I was told my great-grandfather (Adam Blak 1840-1895) who was originally a blacksmith, bought land to become a farmer. His father in-law (Aleksander KOŁAKOWSKI 1817-1899) it is my understanding owned land in several villages. The town closest to Adam's farm was Przywilcz, it is located north of Ciechanów and east of Mława south of Grudusk and west of Czernice Borowe. Could this be true? Could ordinary citizens own land, or were they all just serfs to the Czar?
A lot of land changed hands when newcomer Jewish businessmen in Poland gave alcohol to Polish farmers, who - due to their addiction - signed over their family land in return.
A lot of land changed hands when newcomer Jewish businessmen in Poland gave alcohol to..
Wow, new(?) Polish antisemitic conspiracy theory just dropped.
I do like that you've admitted to Poles' gigantic, characteristic national alcoholism but I don't like that you've framed Jews as drug pushers who exploit it.
The reality is that, like in much of Europe, Jews faced a limited scope in terms of professions they were allowed to take, and the landowners trusted Jews to own taverns more than they trusted the Polish peasants (who would drink all the stock within about 12 hours of being handed the keys), hence the archetypical 'Jewish inn'.
Another massive hole in your (antisemitic conspiracy) theory is the fact that Jews were legally barred from owning land. So how could it change hands?
Not all Jews. Wealthy Jews could buy as much land as they wanted (they could later transfer it to other Jews) because they were treated as a privileged group of citizens in a corrupt Poland. Additionally, between 1862 and 1882, Jews were allowed to purchase Polish land without limits. Although restrictions were introduced between 1882 and 1921, they did not reverse earlier acquisitions, since Poland did not confiscate land that had already been purchased.
With regard to the habitual intoxication of the peasantry, it must unfortunately be acknowledged that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, it was not the Jews but Polish nobility who were chiefly to blame, as they actively fostered it.
From the sixteenth century onward, landlords possessed the exclusive right to distill and sell alcohol on their estates. The institution was known as propinacja. So, when by the eighteenth century grain prices had declined because of changing European markets, many "genius" landowners discovered that the system of: grain → vodka → compulsory sale to peasants, was considerably more profitable than exporting grain. It was an idiotic system that impoverished villages and encouraged alcoholism.
So, sorry Rufus but we can't really blame the Jews for the rampant alcoholism in the Early Modern Polish countryside.
Some old Polish movies (based on books), like "Lalka" show how Poles related to Jews and why most of them disliked them. They must've had a good reason.
Not necessarily, Rufus. Jews were long ostracized by the Church owing to the since disproven notion that the Jews "murdered" Jesus! Significantly, it was a truly noble Pole, one Karol (Lolek) Wojtyla, who later apologized to the Jews for the wrongs of miscarried justice inflicted upon them by his fellow Christians.
the since disproven notion that the Jews "murdered" Jesus!
If anyone killed Christ, it was Rome. Some incredible mental acrobatics and PR work: the very people who killed Jesus now claiming to be at the centre of his representation on Earth. Something to be added to the long list of Italian crimes and hypocrisy, along with being the OG European imperialists and inventors of fascism. A truly ignominious people.
hmmm.. if that's the case.. one can argue that during the ww2, Jews were killed by Jewish policemen: yadvashem.org/holocaust/this-month/july/1942-5.html
Completely untenable thesis! Clearly Pilate, as Roman Governor, was responsible for the death of Jesus. Culpability must be doled out equally here. Not solely the Jews bare responsibility.
During WWII, Jews were forced to survive as best they
This is the opposite argument to the one you think you're presenting. Those 'Jewish policemen' were reluctant collaborators under a foreign power, under considerable pressure, just like Pilate under the Romans. So, in fact, you've just compared the Romans to the Third Reich (apt comparison!) and reinforced the sense that it was the evil Rome/Italians that ultimately caused the murder of the son of god.
Those greasy monsters. Not only were they Hitler's buddies during our most recent grand battle of good evil but they were also the prime antagonists in a biblical one that ended with the death of our lord. Truly, they have always been on the wrong side of history.
Clearly Pilate, as Roman Governor, was responsible for the death of Jesus.
Pilate was a Roman puppet, a 'kapo', like a Vichy French official. It was his Third Reich (Roman) masters that sought the death of the messiah. The ancestors of modern day Italy put our lord on the cross. They can really do no right. Fascist Christ-killers to the core, truly history's greatest monsters.
landlords possessed the exclusive right to distill and sell alcohol on their estates
Polish peasants didn't care too much about 'exclusive rights.' Bimber in Poland was born right then in the XIX century and it was often better than the "legal" liquor.
