A Convenient Hatred: The History of Antisemitism (25 page)

Important differences also existed. Boleslaw’s charter granted Jews four privileges that they had not had in charters granted in other places:

1. In keeping with papal decrees, Jews were not to be accused of using Christian blood “because their law prohibits the use of any blood.” Unlike papal decrees, however, this provision called for a specific punishment for making a false accusation: a Christian
who made such a charge was to suffer the same punishment a Jew would receive if the accusation were true.

2. Jews could receive a horse as security for a loan only during the daylight hours. (This provision was meant to protect Jews against accusations that they had accepted stolen horses as pledges. Stolen horses were more likely to be transferred at night than during the day.)

3. A Jew could be accused of cheating on a loan only if the accusation was supported by the prince or his local representative.

4. A Christian who failed to help a Jew who was attacked at night was required to pay a fine.

This new Polish charter was unique in another way as well. It obligated Jews to defend their king or prince in battle. So Jews, like their Christian neighbors, formed battalions and even turned their synagogues into fortresses in times of war.

In the thirteenth century, kings and princes were not the only lawmakers in Poland. Nobles also issued charters for Jews who lived on their lands, and so did the Polish Roman Catholic Church. Although these charters varied from place to place and time to time, most regarded Jews as a free people. By contrast, in other parts of Europe, rulers had abandoned the old charters; they now considered Jews their personal property and therefore believed that they had a right to rob or expel them whenever they chose to do so.

While Polish kings and nobles were convinced that Jews and other minorities enriched their country, Polish merchants and artisans regarded toleration as harmful, and they were not alone. Many church leaders shared that view. They feared that charters like the one Boleslaw issued would blur the line between Christianity and Judaism. In their opinion, Poland needed laws that strengthened the country’s Christian identity.

In 1267, just three years after Boleslaw granted Jews their first charter, church leaders from all over Europe gathered for a synod, or council, in Breslau. There they demanded that Christians and Jews live in separate areas divided by a moat, so that “Christians should not be affected by the superstitions and bad morals of the Jews while living among them.”
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They ordered Christians to no longer eat with Jews, share
the same bathhouses, or even dance at Jewish weddings. The priests also wanted Jews to wear special hats so that they could easily be distinguished from Christians.

Most of these church leaders came from countries in western and central Europe where such restrictions were already in place. So they were surprised to discover that Poland’s rulers vigorously opposed these measures. Kings wanted to encourage Jewish settlement, not drive Jews out of the country. Indeed, in the 1300s, King Casimir III confirmed the privileges granted to Jews in earlier charters and extended them to the entire country, including newly acquired territories in the east.

Church leaders did not accept defeat, and by the mid-1300s, they were making some headway with the help of burghers and other townspeople. Although records are incomplete, historians have documented 19 attacks on Jews in Poland between 1340 and 1500, ranging from mob violence to expulsion from various cities or provinces. With the exception of two incidents at the end of the 1400s, almost all of the attacks occurred in three cities in western Poland—Krakow, Poznan, and Warsaw.

No accusation or cause was given for 6 of the 19 attacks (Krakow in 1423; Poznan in 1434; Bochnia, near Krakow, in 1445; Warsaw in 1483 and 1498; and Lithuania in 1495). At least five were based on old myths. In Krakow and Kalisz in 1348 and 1349, Jews were falsely accused of causing the Black Death—the terrible plague that wiped out more than a quarter of Europe’s population in the mid-1300s (see
Chapter 6
). In 1367, Christians in Poznan accused Jews of ritual murder, and similar accusations were made in Krakow in 1407. In 1399, Jews in Poznan were also accused of desecrating the host (see
Chapter 5
). Other attacks on Jews were prompted by the sermons of Giovanni Capistrano, a monk who represented the pope (Krakow in 1454 and Warsaw in 1455); crusaders traveling south to fight the Turks (Krakow in 1463 and 1498–1500 and Lwow in 1498–1500); and false accusations of arson (Poznan in 1447 and 1464 and Krakow 1477 and 1494–1495).

A closer look at one of these incidents—the violence that resulted from the preaching of Giovanni Capistrano in 1454—shows how church leaders were able to arouse anti-Jewish feelings. Zbigniew Olesnicki, the archbishop of Krakow, had invited Capistrano, an Italian monk, to speak in his city. The archbishop was furious with Casimir IV, because earlier that year the king had reaffirmed the privileges his father had granted Jews. The archbishop wrote the king an angry letter, denouncing him for protecting the Jews “to the injury and insult of the holy faith.” He went on to warn:

In the early twentieth century, an artist recalled the variety of crafts and trades Jews traditionally carried out in Poland.

Do not imagine that in matters touching the Christian religion you are at liberty to pass any law you please. No one is great and strong enough to put down all opposition to himself when the interests of the faith are at stake. I therefore beg and implore your Royal Majesty to revoke the aforementioned privileges and liberties. Prove that you are a Catholic sovereign, and remove all occasion for disgracing your name and for worse offenses that are likely to follow.
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When the king ignored the letter, the archbishop appealed to Capistrano for help. Capistrano was a charismatic speaker with a reputation for encouraging violence against Jews. Although Jews tried desperately to persuade the king to keep the preacher out of Krakow, their efforts failed. And Capistrano lived up to their worst fears. In sermon after sermon, he denounced Jews as ritual murderers and desecrators of the host, and he demanded that the king revoke the “godless” privileges he had given the Jews. Capistrano warned the king that if he continued to favor Jews, he would suffer the torments of hell and bring misfortune to his country.

At first, Casimir stood firm. Then, in September 1454, the Polish army lost a battle against German knights on its northwest border. The archbishop immediately blamed the loss on the king’s neglect of the church and his protection of Jews. In November, despite frantic appeals from the Jews of Krakow, Casimir revoked their charter, which he now described as “equally opposed to Divine right and earthly laws.” Years later, Casimir’s sons would restore the old charter held by the Jews of Krakow. Yet they too had to give in to public pressure from time to time.

Most of the 19 known anti-Jewish incidents in Poland between 1340 and 1500 took place in the 1300s. The rest occurred in the 1400s, and the violence expanded to new cities and towns over the next 300 years.
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On average, two known acts of violence against Jews occurred every 25 years between 1340 and 1500. Over the next 300 years, a significant attack took place in Poland approximately every other year.

The violence was not evenly spread across the country. Almost all of it occurred in western Poland, where most Jews lived. Just 40 cities and towns were involved, even though Jews lived throughout the country. And three cities—Poznan, Krakow, and Lwow—accounted for about half of all reported incidents.

Why did violence increase over the years? The answer is complicated. Some historians point to economics. In the sixteenth century, almost any major event—fire, war, famine, or plague—could destroy a city’s economy, disrupt trade routes, or wipe out the supply of or demand for particular
goods or services. In addition, in the 1500s, a decline in the market for many Polish goods and a rise in immigration heightened tensions among various groups in the country.

Poland’s population also became more diverse during those years. Only 40 percent of the people living in Poland were Poles. (The name comes from the Polani, one of the Slavic tribes that settled the region.) The shift in population was due in part to expansion; by the end of the sixteenth century, Poland included Lithuania, the Ukraine, and other non-Polish territories. The increase in immigration also had an effect. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, there were about 30,000 Jews in Poland—less than one percent of the population. By the mid-1600s, according to some historians, the country had about 500,000 Jews—nearly five percent of the population at that time. As their numbers increased, Jews became more visible, and they were therefore, perhaps, an easier target for those seeking someone to blame for Poland’s economic problems.

Other historians point to religious factors. During the 1500s, a number of Catholics in Poland had begun to identify themselves as Lutherans, Calvinists, and followers of other Protestant movements. As in western Europe, church leaders in Poland were determined to protect Catholicism and tended to blame Jews for this new “heresy.”

Still other scholars point to political causes—primarily a sharp rise in the power of the nobles and a decline in the power of Poland’s kings. Kings were now elected by nobles and therefore had to keep a closer watch on public opinion. They were no longer strong enough to enforce unpopular edicts.

By the late 1500s, a number of Polish kings had granted more than 20 cities the privilege of “not tolerating Jews”—that is, the right to exclude Jews from their community. In a few of these cities, including Krakow, Jews simply moved just beyond the city limits and then traveled to their jobs in the city each day. In others, they were able to stay by promising not to engage in certain economic activities, especially money lending and banking. In a few places, Jews responded by seeking the privilege of “not tolerating Christians”—that is, the right to exclude Christians from their community. They won that privilege in Kazimir (a city built by Jews expelled from Krakow) in 1568, in Poznan in 1633, and in various towns in Lithuania in 1641.

Despite the increase in violence against Jews in the sixteenth century, most continued to see Poland as a haven. Rabbi Moses Isserles, one of the outstanding Jewish scholars of his time, lived in Krakow in the mid-1500s. In
a letter to a former student, he wrote, “In this country [Poland] there is no fierce hatred of us as in Germany. May it so continue until the advent of the Messiah.” He even urged the young man to move to Poland, telling him, “You will be better off in this country… you have here peace of mind.”
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Rabbi Isserles was not naïve. He and other Jews were fully aware of the dangers they faced in Poland. More than any other minority in the country, they understood that their rights had to be defended. They took nothing for granted. Jews negotiated for improvements in their charters, bargained for privileges, and demanded interventions by kings or nobles in times of trouble. Whenever the authorities failed to respond, Jews took steps to protect themselves. Some hired armed men—Jews and non-Jews alike—to guard their homes and businesses. Others armed themselves with swords and other weapons. Still others sought allies.

One of the first things Jews did when they moved to a new town or city was to join a
kehillah
or establish one if they were the first Jews to settle there. A
kehillah
was the central Jewish organization in a community, and it had a variety of responsibilities. Perhaps most important, the leaders of the
kehillah
spoke to authorities on behalf of members. In 1407, for example, when Jews in Krakow were falsely accused of killing a Christian child for his blood, it was the city’s
kehillah
that turned to the king for help by reminding him of the terms of the charter he had signed. He responded by closing the entire city: no one was allowed to leave until those who had made the false charges were sent to prison. Would the king have enforced the charter if Jews had not spoken up? No one can say for sure. What we do know is that law enforcement in those days was haphazard at best, and without an outcry, justice was rarely done.

A
kehillah
also acted as a government for Jews within a city or town. It kept order and settled disputes among Jews according to Jewish law. In some places, it was responsible for cleaning the streets and removing the garbage in the Jewish quarter. In addition, the
kehillah
arranged funerals, maintained a cemetery, provided children with religious training, and operated a ritual bath, a kosher slaughterhouse, and even a hospital (in those days hospitals sheltered travelers as well as sick people). The
kehillah
also helped needy individuals and families.