EAJS Conference Grant Programme 2022/23
Report
Jewish Communities in the Central Europe in the Toleration and Emancipation Period, 1781–1938
24–25 May 2023
Event Rationale and Achievements
The primary objective was to organize a conference that would deepen previously fragmented knowledge about Jewish communities in Central Europe and, simultaneously, provide an opportunity to establish connections among researchers dedicated to this topic.
The conference took place in Olomouc, Czechia on 24 and 25 May 2023. It was organized by the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Prague, Czechia), Kurt and Ursula Schubert Center for Jewish Studies, Palacký University (Olomouc, Czechia), and Institute for Jewish History in Austria (St. Pölten, Austria). The conference was supported by the European Association for Jewish Studies and by the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Goal 1: Advancement of Knowledge in the Field of Jewish Studies
Jewish communities represented the most important and overarching institutions of local Jewish societies in the toleration and the emancipation period. In the scholarly literature, however. While numerous scholarly articles and monographs have examined individual Jewish communities, only a limited number have adopted or examined a broader territorial and temporal perspective.
In recent decades, only a small number of works have attempted to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the history of Jewish communities (Janusz Spyra, Michael L. Miller, Christoph Lind, Ljiljana Dobrovšak, Daniel Baránek). However, even these works have remained confined to specific historical territories, typically focusing on individual Crown Lands. Moreover, the existing research is fragmented not only territorially but also chronologically. The years 1848 and 1918 represent major milestones which make a logical beginning or end of many works. The territorial and chronological fragmentation of scholarship makes it very difficult to trace continuities and discontinuities in the development of Jewish communities and their institutions, to identify common phenomena, or the specific of individual communities. Additionally, supra-communal institutions, and communal religious, educational, and charitable institutions have received minimal attention within the broader context in the toleration and the emancipation period.
Furthermore, historiography has been hindered by the existing national borders. Although Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia, parts of Poland and other states were once part of a unified entity, current research on Jewish communities is still conducted almost exclusively within national boundaries and wider cooperation is rather rare.
Therefore, the conference provided a platform primarily for papers that addressed more overarching phenomena shared by all Jewish communities, at least within a specific province (Toman, Maślak-Maciejewska, Śliż-Marciniec), or within a state (Fiktus, Baránek). The conference also offered a place for papers on the connections and mutual influences among communities (Levin, Salah). Last but not least, speakers focused on the internal organization and functioning of Jewish communities (Winkler, Dobrovšak, Cahová, Uličná, Bauerfeind, Puš, Berghmans, Novak).
In conclusion, the conference significantly contributed to the exchange of scholarly knowledge about the history of Central European Jewish communities. It provided a platform for comparison, allowed for the examination of diverse regional contexts within Central Europe, and therefore enabled the identification of both universal patterns and unique characteristics of individual countries.
Goal 2: Development of Networks among Jewish Studies Scholars
Another equally important objective of the conference was to support connections among experts specializing in the history of Jewish communities. The conference contributed to establishing and developing connections among scholars from various countries: Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Israel, Poland, Switzerland, and the United States.
The conference was attended by 14 speakers (alongside 1 online presenter) and 10 listeners. That was an optimal number conductive to fostering a convivial atmosphere that allowed participants to get acquainted, discuss the papers, and establish mutual contacts.
Initially, the conference anticipated the presence of 18 participants. Regrettably, four speakers excused themselves shortly before or even during the conference due to illness. Among them, one managed to deliver their presentation remotely via Zoom (Bauerfeind), while the remaining three sent their presentations to the conference participants.
Preparations
In September 2022, we launched the conference website (https://www.kehillot.eu) and sent out a call for papers. By the end of 2022 we selected the fitting papers and in January 2023 we compiled a preliminary program. At the beginning of 2023, additional funding was obtained from the Czech Academy of Sciences, primarily allocated for employing a doctoral student from Olomouc who assisted with conference administration, particularly in organizing accommodation and meals for the speakers. In April 2023 we published the final conference program on the conference website and invitations to the conference were distributed.
Course of the Conference
On 24 May 2023 the conference commenced with an opening ceremony featuring notable individuals in the field. Jan Stejskal, the dean of the Faculty of Arts of the Palacký University, Petr Papoušek, the chairman of the Olomouc Jewish Community and the Czech Federation of Jewish Communities, Ivana Cahová, the head of the Kurt and Ursula Schubert Center for Jewish Studies in Olomouc, and Daniel Baránek, main organizer from the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences; all delivered opening remarks. Later, Martin Procházka, the university rector, arrived to greet the participants.
Each day of the conference was planned to include nine presentations. However, due to last-minute cancellations by some speakers, adjustments were necessary to the program on 25 May. As a result, the second day of the conference featured five in-person presentations. Fortunately, the technical equipment in the conference room allowed for one presentation to be delivered via Zoom. Three presentations, as previously mentioned, were not possible to be delivered and were instead distributed to the participants in the written form.
The high interest and fruitful discussion were sparked particularly by the excellent presentations delivered by these speakers: Winkler, Maślak-Maciejewska, Śliż-Marciniec, Baránek, Uličná, Salah, Levin, Dobrovšak, Novak. The majority of papers were accompanied by visual presentations, which enhanced clarity and provided a glimpse of the contemporary atmosphere.
Great interest was also aroused by Cahová’s presentation, who presented a map of the Olomouc Jewish settlement, after which the participants could also try out the mobile application during a guided walk through the town to places connected with the local Jewish community.
The discussion following individual papers mainly focused on seeking commonalities and differences among various areas of Central Europe. Thanks to the participation of historians with different specializations (in legal and political environment, institutions, social structures, material culture, literature), the contributions and subsequent discussions in plenary sessions and during breaks were highly inspiring and thought-provoking. Thus, various aspects of the history of Jewish communities could be examined from different perspectives.
Programme Overview
24 May 2023
Chronological Transformations of Jewish Communities
- Dr. Friederike Ruth Winkler (Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule Wien/Krems, Institut Jüdische Religion, Institut Jüdische Religion, Austria)
Unofficial Jewish Communities in Vienna and their Leadership before 1848
The paper compared the conditions under which the Sephardic and the Ashkenazic community in early 19th century Vienna existed although they were not meant to exist officially. Both were not allowed to form an official community, but of course both had de facto rabbis and other leading personalities.
- Jindrich Toman (University of Michigan, USA)
Attempts to Manage a Crisis: Bohemian Jewish Community, the Revolution, and the State, 1848–1851
The paper addressed activities of Jewish organizations in Bohemia between 1848 and 1851, highlighting the work of the “Committee for the Representation of Jewish Interests” and the role of the so-called Jewish “Notables,” an advisory body that was asked by the state to work out statues of Bohemian Jewish communities.
- Alicja Maślak-Maciejewska (Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland)
Limits of Autonomy. Jewish Communities and School Authorities in post 1867 Galicia
The paper was devoted to the control of the Jewish communities over religious instruction of Jewish Youth in public schools in post 1867 Galicia. Supervising and providing such instruction was one of the important prerogatives of communities, in some aspects shared with the school authorities. The paper analyzed this relationship.
- Paweł Fiktus (University of Law, Wrocław, Poland)
Autonomy of Jews in the era of the Second Polish Republic
The paper focused a discussion of the autonomy of Jews in Poland in the Second Republic of Poland. After World War I Jews constituted one of the largest ethnic groups in Poland. The question then arose as to what scope of freedom they should be entitled to. They had a great deal of freedom in religious matters. It was guaranteed on the basis of the Regulation of the President of the Human Rights Defender and regulations. Along with religious freedom came administrative freedom.
Cultural and Ethnic Diversity of Jewish Communities (I)
- Lenka Uličná, Ph.D. (Palacky University, Kurt and Ursula Schubert Centre for Jewish Studies; Jewish Museum in Prague, Czechia)
Jewish Communities through the Lens of a Museum Collection
The paper offered a methodological overview and examples of how the museum collection can be used for research on Jewish communities. Particular emphasis was placed on donor inscriptions on liturgical objects, their language, and the titles used for the mentioned individuals.
- Asher Salah (Bezalel Academy of Arts and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
Communities of Readership: The New Republic of Letters of Italian Maskilim
The paper traced the real and imagined borders of the community of readership as they emerge in the transcultural transfers of texts and ideas in the works of five Italian Maskilim at the turn of the 18th century.
Federations of Jewish Communities
- Daniel Baránek, Ph.D. (Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechia)
Efforts towards the Creation of Unions of Jewish Religious Communities in Cisleithania and Czechoslovakia
The paper focused on effort of Jewish communities to create provincial or state-wide supra-communal institutions and unions (federations). The Cisleithanian Act from 1890 recognised the autonomy of Jewish religious communities, however it did not allow to create new supra-communal organizations. Hence, the Cisleithanian communities in several provinces created such a union illegally, which were legalized only after the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy.
Jewish History Research
- Ivana Cahová Ph.D. (Palacký University, Kurt and Ursula Schubert Center for Jewish Studies, Czechia)
History of the Jewish Community of Olomouc in an App and in a Specialized Map. Linking History with Space and Modern Technologies as a Communication Tool for Contemporary Science
The paper focused on the role of advanced modern technologies in the humanities, with an emphasis on research and the subsequent effective communication of the results of scholarly research on the regionally focused history of Jews in Moravia to the general public, both in the field of education and in the public sphere.
After the presentation of these conference contributions, a guided tour of the city followed, along with a communal dinner at the Jewish community.
25 May 2023
Jewish Communal Institutions
- Małgorzata Śliż-Marciniec (Poland)
The “Office” Keeping Jewish Records in Galicia – between the State and the Jewish Community
The paper presented the situation of officials keeping vital records for Jews in Galicia, based on the provisions of the regulation of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Education of March 15, 1875. The tasks, requirements and rights of this particular group of Jewish functionaries were discussed.
Cultural and Ethnic Diversity of Jewish Communities (II)
- sc. Ljiljana Dobrovšak (Institute of the social sciences Ivo Pilar, Zagreb, Croatia)
Jewish Communities in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia from the Croatian-Hungarian Settlement to the End of Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy
The paper discussed the activities of Jewish communities in Croatia in the period 1868–1918, their cooperation with Croatian institutions, internal conflicts, and the attempt to establish the Union of Jewish Communities in Croatia and Slavonia, which was not established until 1918, due to disagreements among leaders of the Jewish community in Zagreb.
- Vladimir Levin (Center for Jewish Art, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel)
Tombstones, Stonemasons, and Mental Maps: Jewish Graveyard Networks in Croatia and Beyond
The paper proposed a methodology for understanding the business networks and mental maps of Jewish and non-Jewish communities in central and eastern Europe from the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. The methodology is based on scrupulous documentation of Jewish tombstones, especially the signatures of stonemasons.
- online: Moritz Bauerfeind (University of Basel, Switzerland)
Out of the Country and into the City. Reform Rabbis and the Jewish Emancipation in Bamberg and Basel
The paper focused on the Rabbi of Hégenheim, Moïse Nordmann (1809-1884) and Samson W. Rosenfeld (~1780-1862), Rabbi of Bamberg, particularly on their written works and public appearances. The paper aimed to show how vibrant and fruitful the discourse about Emancipation and Civil rights was fought at the peripheries and in the countryside.
- Ivan Puš, Ph.D. (Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia)
Leading Elites in the City or Mocked Victims of Bullying in the Countryside? Moravian Jewry prior to World War I
Social and cultural differences between Moravian Jews impacted the external image of them. The thinking and actions of the population was then influenced by politicians and nationalist activists. Using Moravian Diet’s sources and others, the paper analyzed and compared images of Moravian Jews.
- Maeva Berghmans (Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia)
Max Pleschner (1870–1932): “I Would Like the Czech Nation to be Proud of its Jews”
Max Pleschner (1870-1932) founded the economic daily newspaper Tribuna and co-edited it until 1928. Through published and manuscript sources, his life and work from 1900 until his death can be summarized through the following perspective: how did he contribute to the Czech-Jewish community in the Czech lands and in Czechoslovakia?
- Attila Novak (National University for Public Service, Hungary)
Kehilla and Zionism in Hungary in the 1930s
The paper dealt with the relationship between the Hungarian religious communities (especially the Budapest Neologue) and the Zionist movement in the 1930s, which was not without conflict.
Due to illness, these speakers were unable to attend and only sent their papers: Dr. Monika Halbinger (Freelance historian, Germany, Rabbi Baruch Placzek and his Community – the History of an Alienation), Dr. Christoph Lind (Institute for Jewish History in Austria, Kosher on Wheels. Aspects of “Mobile Kashrut” in the Habsburg Monarchy), Mgr. Kristina Mikhalek (Charles University, Prague, Czechia, Kehila, Jewish Self-Government in the Pale of Settlement).
Public/Communal Impact
The conference was attended by at least ten listeners from the ranks of scientists, teachers, and students. In the evening, the local Jewish community hosted us and also showed us their prayer room with Torah scrolls that were returned to Olomouc from USA several years ago.
Planned Outcomes
In the near future, we are planning to publish a conference report in the scholarly journal Judaica Bohemiae.
A preliminary agreement has been made with De Gruyter publishing house for the publication of a collective monograph based on the contributions presented at this conference. The realization of this plan primarily depends on securing sufficient financial resources. We currently have a portion of the funds promised, and we expect to acquire the remaining funds from internal grants of our institutions (by 2024). Alternatively, we will make efforts to obtain funds from additional sources.
The organization of the conference significantly deepened the collaboration between the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Prague) and the Kurt and Ursula Schubert Center for Jewish Studies, Palacký University (Olomouc). The opportunity for personal meetings fostered discussions among members of these institutions, leading to the idea of a further joint project focusing on the development of digital humanities and the application of machine learning in Jewish history research. Other research institutions and Jewish communities would likely be involved in this project as well.