Orzecznictwo Sądu Okręgowego w Krakowie w sprawach o bluźnierstwo (1 września 1932 r. – 1 września 1939 r.)
Decisions of the District Court in Kraków in Blasphemy Cases (September 1, 1932 to September 1, 1939)

Summary/Abstract: According to reviews of penal cases in the District Court in Kraków, there were 46 cases based on Art. 172, i.e. blasphemy, in the period from September 1, 1932 (when the new penal code entered into force) to the beginning of the Second World War. 72.5% of those accused were sentenced to 6 to 12 months in prison (1/3 of sentences were suspended). The National Archive in Kraków contains the acts of only 16 cases; the rest were destroyed. From these remaining acts we learn that most of the accused were farmers or workers who were poorly educated and owned no property, and that they committed the crime mostly during the course of a quarrel, not rarely under the influence of alcohol. Judges did not verify prerequisites of the blasphemy precisely; they did not analyse the intent of the accused sufficiently. This negligence was demonstrated by attorneys, but without any positive results for the accused. The strong social demur against blasphemy and lack of tolerance for such behaviour is visible in the extant acts.

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