Throughout history, revolts, uprisings and especially revolutions often went hand in hand with violent riots against minorities. The anti-Jewish riots of the revolutionary year 1848 in the German-speaking south-west are vivid examples of this reoccurring phenomenon. In the reports of influential contemporaries, such as the memoirs of the journalist and politician Ludwig Bamberger, we find detailed descriptions of these incidents.
In French Alsace, parts of the local population were enraged that Jewish politicians were members of the constituent assemblies for the first time and were also able to successfully stand for election as ministers. The fact that the date of the election coincided with the Easter weekend further inflamed anti-Jewish sentiment in the region and lead to its escalation in many places. In the small border community of Hégenheim near Basel, the local rabbi Moïse Nordmann turned to the Paris Central Consistory (Consistoire Central)1 in May 1848 requesting aid and describing the horrors he had endured.
Nordmann’s letter, a copy of which has survived, comprises four handwritten pages in French2 and can be divided into four parts: a short introduction in which Nordmann describes the initial circumstances of the conflict, a main part with his descriptions of the riots, his reaction and actions in response, and finally concluding words in which he urgently pleads for political support from the Consistoire Central.
Nordmann initially sees the cause of the violence in the generally heated political atmosphere following the recent elections:
“If in the other places the culprits confined themselves to robbing and plundering the Israelites, their rage in Hégenheim was directed particularly at the people themselves, who were mistreated with unimaginable barbarity. The outbreak was triggered by a bloody brawl provoked by some peasants returning from the elections.“3
According to Nordmann, mutual provocation in public had led to a scuffle in his hometown, as a result of which a non-Jewish aggressor lost a finger:
“One of the attackers in turn lost a finger from a sabre thrust. He was led into the middle of the village, groups of peasants gathered around him; instigators showed the crowd his wound and provoked them to take revenge. “4
The situation quickly escalated in such a way that even the Jewish national guards stationed in the village were unable to fend off the rioters, who at this point already mobilized for a pogrom:
“In the blink of an eye, the entire Catholic population is on its feet, running through the village and spreading jeers and death threats against the Jews. A detachment of 25 Israelite National Guardsmen, who were posted on the market square, were immediately attacked by a hundred madmen, disarmed and beaten with rifle butts and bayonets. “5
The attempt by women and children to escape to nearby Switzerland was blocked by the incited crowd, so that the community quickly found itself surrounded and therefore unable to escape:
“Women and children who tried to save themselves on Swiss soil, which was only a few hundred paces away, found the passages everywhere closed by hundreds of peasants armed with gnarled sticks, who streamed in en masse from all the surrounding villages. “6
The letter goes on to describe in detail some extremely brutal instances of assaults and damage done to property. Towards the afternoon, a sympathetic Christian citizen informed Nordmann that more serious attacks were imminent. Nordmann then went across the border in person in an adventurous manner to ask for help and support:
“Around 2:30 p.m., a Christian woman comes to tell me that she has heard that a plot is being hatched to get even with the Israelites towards evening. After this terrible news, I felt it necessary to go out and seek help. By a circuitous route, with a child in my arms, I managed to escape. Once on Swiss soil, I had a wagon hitched to Mulhouse. “7
While he found support from the mayor of Mulhouse, Emile Dolfus, he complained bitterly about the lack of solidarity and help in his own community:
“The commune did nothing to calm the atmosphere, with the exception of the two richest members, who went to the scene of the disorder around 5:20 p.m. to disperse the crowd, not out of humanity, but out of fear of bearing part of the responsibility, as they themselves declared. “8
Nordmann stressed that even though the immediate danger passed, the situation was still very threatening as only the presence of armed protection ensured the security of the Jewish community:
“Since then, we have had a garrison of 50 men. If we had received this help eight days earlier, the misfortune of many families could have been averted.“9
In the following, Nordmann laments the futility of his efforts to make the authorities understand the imminent possibility of a riot in advance. His pleas had fallen on deaf ears everywhere:
“In vain had I approached the commissioners of the department, in vain had I pointed out to them the imminent danger in which my community found itself, in vain had I requested at least a guard of 25 men, in vain had I sent message after message to the commander of Huningue (located one town away) at the moment when the disaster struck, everywhere I encountered only refusals. “10
Remarkably, he emphasizes just how unjustified the fundamental accusations and hostilities were, when the progressive and civilized character of his entire community was well known:
“My community, however, deserves special protection: it is the most advanced of all in Alsace in terms of civilization. “11
He concludes by describing the current situation as highly unsatisfactory, as in his estimate it was very unlikely that a serious prosecution of the main perpetrators would be brought forward. As a result, there would be a persistent danger of reprisals:
“At this moment, the case is being heard by the court at Colmar, but the investigation is being conducted with leniency. The perpetrators are serving as witnesses for each other’s defense, so the punishment will probably not be commensurate with the crime. “12
Moïse Nordmann therefore placed all his hopes in the activities and influence of the Central Consistory in Paris to champion the cause of his Hégenheim congregation and exert public pressure:
“In the hope that the Central Consistory will have the goodness to warm to the sad fate of my unfortunate congregation, which deserves all their sympathy and which can no longer hold its own without their high protection. “13
Moïse Nordmann’s letter did indeed have demonstrable consequences, as we can gather from other surviving documents. Supported by the Consistoire Central and other enclosed letters from non-Jewish advocates, the Ministry of the Interior took his accusations very seriously. Although the matter dragged on for another year, it is clear from the prefecture’s justifications in Colmar that they found it difficult to refute the accusations and merely resorted to the stereotypical retort that the Jews themselves were to blame for the violence inflicted on them:
“provoked by an attitude of reckless bravado. “14
In the end, Nordmann succeeded not only in forcing the local authorities to answer for their failure to help, but also to pay compensation. The case thus provides a direct and vivid insight into events on the periphery of the Jewish world in Central Europe in the 19th century and at the same time documents a courageous act and ultimately the successful exertion of influence by a Jewish dignitary to protect his community.
References
- The central institution of French Jewry created in Napoleonic times.
- The following is a translation by the author. The original passages can be found in the respective footnotes. The letter is now kept in the Archives d’Alsace under shelfmark V 615. It is possible to download a digital copy of the entire document collection.
- „Si dans les autres localités les malfaiteurs se sont bornés à piller et à saccager les Israélites, à Hégenheim leur fureur s’est déchainée particulierement contre les personnes, qui ont été maltraitées avec une barbarie inconcevable. C’est par une rixe sanglante provoquée par quelques paysans qui revenaient des élections que l’explosion a été motivée.“
- „Un des agresseurs à son tour perdit un doigt par un coup de sabre. Il fut conduit au milieu du village, des groupes de paysans s’attroupèrent autour de lui, des instigateurs montrèrent sa blessure à la foule en la provoquant à la vengeance.“
- „En un clin d’œil toute la population catholique est sur pied parcourant le village et poussant des hurlements et des cris de mort contre les juifs. Un piquet de 25 gardes nationaux israélites qui était posté sur la place du marché fut aussitôt assailli par une centaine de forcenés, désarmé et frappé à coups de crosse et de baionettes.“
- „Des femmes et des enfans[!] essayaient de se sauver sur le sol suisse, qui n’est qu’à quelques centaines de pas, trouvèrent partout les passages fermés par des centaines de paysans armés de bâtons noueux, qui affluaient en masses de tous les villages environnants,“
- „Vers 2h ½, une femme chrétienne vient m’avertir qu’elle a entendu qu’un complot est tramé de faire mainbasse sur les Israélites vers le soir. À cette terrible nouvelle, je jugeais nécessaire de sortir pour aller chercher de secours. Par un chemin détourné, un enfant sur le bras, je parvins à m’échapper. Arrivé sur le sol suisse, je fis atteler une voiture pour Mulhouse.“
- „L’autorité locale n’a rien fait pour calmer les esprits, à l’exeption des deux membres les plus riches qui, vers 5h 20m du soir, se sont rendus sur le théâtre du desordre pour dispenser la foule, et cela non par un sentiment d’humanité, mais de crainte de supporter une partie de la responsabilité, comme ils l’ont déclaré eux-mêmes.“
- „Depuis ce moment nous avons une garnison de 50 hommes. Si ce secours nous avait été donné huit jours plustôt[!], le malheur d’un grand nombre de familles aurait pu être détourné.“
- „Vainement je m’étais adressé aux commissaires du département, vainement je leur avais exposé le danger imminent où se trouvait ma communauté, vainement j’avais réclamé au moins une garde de 25 hommes, vainement j’avais adressé courrier sur courrier au commandant de Huningue (à une lieu de distance) au moment où la catastrophe était sur le point d’éclater, partout je ne rencontrais que des refus.“
- „Ma communauté aurait cependant mérité une protectione spéciale : elle est la plus avancée en civilisation de toutes celles de l’Alsace.“
- „Dans ce moment l’affaire est evoquée par la cour de Colmar, mais l’instruction se fait avec tiédeur. Les malfaiteurs se servent mutuellements de témoins à décharge, de sorte que la répression ne sera pas probablement en proportion du crime. »
- „Dans l’espérance que le consistoire central daignera s’intéresser au triste sort de ma malheureuse communauté qui mérite toutes ses sympathies, et qui, sans sa haute protection, ne pourra plus se maintenir.“
- „provoqué par une attitude d’imprudente jactance.“