Newspaper Page Text
Page 10
The Southern Israelite
Ill-Fated Crown Prince Whose Incognito
Comments on Early Jew-Baiting in Austria
Are Remarkable Documents
By LOUIS RITTENBERG
Reprinted by courtesy of the American Hebrew.
year also witnesses a rather piquant contraversey provoked by
President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia. He is reported to have told
I)r. Georg Bernhard of Berlin that the Hapsburg family is of Jew
ish descent. Something of this curious revelation is chronicled
elsewhere on this page.
Below we reprint translations of those of Crown Prince Rudolf’s
public statements which pertain to the Jewish question of his day.
It is no mere presumption to speculate on what might have hap
pened—whether or not the World War and the present reactionary
spirit in Austria might not have been averted—had Rudolf been
spared long enough to succeed his father on the throne.
In the harrowing days of the anti-Jewish street riots in Prague,
in the spring of 1883, there appeared a letter in the Neues Wiener
Tagblatt (dated March 18, 1883), captioned “Noble Fensterein-
werfer” (Aristocratic Window Smashers). The letter, addressed
to the publisher of the leading Austrian oppositionist journal, car
ried the legend “Special Despatch from Prague”. It read as follows:
“I jot down these thoughts in haste in order to apprise you of
an episode which, to my mind, demands public attention. Several
days ago, toward evening, a number of blue-blooded social snobs
of this city went on a window-smashing rampage through the
Ghetto, in order to give vent in an aristocratic manner to their
political convictions.
“At the head of this hand of ruffians was the son of the hypo
critical Count Richard C., heir of the childless Count H. Only one
of these hoodlums, Count S., managed to escape. The others were
rounded up by the police. They were obliged to spend the night
at the police station. Next morning our friend Stejskal had them
brought before him and reprimanded them at length. The whole inci-
♦ _♦
Anent the Jewish Descent of the Hapshurgs
Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary,
victim of a love-feud, whose absorption in the
social and cultural affairs of his country are
here revealed for the first time.
Just now, when Austria seems hopefully
to be emerging from its battle with reac
tionary tendencies, it is timely to recall that
nearly half a century ago the ill-fated Crown
Prince Rudolf, of the Austro-IIungary mon
archy, sounded perhaps the first vigorous
warning against the ravages of anti-Semit
ism, which he foresaw. That his fellow-
citizens never knew about his solicitude is
duo to the fact that, being a member of
royalty, he was not permitted
to voice his opinions publicly.
A man of unusual cultural
attainments, and an ardent
opponent of militarism, he
took a deep interest in the
affairs of his country; in
deed, recently discovered doc
uments reveal him as being
now and then in disagree
ment with the generally fair-
minded policies of his sover
eign father.
It is revealed in these new
records, unearthed in the ar
chives of Vienna, that Crown
Prince Rudolf felt very keen
Iv on the subject of racial
antagonism. His whole atti
tude, as disclosed in these im
portant documents, breathe a
spirit of vision, liberality, and
understanding quite extraor
dinary in those days, espe
cially among royalty.
The timeliness of reproduc
ing the sentiments of Crown
Prince Rudolf is enhanced by
two other factors. This hap
pens to be the year during
which numerous celebrations
throughout the former empire
commemorated the hundredth
anniversary of the birth of
Emperor Franz Josef. This
President Thomas G. Masaryk of Czechoslovakia,
in a recent conversation with Professor Georg
Bernhard of the German Reichstag, made allusion
to the fact that the Austrian royal family, when
it was still in power, caused the greatest portion
of an edition of Meyer’s “Konversationslexikon”
to he destroyed because it contained an assertion
to the effect that” the Hapshurgs were of Jewish
descent”. Certain Viennese families still have iti
their possession copies of the fourth edition of
Meyer’s “Konversationslexikon”, which appeared
in 1887, and in the seventh volume of which (on
page 987) the statement is made that historiog
raphers of the House of Hapsburg in the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries traced the origin of the
Hapshurgs to the Roman family Pierleoni, from
which there also descended a pope, Anacletus II,
in the twelfth century. The Pierleonis were of
Jewish descent. Concerning the history of the
Pierleoni family the following information is given :
“Under Pope Leo IX a Jew was the first finan
cial adviser and creditor of the Vatican. At the
urgent instance of his papal protector, the ambi
tious man became a Christian, and was given the
name of Bendictus Christianus. His son was bap
tized by the pope himself, receiving the name of
his baptismal godfather, Leo. Leo’s daughters mar
ried into the most select noble families of Rome.
Leo had a magnificent castle near the Marcellus
Theater. His son Petrus Leonis, called also Pier
leoni (a name which (Continued on page 47)
hmperor Frans Josef of Austria-Hungry, zuho
leas often at odds until his son, Rudolf, in mat
ters of governmental policy and zvas unazvare of
his writings.
Princess Stephanie, zvife of Rudolf and J m //■'
of the Belgian monarch, zvlio had no kn. ieled ,
of the things that agitated her royal consort
mind.
dent is highly amusing and, in my opinion,
ought to be of interest to readers of the
Tagblatt.
“If some hapless wood-chopper sma.dit-
the window of a Jew, the authorities usu
ally make much ado about it. But then 1
feudal fellow’s .... seem to he unhindered
in their rowdyism!”
Crown Prince Rudolf cherished an inti
mate friendship for Dr. Moritz Szeps, hri:
liant journalist and publisher
of the Neues Wiener Tag
blatt. This friendship en
dured from 1882 until the
tragic death of the Austrian
heir to the throne.
Doctor Szeps also left some
diary entries on several eon
versations he had with the
Crown Prince. Perhaps the
most interesting among the-'
jottings is the record ot a
discussion during the ehaotie
days surrounding the ritual
libel of Tisza eszlar.
Crown Prince is quoted a*
follows:
“Such is our nobility! It
has not the slightest notion
where a casually thrown
inav stop. Really, it > s 11
difficult to foresee t
anti-Semitic movemen'. " n "
it has perpetrated it' l 1 :
pose will turn upon the hie
landlords. Assuming that tri-
Jews are to be complete!/'
plundered, what will the dun
defers find? Furnitur. ami
household objects. A m 1,1
hand dealer will pa:
little for these, In ad
they are likely to find
cash and quantities ot
(Continued on pag*