Fred...
I fully agree with you and me too, I mistrust Julius Platter as long as his main concern was, that not the Germans but the Jews put themselves in a position to carry out usury in Bukovina. On the other hand, I mistrust the contemporary historical scholarship too and tend to follow Chaim Zhitlowsky, who stated in 1892:
"One would not find a relatively accurate description of the material life of Bukovinian and Galician Jews in the pages of local Jewish newspapers. These papers are occupied with supposedly higher callings, such as describing rabbinic jubilees, praising the charitable work of ladies’ committees, polemicizing against antisemitism, and debating the question of which language should be used for conducting Sabbath services. Jewish poverty simply does not exist for these representatives of the satisfied bourgeoisie."
>From my point of view, the controversy Platter - Zhitlowsky is most thrilling. Warmest wishes and thank you for your contribution!
Edgar Hauster
----------------------------------------
> Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2015 11:20:00 +1000
> Subject: Re: [Cz-L] Book of the Month, April 2015: Usury in Bukovina
> From: fredweisinger16_at_gmail.com
> To: bconcept_at_hotmail.com
> CC: hardy3_at_bezeqint.net; czernowitz-l_at_cornell.edu; sasha_at_raltron.com
>
>
> 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
>>
>>
>>
=
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Received on 2015-04-06 08:17:07