Nazi Germany blamed the Jews for all the world’s problems, leading to the Holocaust. History makes it seem like only Germans were anti-Jewish. The truth is anti-Jewish sentiment was common and widespread in Europe before the war.

This article examines the unfairness of the Hilsner affair in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Crime

On Wednesday 29 March 1899¹, 19-year-old Anežka Hrůzová didn’t return home from work^{2 3}. She lived in the village of Malá Věžnice, 3 kilometres away from the town of Polná where she worked as a seamstress⁴. On Saturday 1 April⁵, a search party found her half-naked body in the Březina forest^{6 7}. She had severe head wounds, and her murderer – or murderers – had slit her throat from ear to ear⁸. There was little blood at the scene^{9 10}, suggesting the crime took place elsewhere.

This murder, gruesome as it was, was not remarkable for its time.

People believed that Jews needed the blood of Christian virgins to make the traditional matza for Passover^{11 12}. This myth started during a time of religious intolerance during the Crusades¹³. The first recorded blood libel case was in Fulda, Germany, in 1235¹⁴. These superstitions led to many such cases of expulsion, torture and murder of Jews in Europe¹⁵.

Rumours spread like wildfire, especially in a small town like Polná. It didn’t take long before rumours spread of a ritual murder. Since Sunday 2 April was Passover^{16 17}, they connected the lack of blood at the scene with this superstition and looked for likely – Jewish – culprits¹⁸ .

Locals accused a local Jewish cobbler¹⁹, Leopold Hilsner²⁰, of the ritual murder of Hrůzová²¹. Hilsner was poor, unintelligent²² and had a reputation for being a troublemaker²³. Upon his arrest, inflamed by the rumours, several hundred people ran to the Jewish quarter of Polná to stone people and destroy property²⁴. Investigators focused on the ritual aspect of the story and made no attempt to look into other possibilities²⁵.

Media influence

It is interesting to note the role the media played in this situation. The Hilsner affair was the first affair to receive such wide coverage in Czech media.

Following the 1848 revolutions around Europe, mass media took off with alacrity²⁶. The newspaper became a central part of life which led to healthy competition between numerous titles. As always, scandalous and attention-grabbing headlines were part and parcel of the media. Leveraging customers’ natural anti-Jewish bias meant stories linking Jews and crimes was normal²⁷. In busy months, more than 30 articles linked Jews or Jewishness to crimes²⁸. With such constant media bombardment, is it any wonder society thought it was normal to be anti-Jewish?

It’s interesting to see how the advent of mass media led to this anti-Jewish sentiment. (Compare this with the advent of social media in today’s world.)

Trial

The trial is similar to the French Dreyfus affair, even if Dreyfus was accused of treason, not murder; both are about the system persecuting a Jewish man for being Jewish²⁹.

The trial took place in the city of Kutna Hora on 12 September 1899. Czech nationalist Dr. Karel Baxa prosecuted Hilsner³⁰. The Court found Hilsner guilty on 16 September 1899³¹ and sentenced him to death^{32 33}.

Kutna Hora has a morbid church of its own – unconnected to this story – the Cathedral of Bones.

Professor Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk rejected the claim of a ritual murder as medieval superstition, and was called the Czech Zola because of his defence of Hilsner³⁴, mirroring the Dreyfus affair. Masaryk’s protests led to a new trial, this time in Písek³⁵.

Retrial

The retrial took place between 25 October and 14 November 1899³⁶. This time, the prosecutor added another accusation of murder³⁷.

In 1898, 23-year-old Marie Klímová from Horní Věžnice went missing³⁸. They found a skeleton on 27 October 1899 and immediately declared it to be hers³⁹ even if it was impossible to identify the body. The prosecutor linked Klímová to the same kind of ritual murders, and therefore to Hilsner⁴⁰.

The court sentenced him to death on 14 November 1900⁴¹.

Imprisonment and release

The Emperor issued an imperial pardon on 11 June 1901 and Hilsner received a life sentence instead^{42 43 44}. He was in prison till 24 March 1918 when Emperor Karel I pardoned him completely^{45 46 47}. He went back home, then moved to Prague and finally Vienna where died on 9 January 1928, at the age of 51^{48 49}.

Effects

The place where Hrůzová’s body was found is known to this day as U Anežky (By Anežka)⁵⁰. The place is used as a meeting point for extreme right-wing radicals and their anti-Semitic manifestations⁵¹.

Polná is a toponym still remembered for this murder, much to the annoyance of the locals⁵².

Masaryk cemented his reputation as a defender of people’s rights. He shaped the debate on Czech nationalism which in turn influenced the creation of Czechoslovakia. Masaryk became its first President.

Hrůzová’s real murderer was never found.

References

1. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
2. Crime, Jews and News: Vienna 1890-1914; Daniel M. Vyleta; Berghahn Books; 2012[↩]
3. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
4. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
5. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
6. Crime, Jews and News: Vienna 1890-1914; Daniel M. Vyleta; Berghahn Books; 2012[↩]
7. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
8. Crime, Jews and News: Vienna 1890-1914; Daniel M. Vyleta; Berghahn Books; 2012[↩]
9. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
10. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
11. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
12. Schenker Documents Online; (Retrieved 2023-07-04) [↩]
13. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
14. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
15. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
16. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
17. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
18. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
19. Schenker Documents Online; (Retrieved 2023-07-04) [↩]
20. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
21. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
22. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
23. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
24. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
25. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
26. Crime, Jews and News: Vienna 1890-1914; Daniel M. Vyleta; Berghahn Books; 2012[↩]
27. Crime, Jews and News: Vienna 1890-1914; Daniel M. Vyleta; Berghahn Books; 2012[↩]
28. Crime, Jews and News: Vienna 1890-1914; Daniel M. Vyleta; Berghahn Books; 2012[↩]
29. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
30. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
31. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
32. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
33. Schenker Documents Online; (Retrieved 2023-07-04) [↩]
34. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
35. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
36. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
37. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
38. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
39. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
40. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
41. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
42. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
43. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
44. Schenker Documents Online; (Retrieved 2023-07-04) [↩]
45. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
46. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
47. Schenker Documents Online; (Retrieved 2023-07-04) [↩]
48. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
49. Murder in Polná; Jewish Museum in Prague; 1999[↩]
50. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
51. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]
52. Polná – a toponym that has become a symbol; Žaneta Dvořáková; Acta Onomastica; 2019-01[↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.