Andrzej Krzysztof Link- Lenczowski Jagiellonian University, Cracow
Meanders of the Common Lot.
Poles and Jews from the Middle Ages to the Waning of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth
Jews were inextricably linked with the history of medieval Poland and the Polish- -Lithuanian Commonwealth. In fact they were alwayspresent in the landscape of Polish townsand villages. Untilthe periodof the Holocaust the word “Jew” recalled a specific imagein the minds of citizens.Although this image comprised many false stereotypes, national megalomania and commonplace ignorance of the peoplewho had sharedourcommon fatewith us for centuries, Jews belonged to a community that was to a large extent alien, mysterious and awe-inspiring. This apprehension was often accompaniedby an acknowledgement of theirdrive, entrepreneurship, and sense of responsibilityforthe fate of an individualdosely linked to their commu
nity - the Jewishkehilla, whichdemonstrated,at leaston the exterior, extraordinary solidarity.
Jewsand Christianslivedseparately, yet as the years went by therewere ever morę issuesand interests that linked bothcommunities. The Jewshadalreadyappeared in Polishlands atthe dawn of the existence ofthe Polish State. We oweoneof the first reliable accounts about the state ofMieszkoIto thedescriptions writtenby a Jewish merchant andtravellerIbrahim Ibn-Jakub.
They camefromthe West, probably most often from Rhineland, fromthe region of Worms andMainz. Since the days of the first royal Piasts, through the whole Mid dle Ages, wavesof Jewish immigrantswere coming to Poland to take shelterfrom relentlesspersecutionsin western Europę, which notinfreąuently led tomassbloody assaults onJews - this, onmany occasions, caused the liquidation ofrich Jewishcom munities.
The Jews coming to medieval Poland were not only fugitives from persecution.
Jewishmerchantstravelling across Europęlaid down the routes forsettlement. Due to theirextensive contacts they knew very well where to look for spacefor their ex- tensive activities and for markets for the goods they shipped.
We do not knowwhen exactly and in which towns Jews appeared forthefirst time.They did not come singly, but in groups, which allowed them to create their own communities. Thiswasrequired by the necessity tomaintain their identity.Dis-
creteness, distinctiveness of language, religion, customs and dress created a frame
work.The contactsbetweenthe Jewish population and their environment didnotcut into this framework. In thelong run thiscontributedtotheconsolidationofthesense of mutual alienation ofthetwoworlds,eachwithits distinctive pattern and principles of social life,values, morał norms and behavioural patterns, ina word - mentality.
The number of Jews in medieval Poland is not known. For instance, accordingto the authorities therewere twentyfamilies registered inCracowin the fifteenth century.
These were exclusivelyaffluent peoplerunning large-scale businesses. The founding charter of Lwów (ukr. L’viv) dating from 1356 mentions Jews togetherwith Arme- nians, Ruthenians and Saracens and definesthem as “considerable nationalities”.
Apart from carrying on internationaland local trade the Jews were also crafts- men.Within the framework of princely service theyalsoworked in mints. Ever morę Jews were becoming moneylenders as the economy based on monetary exchange expanded.As we know, money lendingwas prohibited among Christians. As theloan capital interest accrued rapidly and all debts were collected very rigorously, often by force, Jewish moneylenders wereconsidered usurers and attracted aversion and hatred in common social awareness. Theactivitiesof Jewish moneylenders, just like all around Europę atthat time, substantially contributedtotheshaping of a negative stereotype of a Jew as a source of allevil who should be isolated fromsociety.
Anothervery significant fact was that Jews rentedcustoms chambers and enter- prises. Thelargest medieval state enterprise -the salt minę in Cracow -was in their hands. Jewswerealso taking over land byway of lien,whichgave rise toseriouslegał complications.
The growing aversion toJewswas brought aboutby their economic activity, great mobility,thelargerangę of businesses conducted byrich Jewish merchants and bank- ers, the distinct characterof Jewish culture and customs, as well as a tendency of Jewish communities to stay within their own social circle. This aversion was most frequently reflected in anti-Jewish riots and assaults. The growingnumberof Jews, the strengthening of the money economy and fiercer competition between Christian burghers and Jews often precipitated aggression despitethefactthat the Jews,as servi camerae, just like anywhere else in Europę,were under princely and royal guardian- ship. The fifteenth-century sources provide us with morę information about anti- -Jewish riots in large towns(Kraków - 1407; Posen, poi. Poznań- 1447; Breslau, poi.
Wrocław - 1453).
ThusJewsconstituted a special element intheclass Structure of medieval society.
They were an alien element, verydistinct from the environmentandseparated from it on everyfront. At the same timethey were becoming an indispensablefactor in economic life, as in tandemwith economic growth and progressive change in the social Structure of thecountry,themajority offinancial andcredit operations passed through their hands.
“The goldenautumn” ofmedievalPoland -thesecond half of thefifteenth cen tury and above all the Renaissance of the sixteenth century - are very significant periods in the historyof the Jewish Diasporain Poland. All internal changes taking
Meanders of the Common Lot. Polesand Jews... 129 place in Poland and the changing international situation had asubstantial influence onthe fate of PolishJews. The timing and events often changed the “alien”impercep- tibly into a certain typeof “familiar”, whilst still notexduding ethnical and cultural distinctness.
As in preceding centuries (the end ofthe eleventh century,the thirteenth cen- tury, mid-fourteenth century), Jews still willingly settled in Polish lands during the earlymodern era. Newcomers from different townsand states of the German Reich, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, both Ashkenazim and a relatively smali number ofSephardim, sought security and business opportunities in Poland in the Renais- sance and Baroque eras.
Jews found favourable conditions here fordeveloping economic, cultural, Pub lishing, scientificandeducational activities.Nonetheless they were subject tocertain restrictionsthatinhibitedtheir integrationinto theirenvironment.
The role of the Church was the most important. Starting with the decreesof the fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and inthe resolutions ofsynods, we often find advice aimedat separatingJews from Christians, whichwas motivated by the fearthat re- cently christianized Poland could adopt Jewish customs. Such injunctions, however, were either notimplementedor accepted reluctantly. Firstandforemostan attempt to impose aban on contactsbetween Christians andJews failed. Real life provedto be stronger. Jews and clergy were linked by increasinglynumerousand varied financial and credit operations.
Theprotection of the Jewish population by public law was a very important factor thatdeterminedthe roleof Jews inthe social andlegał Structure of medieval Polish society and in the multinational Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Bolesław the Pious,duke of Kalisz, wasthefirst togrant rights to Jewsin 1264. Lateron rights were granted by Silesian dukes. The Privilege granted by Bolesław the Pious formed the basis for the legislationconcerning Jewsin a Poland reunited after the period of re- gional disintegration. This Privilege was ratifiedasbinding lawby Casimir the Great and then byCasimir the Jagiellonian. Italso became a part of the CharterofJan Laski.
The Jewswere protected as subject to princely or royal judicature. Atthe sametime they had theirowncourts to hear their owncases.
Medievallegislation formed the basis for grantingbroad internal autonomy to Jews at the end ofthe sixteenth century in the form of theCouncil of theFour Lands.
This organ represented the interestsof Polish Jews to the central authoritiesof the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Itwas a unique solutionincomparisonwithoth- er European states.
The continuanceanddevelopment of Jewish self-government was a token of the convictions ofthe nobilitythat each community ofthe Commonwealthhadthe right to live and develop following the principles ofself-government. Before thepartitions, Poland wasa state under the political, social and economic domination of the no bility and magnates. Nevertheless all distinctive features were respected, as it was believedthat the Jews, just like the Armeniansand Tartars inhabiting theCommon wealth, were aconstant element of the “Polish world”. The Polishworld wasfairly
tolerantand“capacious”, as iteasily reconciled itself with the existing idiosyncrasies of dress, language and custom. The prevailing view did not consider that dissimi- laritiescould posea threatto the Commonwealth, although itdidnotprecludethe existence of xenophobia and distrust of the alien. However, the Jews inhabitingthe Commonwealthwerealready becoming, in some way,morę and morę “our folk”. This conviction was characteristic of the attitudeof the nobility to the Jews.This attitude contained a sense of superiority coupled with a touch of contempt, ina similar man- neras towardsthoseinferior inthesocialhierarchy. In someinstances it was an at
titudeofcertainfamiliarity which at the same timehada patronising nuance. Thus, practicallyevery nobleman ormagnatehad “his own” Jew.
Therecordsof Diets and local dietines are abundantin expressions of benevo- lence and understanding of the difficultsituation of theJews,especially in the period of the wars waged by the Commonwealth in the seventeenth and at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was believedthattheyshouldbetreated asa distinct community governedby its own laws andthe authorities should not meddle with any internal disputes arisingwithin Jewishcommunities. The Jews themselveswere supposed to solve disputes in compliance withtheir laws. The principleof distinct character being providedfor,therestillweregripes about Jews paying excessively Iow taxes.
The demands of the nobilityforthe Jews to pay morę towards the needs of the state increased especiallyin the secondhalf of the seventeenth century and during the Great Northern War (1700-1721), which led to the laying wasteof the coun
try andthe loosening of social bonds. In thesecondhalf of the seventeenthcentury Polish Jews, just likethewhole community of the Commonwealth,entered a period of crisis that was marked by thebreakdown of the former economic well-being and significant impoverishment. This, however, was not only an economic crisis.
Jewsplayed an enormousrole in the eastern marches of the Commonwealth - in Ukrainę, Volhynia, Podolia and in partof Red Ruthenia, whichwere dominated by large estates. Jewish leaseholdersdominated in estate management, incomecollec- tionandaboveallin the right to propination (the rightto produce and trade in spirits and beer). Theright of propination was one of the main sources of incomefor the nobility and was entirelyunder Jewish management. Hence the peasants considered Jews to bethe direct executors of their lords’will. Thus in peasant consciousness, oppression started to be associated with the Jew. The consequences were of great significancetoJews,as this situation veryoften led to theweakeningoftraditional in- stitutional links betweenthose Jews settled in individual private estates andthose in towns and Jewish communities,aswell as regional organs of Jewish self-government and even the Council of the Four Lands. Strong dependence on nobility could in many cases leadtothe disintegration of the Jewishsocial circle. This was accompa- niedby increasing internal tensions withinJewish communities and morę freąuent conflicts of thekehilla oligarchy with poorJews and newcomers. The number of poor Jews increased togetherwith the pauperization of the whole of society. Increasing tensions within Jewish communities were also the resultof theinflux of fugitives to
Meanders of the CommonLot. Polesand Jews... 131 the central lands of theCommonwealth - theyfledfrom the east afterthemassacres of Jews carried out by Cossacksduring the uprising of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the Ukrainęin 1648-1649.
The slaughter of Jews by the Cossacks ofBohdan Khmelnytsky partially con- tributedtodecreasing the numberof Jewsin the east ofthe Commonwealth. Soon, however, thenumberof Jews again started to growrapidly.Jewish leaseholders and innkeepersin thecountry,aswellas Jewishtraders, agents and craftsmenintowns, large andsmali, started to playagreaterrolethanbefore.
The increasedpresence of Jews inthelandscape of towns andvillages ofthe Com monwealth and inits economic, and to a certain extent social, life had various conse- quences. The peasants stillconsidered themto bethe executors of the nobilitys will striving to generate thelargest possible income fromtheir estates. Jews,servants of thenobility,were often the onlyintermediaries betweenthepeasantsandthemarket.
An inn was essentially the centre of collectivelife in a village. Jews, as innkeepers sellingbeverages, collected money frompeasants for beer and vodka.Thus Jews had cash andcould give loans. Suchrelations often ledto conflicts and to the reinforce- ment of thenegative stereotype of a Jewinthepeasants’ minds.
The situation in townsresembled the relations between peasants and Jews. The town wassomething ofa “microcosm” in whichthe population was concentrated in avery smali area, oftenvaried in language, customs, religion, behaviouralpatterns and attitude to various values. There were also differences in rights and the possibil- ity ofparticipating inpoliticallife. There wereever morę Jews settling in townswho, in generał, enjoyed the solid supportofthe magnates and nobility. The competition presented by Jews gave riseto conflicts. The burghers considered Jewish merchants, agents and craftsmento be strong competitors.Therefore they soughtto limit Jewish activities in towns, to reduce their number and to separate them from Christians.
Towns often exercised theprivilegesde non tolerandis Judaeis,yet even in such towns Jewish merchants had the right to stay and trade on precisely specified days of the year. Inthe light of the reąuirements of urban lifeandeconomy, nonęof the ideas aimed atseparatingJews from Christians orat theircomplete removal from towns could be realized. Moreover, Jews even received municipal citizenship in several townsin the fiefdomsof nobility. The burghersusuallyopposed the rights of Jews.
Therefore various projectsto settle Jewsin separate localities kept on being revived.
The relationship between Jewsand burghers was cloudedafterthe right of propi- nation had been taken away from the burghers. This deprived them of a signifi- cant source of income and the right was transferred toJewish leaseholders in many towns.
Ali the above-mentioned examples explainthecomplexity of therealityin which Christians and Jews coexisted throughout the centuries inmedieval Poland andthe Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The divisions were not overcome during the FourYears’ Diet, although the issue of the placeof Jews in the state wasoften dis- cussed. By the end of the eighteenth century approximatelyone million Jews lived in the Commonwealth, morę than in anyother European country. Therefore reform
was difficult.In the autumn of 1791 the Jewish plenipotentiaries from severaldozen towns held talks with the delegatesappointed by the king. Nevertheless the Jewish situation was notreformed.
After the disappearance ofthe Commonwealth from the map of Europęin 1795 the governments of the partitioning powersinherited “its” Jews.
ThePolish Jews entered the nineteenth century -the era of emancipation -with a very varied experience. Thedisappearance of the Commonwealth from the mapof Europę posed them a challenge: isthe lifeand further developmentof the Diaspora possible in the lands of a partitionedPoland on the basis of the hitherto existing val- ues and relationshipswith theirenvironment? Theperiod of emancipation revealed the complexity of theanswerto this ąuestion given the lackof the Commonwealth as a statethatrepresentedtwo values- freedomand tolerance.
Selected Bibliography
Ch. Abramsky, M. Jachimczyk, A. Polonsky, eds., The Jews in Poland, Oxford 1987.
S. W. Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, vol. XVI, Poland-Lithuania 1500- -1650, New York - London 1976.
A. Eisenbach, The Emancipation of the Jews in Poland 1780-1870, Oxford 1991.
D. Fettke, Juden und Nichtjuden im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert in Polen. Sociale und ókono- mische Beziehungen in Responsen polnischer Rabbiner, Frankfurt a. Main 1986.
J. Goldberg., Poles and Jews in the 17lh and 18th Centuries. Rejection or Acceptance, Jahr- biicher fur Geschichte Osteuropas, Neue Folgę, vol. 22 (1974), no 2, 248-282.
J. Goldberg, Jewish Privileges in the Polish Commonwealth, Jerusalem 1985.
J. Goldberg, The Changes in the Attitude of Polish Society Toward the Jews in the 18,h Cen
tury, Polin. A Journal of Polish-Jewish Studies 1 (1986), 35-48.
K. E. Gróninger, ed., Die wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Beziehungen zwischen den jiidischen Gemeinden in Polen und Deutschland vom 16. Bis 20. Jahrhundert, Wiesbaden 1992.
H. Haumann, Geschichte der Ostjuden, Miinchen 1998.
G. D. Hundert, The Jews in a Polish Private Town. The Case of Opatów in the Eighteenth Century, Baltimore 1992.
G. D. Hundert, Jews in Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century: A Genealogy of Moder- nity, Berkeley - Los Angeles 2004.
Jews, Cossacks, Poles and Peasants in 1648 Ukrainę, Jewish History, vol. 17, no 2, 2003.
A. Kaźmierczyk., Żydzi polscy 1648-1772, Studia Judaica Cracoviensia, Series Fontium 6, Kraków 2001.
I. Lewin, The Jewish Community in Poland, New York 1985.
A. Polonsky, J. Basista, A. K. Link-Lenczowski, eds., The Jews in Old Poland 1000-1795, Lon
don - New York 1993.
M. J. Rosman, The Lords’ Jews, Cambridge, Mass. 1991.
M. J. Rosman, Founder of Hasidism, Berkeley - Los Angeles 1996.
D, Tollet, Histoire des Juifs en Pologne du XVI'siecle a nos jours, Paris 1992.
D, Tollet, Accuser pour convertir, Paris 2000.
D, Tollet, Marchands et hommes d'affaires juifs dans la Pologne des Wasa 1588-1668, Paris 2001.
Meanders of the Common Lot. Polesand Jews... 133 D, Tollet, Dalia condanna del giudaismo allodio per lebreo, Milano 2002.
B. D. Weinryb, The Jews of Poland, Philadelphia 1982.
Streszczenie
Meandry wspólnego losu. Polacy i Żydzi od średniowiecza do schyłku szlacheckiej Rzeczypospolitej
Żydzi, trwale związani z dziejami Polski średniowiecznej i szlacheckiej Rzeczypospolitej, po
jawili się na naszych ziemiach w pierwszych latach istnienia państwa. Przybywali w grupach, tworząc gminy utrzymujące własną tożsamość, trwające w odmienności mowy, religii, oby
czaju i stroju, co niewątpliwie przyczyniało się do utrwalenia poczucia wzajemnej obcości dwóch „światów” - chrześcijańskiego i żydowskiego.
W strukturze stanowej średniowiecznego społeczeństwa stanowili Żydzi szczególny element. Byli żywiołem obcym, wyróżniającym się z otoczenia, a jednocześnie czynnikiem niezbędnym w życiu ekonomicznym, gdyż w ich rękach znajdowała się większość operacji pieniężnych i kredytowych, rosnących w miarę rozwoju gospodarczego kraju.
Epoka nowożytna przyniosła dalszy wzrost osadnictwa żydowskiego na ziemiach pol
skich. Bardzo ważnym czynnikiem określającym miejsce Żydów w strukturze społecznej i prawnej społeczeństwa polskiego była ochrona ludności żydowskiej przez prawo publiczne.
Średniowieczne ustawodawstwo dało podstawę do przyznania Żydom w Rzeczypospo
litej szlacheckiej u schyłku XVI wieku szerokiej wewnętrznej autonomii w postaci Sejmu Czterech Ziem - organu reprezentującego interesy ogółu polskich Żydów wobec centralnych władz szlacheckiej Rzeczypospolitej.
W drugiej połowie XVII wieku polscy Żydzi, podobnie jak cała społeczność Rzeczy
pospolitej, wkroczyli w okres kryzysu, oznaczającego załamanie się ich dotychczasowej po
myślności ekonomicznej i poważne zubożenie. Dość szybko jednak, również na wschodnich rubieżach Rzeczypospolitej, zwiększyła się ich obecność i rola w pejzażu miast i wsi oraz w życiu gospodarczym i społecznym kraju. Konsekwencje tego stanu nie zawsze były dla nich korzystne.
Skomplikowanej rzeczywistości, w której przyszło współistnieć przez stulecia chrześci
janom i Żydom, nie udało się rozwikłać w czasie Sejmu Czteroletniego, kiedy to nie doszło ostatecznie do reformy położenia Żydów. Miało to poważne konsekwencje na przyszłość.
