I tend to agree with you Jerome. It's unfortunate that the author
wrote it in this manner. It's upsetting.
Merle
----- Original Message -----
From: "jerome schatten" romers_at_shaw.ca
To: "Edgar Hauster" bconcept_at_hotmail.com ; "Czernowitz Discussion Group"
czernowitz-l_at_cornell.edu
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2015 10:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Book of the Month, January 2015: "A Sanguine Bunch"
> Hi Edgar.... Thanks for this! I think if one reads nothing else of this
> thesis, the 'Historical Overview', is very readable and valuable. Some of
> the language however, I find disturbing -- for example:
>
> " ...Jewish property steadily increased once the 1867
> Constitution had eliminated the last possession restrictions for Jews.
> Many peasants lost their
> only recently acquired land to (often Jewish) usurers when they were
> unable to repay their
> loans in the difficult years 1866-68. Until the savings bank (Sparkasse)
> was founded, only
> private money lending was possible and mainly provided by usurers which in
> turn provoked
> outbursts of anti-Semitism. The Orthodox Church Fund continued to be the
> biggest landowner
> throughout the years and while it had the opportunity to improve the
> situation by leasing land
> to small farmers, it chose to lease land and forests to (again, mostly
> Jewish) entrepreneurs
> who were financially able to engage in long-term contracts."
>
> 'Usurer(s)', is not a value neutral term, and coupled with the
> parenthetical remark(s) 'usually, mostly, again mostly Jewish', seems
> like setting up the Jews to be responsible for their own eventual demise.
> Although the author never makes this case, the way this part of his
> history was constructed, left me with a feeling that I've heard all this
> before, and it doesn't end up well.
>
> It may be the case that I'm too sensitive around this issue, or that I'm
> misreading the intent of the author, still, something doesn't sit right. I
> would have thought that in the dissertation process, this construction
> might have raised a flag amongst the author's thesis advisors.
>
> Best,
> jerome
>
>
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Received on 2015-01-03 08:51:15