18th century
Accusations of ritual murder during the War of the North
1702-1704·Poznań
The toll is reproduced exactly as the source states it — never rounded, never added to another. Tolls overlap from one event to the next.
notables imprisoned and tortured, the Jewish quarter plundered by passing troops
The Great Northern War brought Swedish, Saxon, and Russian armies across Greater Poland, passing through Poznań in turn. Each passage of troops resulted in requisitions, and the Jewish quarter — one of the oldest in the kingdom — bore them more harshly than the others. To the military exactions was added the accusation of ritual murder, leveled against the community on several occasions during these years: notables were imprisoned and subjected to questioning by municipal tribunals, while the crowd plundered their homes.
The very rhythm of the accusation reveals what it serves. It returned each time the city grew poorer, and it always singled out the same group. The community of Poznań, which had counted among the most learned in Poland, emerged from these years ruined and took a generation to recover.
- Period :
- 18th century
- Type :
- Trials and executions
- Region :
- Central and Eastern Europe
- Country :
- Pologne
Actes des tribunaux municipaux de Poznań ; mémoriaux communautaires de Grande-Pologne.