Czackiego, Tadeusza. Rosprawa o Żydach [“Discourse on the Jews.”]

Polish statesman and historian Tadeusz Czacki (1765-1813) was active as an economic and educational reformer who played an important part in the Enlightenment in Poland. From 1786 to 1792 he was attached to the Polish Commission of the Treasury and was responsible there for supervising Jewish affairs in the country. During this time and afterwards, he sought to work for the emancipation of the Jews in Poland. The present text outlines the history of the Jews and their interactions with their host societies, both in times of tolerance and persecution. Czacki writes: “Jews experienced indulgence rarely, oppression often and disdain almost always” (p. 37). (See JE, Vol. IV, p. 405).