RE: [Cz-L] Book of the Month, January 2015: "A Sanguine Bunch"

From: Sasha Wolloch <sasha_at_raltron.com_at_nowhere.org>
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2015 10:34:00 -0500
To: "'Edgar Hauster'" <bconcept_at_hotmail.com>


   
Hello Edgar and friends,

Happy New Year 2015!
Thank you for not forgetting the Platter book.
Here is another piece by Karl Emil Franzos which probably completes the
picture.
Franzos went to high school in Czernowitz and was certainly exposed first
hand to the atmosphere of his time.
http://www.hsozkult.de/hfn/event/id/termine-2741?language=en

By the way, I also found amazing the tone and the spirit of the book preface
by a New York journalist of the 1880's, Barnet Phillips. Little things we
really didn't know about...


All the best,
Sasha
-----Original Message-----
From: Edgar Hauster [mailto:bconcept_at_hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2015 12:07 PM
To: Jerome Schatten; Czernowitz Discussion Group
Cc: Merle Kastner; Yosef Eshet; Sasha Wolloch
Subject: RE: [Cz-L] Book of the Month, January 2015: "A Sanguine Bunch"

Dear Jerome,

Thank you so much for your comments with respect to the Book of the Month,
January 2015, at the Czernowitz Book Corner

http://czernowitzbook.blogspot.de/2015/01/a-sanguine-bunch.html

and, YES x 3 to your remarks, i. e.:

1. YES, the "Historical Overview" seems to mee too to be somehow
undifferentiated and Yosi discovered another inaccuracy concerning the
definition of Transnistria. On the other hand, I read the chapter "Jews and
the Local Economy" [p. 204 - 208] and partly the "Summary and Coclusion" [p.
433 - 436]. In my eyes H. F. van Drunen tries to dispel the myth, that the
social coexistence under Austrian rule was tension-free and anti-Semitism is
a phenomenon of the 1920s/1930s. In this respect I'm following his drift.

2. YES, you are completely right, "usury, usurer, usurers" are not at all
neutral terms and are inextricably linked with anti-Semitism. Therefore you
are of course not at all "too sensitive around this issue". "Usury" was -
and perhaps still is? - a common stereotype and an upcoming Book of the
Month - perhaps as early as March 2015 - will be Julius Platter's "Ursury in
Bukovina" [Der Wucher in der Bukowina] from the year 1878, beyond any doubt,
an anti-Semitic tractate. On the other hand, Platter's book suggested to me
by our fellow member Sasha Wolloch, is a very important contemporary
document and enlightening with respect to the rise of anti-Semitism in
Bukowina; therefore I believe H. F. van Drunen is quoting Julius Platter
quite frequently anf therefore I'm going to publish "Ursury in Bukovina" at
the Czernowitz Book Corner as well, of course accompanied by the appropriate
comments/warnings.

3. YES, this discussion stands for our Czernowitz-L Discussion Group at it's
best and I strongly encourage more of our fellow members to "disassemble" H.
F. van Drunen's thesis and to verify or to falsify our impressions.

Thank you so much for your comments!


Edgar Hauster


----------------------------------------
> Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2015 07:47:18 -0800
> From: romers_at_shaw.ca
> To: bconcept_at_hotmail.com; czernowitz-l_at_cornell.edu
> 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
>
> On 2015-01-01 7:54 AM, Edgar Hauster wrote:
>> Czernowitzers, dear friends...
>>
>> Happy New Year to all of you! Let's inaugurate the new year by the
release of the Book of the Month, January 2015, at our Czernowitz Book
Corner:
>>
>> http://czernowitzbook.blogspot.de/2015/01/a-sanguine-bunch.html
>>
>> "'A Sanguine Bunch' - Regional Identification in Habsburg Bukovina,
1774-1919" is the doctoral thesis - in English language [!] - defended by
Hieronymus Franciscus van Drunen at the University of Amsterdam in September
2013; Prof. Dr. J. Th. Leerssen and Prof. Dr. D. J. Deletant were the
prominent thesis advisors.
>>
>> On Jewish Bukovina, please continue reading Part II - Bukovinians 3,
chap. 3.5 - 3.7, p. 201 - 245, and learn more on:
>>
>> - The Jewish Presence in Bukovina [3.5, p. 201]
>> - Jews and the Local Economy [3.5, p. 204]
>> - The Social Position of Bukovinian Jews [3.5, p. 208]
>> - Jewish Nationalism in Bukovina [3.6, p. 216]
>> - Anti-Semitism and Bukovina: Attacks and Vindications [3.7, p. 224]
>> - Bukovinian National Movements and Anti-Semitism [3.7, p. 227]
>> - Popular Anti-Semitism [3.7, p. 239]
>>
>> There are not too many books in English that tell the story of our
favorite region, so I'm encouraging you to download your FREE COPY of the
dissertation and to read it and share it with your relatives!
>>
>> Stay "tuned" for the next edition of Book of the Month, to be
>> released at: http://czernowitzbook.blogspot.de/
>>
>> Edgar Hauster
>>
>>
>
>
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Received on 2015-01-04 08:25:33

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