I would take Platter's book with a pinch of doubt & suspicion. One should
weigh the authors background & character before giving great credibility to
his writing. The viciousness in the exclusive description of the Jews
can't be but suspect against the description of the gentle ,cultivated,
kind landlord and peasantry who because of a slight failing namely
drunkenness & gambling fall victims to those Jewish usurers. It becomes
confusing . He describe the Jews in rags filthy ,dirty beggars and poor on
one hand and next comes the change into money grubbing rich money lenders.
Are these usurers still wearing those well described rags with holes ??
Where did they get the money in the first place ??? and so the mystery
grows.......
On Sun, Apr 5, 2015 at 10:45 PM, Edgar Hauster <bconcept_at_hotmail.com> wrote=
:
> Yes, Hardy, you are coming straight to the point and Chaim Zhitlowsky
> stated as early as 1892:
>
> "This is a picture of the streets, but it is not difficult to guess what
> kind of image of filth and poverty he would have drawn for us had he look=
ed
> inside the =E2=80=9Awretched, dirty, stinking hovels.=E2=80=98 Platter=E2=
=80=99s book was published
> fifteen years ago, in 1878, and perhaps the people of Czernowitz have
> become better dressed and more fashionable since then, out of concern tha=
t
> such =E2=80=9Ajolly landscapes=E2=80=98 not offened the sensibilities of =
enlightened
> Western Europeans. [...] The existence of poverty among the Jewish masses
> provides sufficient evidence that emancipation opened up very few new
> opportunities for them. The fact is that the life of the masses has
> remained as it was before. The basic mode of economic existence for the
> overwhelming majority - the petit- and middle-trader, moneychanger,
> business agent, tavernkeeper, craftsman, mechanic, teacher, butcher, and
> spiritual proletarian - is that in the morning they have no idea how they
> will satisfy the hunger of their large families that night. How do the
> upper 10,000 employ themselves, then?"
>
> Starting from Julius Platter's "Usury in Bukovina", Chaim Zhitlowsky's
> tractates =E2=80=9EA Jew to Jews=E2=80=9C and =E2=80=9EWhy Only Yiddish?=
=E2=80=9C are most enlightening:
>
> http://goo.gl/x1vKMo
>
> It differs somehow from the official historical scholarship, which reads
> as follows: "Jews from the neighboring provinces streamed in Bukovina
> where, after Joseph II=E2=80=99s Patent of Toleration, they could develop=
their
> cultural life unmolested. All brought with them their religious customs,
> music, language and traditions. In this miniature replica of the Austrian
> Empire, German, as the language of administration and of army command,
> became the lingua franca of the market-place, the theatre, the press and
> the schools."
>
> That's not wrong at all, but it held true mainly for those Jews, who coul=
d
> afford it.
>
> Edgar Hauster
>
>
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the subject of
Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The opinions expressed
in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not necessarily
the opinions of the List Owner, the Webmaster or any other members
or entities connected with this mailing list. The Czernowitz-L list has
an associated web site at
http://czernowitz.ehpes.com that includes a
searchable archive of all messages posted to this list. As a result,
Messages sent to the list are available to the general public within days
of posting.
Please post in "Plain Text" (help available at:
<
http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/PlainText.html>).
To remove your address from this e-list follow the directions at:
<
http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/elist/howto/user/leave.cfm>
To receive assistance for this e-list send an e-mail message to:
<owner-Czernowitz-L_at_list.cornell.edu>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on 2015-04-05 21:27:58