Petitioners of Jewish Property in Košice: A Case Study on the Holocaust and Local Society in a Slovak-Hungarian Border Region

This study aims to provide an insight into the microworld of a group of witnesses to and participants in the Holocaust in Košice, a town ceded from dismembered Czechoslovakia to Hungary in November 1938. We argue that Košice represents a suitable case study for the examination of Aryanization of Jewish property on the municipality and individual levels in the Slovak-Hungarian border region (Southern Slovakia), which is a hitherto understudied field in Holocaust studies. Our analysis is centred around 253 petitions submitted by local residents to obtain rental rights to apartments previously occupied by Jews and supporting documentation preserved in the Košice City Archives. Our primary research question is who these petitioners for Jewish apartments actually were and how and why they became involved in the process. We explore the petitioners’ social stratification, occupational structure, gender, ethnic origin and other social indicators. Furthermore, we present and interpret their arguments, excuses and motivations. This issue also involves the striking question of how much these ordinary men and women understood they benefited from mass murder.

Marian Plague Columns in Jaroměř and Polička: A Comparative Study on Baroque Sculptural Decorations of the Bohemian Urban Public Space in the First Half of the Eighteenth Century

Based on fragmentally preserved sources as well as existing literature related to the topic (especially regional historiography, art history and historic preservation), the present study sets Marian plague columns into a broader context. Through the comparison of two minor East-Bohemian towns of a comparable population, it follows the factors playing a signifi cant role in the creation of complex Baroque sculptural compositions. At the same time, it aims to identify the functions that the sculptures were to fulfi l through their position in the public space. In this sense the study is inspired by the classic essay by Peter Burke called Conspicuous consumption in seventeenth-century Italy, which considers “the consumption” to be a specifi c form of communication. The composition of Marian plague columns can be perceived as an undeniable form of communication. From multiple perspectives, the article documents the key determinants, which are sometimes rather surprising, infl uencing the choice of partial components of the sculptural compositions as well as their overall impression – the communicative intention. Both Marian plague columns, to this day the most important monuments decorating the public space of the towns in question, are therefore approached in an interdisciplinary way especially in the context of the history of the towns, their manors and the East-Bohemian region. Therefore, the religious situation of both towns and their surroundings is not overlooked either. With regard to the fact that Jaroměř and Polička have been royal dowry towns, the Marian plague columns also refl ect the relation to the Bohemian queen, which is expressed verbally as inscriptions on them. In particular, the artwork in Polička and the events related to its creation importantly signalize the “conspicuous consumption”.

Burghers and Heraldry: On the Usage of Heraldic Signs by Burghers in Early Modern Hungarian Kingdom

The study presents the state of research into burgher heraldry in Slovakia. It notes the perspectives and possibilities of further research, as well as the importance of the sigillographic study of burgher seals. On the basis of its fi ndings, it demonstrates discoveries on the uses of coats of arms, or more precisely, personal heraldic marks, by burghers in early modern towns of the Hungarian Kingdom (and includes, for instance, the issues of heritability of burgher marks and the ennoblement of burghers from a heraldic point of view).

Topography of Power: Venice and the Eastern Adriatic Cities in the Century Following the Fourth Crusade

In the thirteenth century, in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, Venice became an important power in the Mediterranean, which caused profound change in its political, territorial and economic ambitions. The main strategy of Venice was to maintain the sea route from the northernmost point in the Adriatic to the Levant, and therefore it was crucial to dominate politically over the Eastern Adriatic: the cities there could serve as points of departure or safe harbours in which Venetian vessels could be sheltered and supplied with merchandise, food, water, and manpower. One of the ways to incorporate the Eastern Adriatic cities into a common area of governance was to construct recognizable public buildings, and to introduce and standardize a legal and administrative order that was mainly adapted to the central political entity, but also served the local urban communities. This paper follows the changes that were directly or indirectly mirrored in the urban structure of the cities during the thirteenth century: primarily the design of urban spaces (especially public ones) and the construction of public buildings linked to governance, defence, trade or administration. During the thirteenth century, one can follow the development of Venetian ambitions and their focus on particular areas or activities (economic, military) in the state, as well as the activities of Venetian patricians holding the governor’s offi ce. Naturally, the local circumstances and the local population had a crucial impact on the formation of urban space, but this paper focuses primarily on the role of the Venetian administration in this respect.

Prehistory of Košice – settlement in the Neolithic

This article presents the results of archaeological excavations at the sites Košice-Galgovec I-III and Červený rak on the southeastern edge of Košice in 1997–2001 indicated several stages of settlement and their dating. AMS 14C dates for the Tiszadob group were 6260±35 BP, 5330–5140 calBC; for the early stage of the Bükk culture they were 6310±40-35 BP, 5285±42 calBC. Assessment of residential, farming and settlement features was carried out, and numerous remains of pottery and lithic industry were classified with regard to contemporary sites in the Košická kotlina basin and in northeastern Hungary. The researchers evaluated the settlement in the microregion of Košice from the beginning of the Eastern Linear Pottery culture – the Proto-Linear stage – to the Barca III group and the Tiszadob group and the subsequent settlement during the Bükk culture period.

Communication between the Towns and the County Authority: The Free Royal Towns and Šariš County at the Beginning of the 16th Century

In this paper, I focus on the channels of communication between the free royal towns of Šariš and the county authority at the beginning of the 16th century. In this period, the towns of Bardejov and Prešov became feudal landowners in the county and, as a result, they had to develop a close relationship with the county nobility. Alongside the official documents of the county authority, the noble judges also often wrote letters to the towns, in which they often mixed official and private matters. There were also verbal lines of communication; the noble community of Šariš county frequently sent emissaries to the town, and these elected envoys were often chosen from the former or acting noble judges who lived in the villages neighbouring the towns. This had the added advantage, for the towns, that they could draw upon the legal experience of these former officeholders. Both Bardejov and Prešov employed former noble judges as town lawyers.