was loyal dependant and patriot at the same time, and he could not or could hardly speak Hungarian. Despite this fact, he confessed as being Zipser and from Hungary. His life may called as service in the noble meaning of the term, that, on the one hand, it was the service of Evangelical Church and adherents, and, on the other hand, service of Monarchy, the Emperor; he regarded his being German and patriotism to the Hungarian homeland as compatible.

1 Sámuel Bredeczky evangelical minister was sent to Galicia to supervise in the discordance for the throne in and lead expeditions against and reorganise the protestant settlements and evangelical religious life. He car- the Kingdom. He was the ¿ rst Hungarian king to receive “rex Galiciae et ried out more than the above. Besides his assigned tasks, he carried out stud- Lodomeriae” title. The two ex-Polish territories (Red Russia and Small Po- ies in state economy, folklore, geography, mineralogy and all ¿ elds that could land) formed the core of Galicia. This not only meant tow separate country be necessary for the state, the monarchy. The years in Galicia were fertile parts but also two distinct Slavic population and cultures: the Byzantine from both literary and scienti¿ c perspective: he published numerous articles, and German-Roman. Red Russia became a part of Polish Kingdom during preaches and books, and the experience of his of¿ cial travellings was recorded the reign of Louis the Great. Small to which Western Galicia was in the work titled Reisebemerkungen über Ungern und Galizien. His travel attached later, was not liable to Mongol intrusions from the end of 13th cen- notes introduced the ¿ rst decades of the Austrian rule in Galicia, the ethnical tury, therefore the population was more dense and chieÀ y German settlers relations of the province, and its natural and economical capabilities from a established towns. Whereas the (Ukrainian) territories known as Eastern particular point of view. Galicia were subject to wars and Mongol then Turkish invasions, thus the density of population remained low; settlement could develop gradually during the centuries as they were re-established frequently. Historical Background of the Formation of Galicia The princes of of the Middle Ages had ties principally with the Polish and they could hardly resist against the Mongol intrusions. During the 14th Galicia was established subsequent to the various partitions of Kingdom century, the history of – Volhinia developed different- of and Poland. In the 17th century, the territory of the polish noble ly : Volhinia became Lithuanian territory and Halych went under Polish rule republic was 990.000 km², however, it was reduced to 730.000 km² prior to in 1340. The claim of Hungarian kings remained subsequent to the anteced- 1772. The most developed areas belonged to Prussia after the ¿ rst division ents in the 13th century, and the present day Ukrainian history books regard (East Pomerania and the northern part of Great Poland), a total of 36.300 the personal union of 1370-1382 as Hungarian reign. After termination of km² and 580.000 inhabitants. Russia was given 93.000 km² with 1.300.000 personal union, the territory was the part of Polish Kingdom until 1772. people. Austria was granted the most populated territory: 81.900 km²-t and At the ¿ rst partition of 1772, Austria was granted three areas: the 2.650.000 inhabitants during the ¿ rst partition in 1772. erstwhile Red Russia, Duchy of Auschwitz and Zator, and the Zipser cit- From historical perspective, the Galicia geographical name covers ies. This territory was most populated among the areas partitioned by the the area between the rivers Zbrucs and Wisáok where the Principality of three great powers: territory of approximately 81.000 km² 83.000 km² Halych- was between 1087 and 1200. In the 13th century, the its with 2.130.000-2.650.000 inhabitants. In 1786, was attached to history was characterised by conÀ icts for the throne and external attacks. Galicia, which meant an additional 10.456 km². Austria was left out from The Hungarian kings took advantage of the internal insecurity and lead the second partition in 1793, however is was given further territories in various expeditions to Halych that were sometimes successful, however, the third partition of 1796. Krakow that was under Prussian reign was they could not establish a temporary rule. In 1205, Andrew II intervened granted to the Austrians. On January 16, 1797, the partition of Poland

2 3 was terminated by the Treaty of Saint Petersburg. Austria received six Policy of Habsburgs Regarding Galicia new districts: Krakow, Kielce, Lublin, Biala, Radom, Siedlce – voivod- ships bordered by Rivers Pilica, Visztula and Bug that were united under Prior to August of 1772, Galicia legitimately was not a Habsburg prov- a joint regency with Galicia in 1803. This territory was called as Western ince. Therefore, it seemed rational to place under the administration of chan- Galicia to distinguish from areas granted earlier to Austria, which were cellery of court. Until the legal status of the territory was not settled, no designated as Eastern Galicia. During this period, Galicia was the great- civilian public administration could be introduced. est regarding size: nearly 129.000 km². The new power deeply changed the life of Galicia. The historical capi- The Habsburgs could not take advantage of Western Galicia, since Na- tal of Halych was replaced by Lemberg only with the population of 24.000. poleon, after having won over the Prussians and Austrians, established the Lemberg was a major trading centre during the Middle Ages as it lies in the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807. Therefore, Austria had to give upon the territories junction of various important trading routes from the Black Sea, Asia, and to it was granted in 1796-1797. However, subsequent to death of Napoleon, the the Baltic Sea and Western Europe. This why the town was diverse in ethni- Austrians could gain back parts of the lost areas. cal, language and cultural terms that was preserved until the 20th century. The borders of Galicia changed various times until the mid 19th Thus, we may declare that the decision of the Austrian was correct. century: the Duchy of Auschwitz – Zator that belongs to Wadowicze The period between 1772-1815 may be considered as transitory; the District (1900 km²) was attached to the Austrian Silezia, however, it Austrian public administration was established that remained until 1918. remained the part of Galicia regarding public administration. In 1846, after the uprising in Krakow, the city, which was under the joint rule of In spite of apparent hesitation, and her son was in- three powers, and an additional 1.100 km² became a part of Galicia. In terested in the partition of Poland, since they intended to compensate the 1849, Galicia suffered a new territorial loss and Bukovina became auto- lost Silesia to re-establish the Central European status quo. However, the nomic province. The last territorial modification was carried out in 1866 Habsburgs was not interested in Galicia as a new territory, they solely needed when Duchy of Auschwitz – Zator returned to Galicia. The territory of a particular compensation for Silesia, which they never gave upon and the the province was then 80.200 km² that was not varied until the collapse court in Vienna always speculated that Galicia should be switched for a dif- of the Habsburg Empire. ferent territory. However, they integrated Galicia to the Habsburg Empire by The new province was given back its old historical name and became establishing Austrian public administration with a great effort. Moreover, it under Austrian administration as “Königreich Galizien und Lodomerien”. was regarded as ¿ eld of an experiment where the new “Einrichtungswerk” More problems occur regarding the denomination: on the one hand, we re- could be introduced. The term is derived from the contemporary language of gard the erstwhile Grand Duchy of Halych and Vladimir under the historical the Austrian clerks. Galicia and Lodomeria, however, Austria received only a portion of this ter- With a charter issued on October 16, 1772, the Austrians abolished the ritory. On the other hand, if we consider the name of the old Polish territo- erstwhile polish institutions and dissolved the clerk apparatus. The voivods ries, Galicia was Red Russia and Voivodship of . and reeves were dismissed and only clerks working in lower levels remained

4 5 provisionally in order to provide continuity. They introduced a system of in- The Role and Situation of Jewry in the Polish and Galician Society stitutions similar to the public administration of the Empire. The main ob- jective of reign of Maria Theresa and Joseph II was the standardisation and Joseph II visited Galicia in 1773 for the ¿ rst time and then he faced the centralisation of the governing of Empire and Galicia was reformed in ac- problems of Galician Jews and he was astonished by their great number and cordance with this notion. The governor headed the province; the ¿ rst gover- life conditions that were unique in the Monarchy. According to the data reor- nor of Galicia was Anton Pergen. ded in 1825, the total Jewish population of the empire was 500.000; 166.000 The Austrians made an important decision regarding the Polish in Hungary, 55.100 in Bohemia, 29.100 in Moravia and 250.000 in Galicia, (now Galician) nobles. The Polish nobles and the clergy were exempt namely, the half of the Jewish in the Empire lived in Galicia and this ¿ gure fro tax duties since the reign of Louis I King of Hungary. As for the was the same in 1773. The fact that they had privileges and status granted in compensation, they were obliged to present an army and even they had no other location of the monarchy rendered more dif¿ culties for the new po- serve, however, the new situation required no such activity. Everyone wer. The roots are to be traced back in history of the medieval Poland. agreed in the court that privileges of Polish nobles should be abolished During the 12th century, bigger group of Jews arrived to Poland cheÀ y or at least restricted. Debates only focused on the fact that which privi- from Bohemia and Germany due to the persecutions broke out subsequent to leges should be deprived of and which should remain. The charter of crusades. The Polish kings welcomed the Jewry and Boleslaw the Innocent is- June 13, 1775, abolished the equity of slachta and divided the into two sued the so-called Statute of Kalis in 1264. According to this, Jews became the separate group: aristocrats and gentry (knights). Clergy was also classi- chamber servants (servi camerae) of the Prince and they were obliged to pay fied into the above system. tax. Boleslaw provided the Jews to formulate in communities with individual The integration of Galicia into the Emprie was not easy, however, the self-governance (kehilá) in the Statues, which was most important element for court carried on with the initiated “Einrichtungswerk”. According to a char- centuries. This community structure gained importance in the life of Jewry, ter issued on June 5, 1775, all nobles were obliged to appear in front of a therefore I deemed signi¿ cant to dedicate a separate chapter to this issue. noble committee to certify the origins of his privileges. Only those being Kazimir the Great (1333-1370 broadened and forti¿ ed the privileges able to prove his nobility tracing back 150 years could preserve their privi- of Jews that were extended to the entire Polish Kingdom. During his reign, leges. Only those living in Galicia and having lands Galicia could partici- the number of communities grew signi¿ cantly, which was partly due to the pate in political life, therefore in estate assembly. Landless nobles lost all population exiling from Western Europe because of plague, and partly to their privileges. the conscious developing policy of Kazmir III. Kazimir IV. (1447-1492) The most important tool of centralisation of Maria Theresa and and István Báthory (1576-1586) reinforced the privileges of the Jew. The Joseph was law-making to make cohesion of the empire consisting of biggest Jewish exile to Poland was during the 16th century that was resulted different countries and people. In Galicia, the pattern of Austrian juris- from the religious wars in German territories and the excommunication of diction was introduced that was ampli¿ ed by their descendants. The Aus- Spanish Jewry. By the 16th century, the greatest European Jewish commu- trian Criminal Code and Civil Code were introduced in 1803 and 1811. nity was formulated in Poland.

6 7 The Jewry constituted 6-7% of the population of 17th century Poland. products are were familiar with trading routes and the demand of the market. According to data of the census of 1764, approximately 800.000 Jews lived Therefore, the Polish Jewry moved to the lands of nobles from the cities. Po- in the territory of Rzeczpospolita. Around 550.000 lived in the towns and lis lords did not like the idea of being engaged in the affairs of their lands and villages of the Crowns whereas 250.000 in Lithuania. Their number raised they had not af¿ nity to it, thus they required the help of the Jews who carried eastward and thy primarily lived in the cities. Therefore, only 40.000 lived in out inevitable tasks. They directed the masons, and transported the products villages out the total 220.000 at the end of 18th century. that were sold in the cities. This is how the particular economical circle bet- The Jewry had a particular position in the medieval and early modern ween the cities and the country was established with aid of Jewry and the age Poland, which was due to their certain economical and social position. entire Polish society, in which Polish and Ruthen peasants, Jewish merchants They were between the peasantry and nobles ful¿ lling a particular media- and craftsmen, German citizens and Polish lords were connected. tor role between the classes and also the lacking middles class in a certain Besides carrying out the above task, the Jews practiced the so-called perspective. In theory, they had same rights as the free Christians, however, lord incomes. They leased the right of mill, ¿ shpond and tavern of the Polish it was not so in practice. Their organisations similar to Christian magist- nobles. The Jews had direct connection with the peasants, also in mills and rates dealt with the issue of the given town or village with full authority. taverns, as leaseholders and stewards. Practically, they organised and direc- There were numerous laws against the Jew that restricted their right, ho- ted the economical life of the village. They lived together with the peasants wever, they were not obeyed as it was not the interest of the ruling elite of in villages, however, according to contemporary travellers, the Jews took the Polish society. Their position was better than of the peasantry as they advantage of the peasantry. They directed as leaseholders and stewards, sold were not serves and they had the right to move freely that placed them abo- the products of the land as tavern-keepers as they sold not only alcohol. At ve peasantry in the eye of Christian population. Undoubtedly, they were the same time, economical negations were carried out in taverns between not under lords authority. This particular situation is reÀ ected by the law the peasants and the Jewish merchants. These tavern played a crucial role in passed in 1569 that promulgated the Christianised Jews, as free men, were the economy of Galicia as they were the only locations for gathering besi- immediately given noble privileges. des the church. Canvasser merchants who purchased the surplus of peasants The Jewry Polish-Lithuanian Union was also distinct from the Western also came to taverns. European by the fact that they not only lived in cities but also in towns and As the power of king gradually weakened during the centuries, the se- villages. In the beginning of the Austrian rule, 70-80% of the Jews lived in curity of Jews was guaranteed by nobles, more precisely, by magnates and the country. The phenomenon traces back to the 16th century when agricultu- lords. They mutually needed each other. They provided loans and services ral production became the lading role in the territories east to Elbe due to the to nobles for protection. The most widespread method of their service was changes in the European division of labour, and the lands of nobles were con- the above-mentioned lease of domains and the management of their affairs. nected in the process of production. The same happened in the Polish King- They could not lease state lands, domains of king and duties, however, they dom and this triggered the change of role, more precisely, the appreciation of received such leaseholds as they received them from directly the nobles not Jewish population. The nobles needed a mobile stratum that was able to sell the king. This particular relation between nobles and Jewry characterised

8 9 the Polish economy. For a noble, the Jewish was the best leaseholder, the des these, our most important sources are the works written by individuals best debtor and creditor. This tight alliance of interests was disliked by both living and working in Galicia for a particular period and recorded their ex- peasantry and bourgeois and craftsmen of the city. The few and weak bour- perience and the happenings of everyday life. We may considers these books geois considered Jewish tradesmen as signi¿ cant and dishonest concurrency as literary works in more ample sense – nevertheless, history regards them as as they produced their goods much cheaper and of poorer quality, however, literary works – since they were compiled as travel books and, in fact, they Christians assigned Jewish tradesmen with orders. This, of course, resulted were a certain “side product” of of¿ ce work. Their source value is revealed in the rage of guilds that feared their monopolies, and subsequent to a long by the fact that the works of Belsazer Hacquet and Sámuel Bredeczky were struggle, they were able to reach that the activity of Jewish craftsmen were re-published in a reprint version in 1990-1991. restricted in the cities. Besides Sámuel Bredeczky, we dedicated a separate chapter to travel For the peasants, leasing of lands was the most disliked, since it nor- books of Belsazer Hacquet, Ernst Traugott von Kortum and Joseph Schultes, mally meant the complete destruction of their husbandry. The Jewish lea- since, they introduced the condition of Galicia from three different social seholder wanted the pro¿ t of the land and the money credited to the lords positions, and all three were Bredeczky’s contemporaries, colleagues and within the shortest period possible. The roots of strong Polish anti-Semitism debate partners during the years spent in Galicia. Moreover, each them were of the 19-20th century traces back to the this period. committed Jose¿ nism and Enlightenment. Bredeczky referred to them va- In the beginning of their rule, the Austrians assessed that the leasehold rious times in his book; their work, experience and statements had effect on system is mischievous from both economical and moral perspectives, there- hos views, too. fore they used all tools at their disposal to eliminate it. The main target of the Sámuel Bredeczky’s Reisebemerkungen über Ungern und Galizien ,ay laws of Maria Theresa and Joseph II regarding the Jewry was the profound belong to the so-called encyclopaedic travelling, which is a “more develo- restructuring of Jewish occupation and the obstruction of their exile. However, ped” type of lexicographical-topographical travelling. Both are typical of they and their descendants could not realise the above objective. Therefore, we Enlightenment, in which travellers collected a great deal of data on popula- may declare that the status of the Galician Jewry remained unsolved until the tion, economy, geographical and natural resources of the examined country/ collapse of the Monarchy. countries. The contemporary popularity of the genre is understandable, since enlightened absolutism aimed at measuring the country with encyclopaedic meticulousness to facilitate the operation of public administration and go- Galicia as Destination – Sámuel Bredeczky’ Journey to Galicia verning by subordinating research and science under the interests of state economy. The above-mentioned two type of travel description characterises In literature, particularly in journey literature in German, journey to Ga- Bredeczky’s work, however, we may regard Reisebemerkungen as a desc- licia has been a recurring pattern in the past three centuries. At the end of 18th ription of study journey (Berufreisen) or a description of a journey of clerk century in the beginning of 19th century, various travel books were written by (Funktionsträger). Furthermore, we may ¿ nd the cult of nature, which was so chieÀ y Western European travellers, adventurers and nobles, however, besi- widespread during Enlightenment, that penetrates the description of geog-

10 11 raphy and hidrogpraphy of Galicia. This interest of his was accompanied by In general, despite Sámuel Bredeczky lived in Galicia for long years real knowledge of science and a keen desire to research. when writing Reisebemerkungen, he unearthed no profound social and socie- tal correspondences. This may be well observed in his eye-catching uninfor- However, Sámuel Bredeczky’s book is a little different that may not med manner regarding the Jews or Ruthenians of Galicia. The other attenti- enable us to categorise it to any group. His work is a particular blend of desc- on-grabbing phenomenon is his loyalty to the Austrian Government and their ription of journeys during his of¿ cial and spare time travelling. Therefore, measures that is explained by his enlightened thinking. This devotion is parti- both the impressions recorded during journey and the data described with cularly strong to Joseph II and his activity in Galicia. Every time he mentiones scienti¿ c precisity supported by statistics. the King’s name, he adds “unforgettable” (unvergessliche) adjective. The author travelled more than he accounted in his work, and this fact Similarly to his contemporaries and the Austrian clerks in Galicia, Bre- is included in the preface dated in 1809. We are not aware of the fact that deczky was characterised by a certain shallowness in judgement of particular what motives lead him when compiling his writings and which impression issues. Although it is not always clear whether it is shallowness or the arbit- was worth recording it as there seems to be no conception in it. He fre- rary reticence of facts, his contemporaries living and working in Galicia also quently mentions cities that are far from each other, therefore it is sure that concealed the activity of Austrian clerks, which were sometimes deteriorative, he did not visit them at the same time, however, they are next to each other namely, when clerks conspired against the Galician and Polish nobles, Jewry for some reason in his book. It is also overt – and understandable – that the and peasantry. They did not talk about the fact that the execution of decrees introduction of villages established by German settlers is over represented, of Joseph II was obstructed by regency, and this tendency grew subsequent to sometimes he writes pages on settlement that are vanished or fused with ot- the death of the emperor. In our opinion this may be due to Bredeczky’s over her villages during the 19th century. Bredeczky’s work re¿ nes the generally loyalty in his case. known or even unknown until then picture on Galicia. Besides the above-mentioned criticism, Sámuel Bredeczky’s oeuvre He recorded various times that he wrote his book with literary aim, is characterised by industry and meticulousness in collecting data and sup- however, for himself in his spare time, since his favourite amusement. Was porting his claims. He utilised the most trustful statistical data gathered the study of the country and folklore. This attitude is a characteristic of the by the Austrian authorities or he carried out surveys himself. He executed 18th century when travelling became a more and more popular enjoyment; census chieÀ y among German settlers by visiting all settlements and col- participant intended to relax and acquire information on cultural issues or lecting statistics. new acquaintances at the same time. The superintendent’s opinion on Jewry shows no difference from the In Sámuel Bredeczky’s travel book, emphasis is place on minerals, other travel books. We could not expect other, since he was a clerk of the rocks and certainly statistics on settlements. The minister explains is his fo- empire and he had to be loyal to the power due to his situation. However, it reword of the ¿ rst book that he focused on state economy issues in Galicia. is overt from his writing that the policy of Austrians toward the Jewry was For this reason among others, his work is not explicitly felicitous reading the not successful and it remained an unsolved problem until the collapse of the contemporary reader. Austro-Hungarian Empire.

12 13 Summary and the possibility of further research There would be a necessity of Hungarian monography on history of Galicia until 1918 that would also clarify the popular fallacy regarding im- If we have to evaluate on the Austrian rule of 146 years in Galicia, we migration of Galician Jewry to Hungary. Besides the above-mentioned, there may declare that it was not triumphant. This sum-totalising decision shall be are numerous unexplored “details” that were not unearthed by Hungarian re¿ ned as geopolitical state of Galicia is not advantageous and it was never history: namely, the Galician party relations during the years of autonomy able to overcome this dif¿ culties. This territory was border province of both and the role of Jewry in the Galician parties. Polish kingdom and , therefore, it was characterised by all the features of development of peripheral regions. It was accompanied by numerous special Galician problems: ethnical diversity that lea to nationality conÀ icts with the emerge of nationalism, the weakness of central power and the overpopulation. It is very likely that if had been a province of a different power it would not have a signi¿ cant effect on the development of Galicia. Austrian initiations that were rational and righteous had fail due to the ment- ioned local conditions. However, Galicia is important for a historian and is unearthed ¿ eld from Hungarian perspective that provides new challenges. As for summarising, I intend to introduce issues that require further efforts. Regarding Sámuel Bre- deczky’s works, one may ¿ nd numerous undiscovered and valuable resources in the Országos Evangélikus Levéltár (National Evangelical Archives). The two most precious are Materialen zur statistisch-geographischen Beschrei- bung von Galitien (Material to Statistical- Geographical Description of Ga- licia) recorded when he collected data at request of the Austrian government for Statistisch-geographische Beschreibung der Königreiche Galizien u. Lo- domerien nebst Bukowina (Statistical-Geographical Description of Galicia, Lodomery Kigdom and Bukovina) work that was never published. Vorsch- läge zur Verbesserung der Landwirtschaft und anderer Industriezweige in Galizien (Suggestion to the amelioration of agriculture and other industries in Galicia) is also an abundant and meticulous collection that was compiled for the tender announced by the Galician governor. The original work is lost, however, the recordings of the research remained.

14 15 Publications In this Field:

2006 Egy cipszer lelkész Galíciában. Bredeczky Sámuel élete és munkássága. Credo

2006 Az oroszlánok városa- Ilyvó, Lwów, Lemberg, Leopoli, L’viv – Európai utas

2005 Galícia és a galíciai zsidóság a 18. század végén – Múlt és JövĘ

1993 Az évszázados hĦs é g ( w i t h D r. F ü l e i S z á n t ó E n d r e l ) Iskolakultúra

16 17