Johann Gottlieb Hofmann. Mei Jesu Gratia Habilitante. Die von Mose vollbrachte Execution an einem israelitischen armen Sünder.

(GERMANY).

n.p

1721

Portrait of the Jewish criminal Johann David Wagner on title.

A sermon on the execution of Johann David Wagner a Jew from a small village close to Chemnitz, Saxony. Wagner was accused of being member of a band of thieves involved in robbing churches and was beheaded and bound on a wheel on 21 November 1721 in Leipzig. The 18th-century saw a growing number of bandits due to increased poverty and lack of legal status (e.g., lack of residence, or work permit). The participation of Jews in such gangs proved to be a source of surprise to Christians, since it jarred with their traditional image of the passive Jew who endured suffering without resistance.