Assailants on the Bench for the Accused: Cases of Violence Against Jews at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries at the Regional Criminal Courts in Brno (Brünn) and Uherské Hradiště (Ungarisch-Hradisch)

0497443 - HÚ 2019 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Řepa, Milan
Assailants on the Bench for the Accused: Cases of Violence Against Jews at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries at the Regional Criminal Courts in Brno (Brünn) and Uherské Hradiště (Ungarisch-Hradisch).
Judaica Bohemiae. Roč. 53, č. 1 (2018), s. 83-99. ISSN 0022-5738
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA17-02986S
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z8015903
Institutional support: RVO:67985963
Keywords : Moravia * Jewish political communities * Antisemitism * Public violence * Criminal Court
OECD category: History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)

This study analyzes cases of violent criminal acts against Jews that went before regional criminal courts in Brno and Uherské Hradištì. Specifically, it deals with cases that were deemed to be acts of public violence under the Penal Code on Crimes, Misdemeanours and Trespasses Act 117/1852 of the Imperial Statute Book. Court records are one of the sources that help to clarify the frequency, form and nature of these violent acts. The study seeks to outline the typology of these cases, above all, it underlines the fundamental difference between violence committed by individuals and collective violence. Particular attention is paid to mass attacks against Jews at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, especially in 1899. It also considers the political and social contexts of the time in order to help explain the assailants’ motivations. In addition, it constructs a social profile of a typical perpetrator of acts of public violence against Jews. In this way, it contributes to the discussion of the nature of the antisemitism of that period.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0290015