“Silver!” Anti-Jewish Riots in Bohemia, 1866
“Silver!” Anti-Jewish Riots in Bohemia, 1866

Summary/Abstract: Between February and April 1866, at a time when Jewish emancipation was proceeding in the Habsburg Monarchy, a revolt against Jewish neighbours took place in many small towns and rural areas in Bohemia. Groups of rioters and larger crowds chanted anti-Jewish slogans, attacked Jewish homes and shops, destroyed Jewish property, looted Jewish shops and, in certain cases, physically attacked Jews. The weak police forces were unable to stop the mobs and, in many places, large detachments of soldiers had to be sent to restore order – at a time when the Austrian Empire was undoubtedly moving towards military conflict with Prussia and Italy. While this war and the inglorious defeat of the Austrian army at Sadová (the Battle of Königgrätz / Hradec Králové) only a few months later became firmly inscribed in the Czech historical consciousness, the anti-Jewish riots of 1866 remained – apart from a few exceptions – a marginal theme in the historiography on Czech history and the history of the Jews in the Bohemian Lands. This is despite the fact that it was one of the most extensive and violent anti-Jewish disturbances in modern Czech history, which is comparable only with the anti-Jewish (and anti-German) demonstrations and acts of violence in 1897 and 1899. The aim of this article is not only to describe the course of the disturbances, but also to attempt to explain this ‘outburst’ of anti-Jewish violence, which surpassed the usual level of aggression towards Jews.Was it a consequence of propaganda by Czech nationalists or the result of social tension and the poor condition of the lower social classes? While the main line of reasoning in historiography to date has focused on social causes, this article aims to offer a more comprehensive and balanced explanation for why Christians attacked their Jewish neighbours. The only detailed study on the anti-Jewish riots of 1866 so far is a 1959 book by František Hrdlièka, whose interpretation is evident from its very title: ‘Social Disturbances by the Stud Makers of Hostomice in 1866’. Hrdlièka’s description, however, is problematic, mainly on account of his sources: apart from indictment documentation, the author drew primarily on the contemporary press, hence it is no wonder that – sometimes almost literally – he takes information and interpretations from Czech newspapers. The second detailed study, written by Christoph Stölzl, accepts the social motives but puts the disturbances mainly down to Czech petit bourgeois antisemitism. Drawing on more recent papers and methodological approaches for studying anti-Jewish violence and pogroms, I shall try in this article to provide a more comprehensive and balanced explanation for the outbreak and course of anti-Jewish riots in 1866.

• Details
• Contents