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derer. A roving mob apprehended suspicious people who resembled the widely
circulated description of the perpetrator, harassed them, and handed them over to
the police. Th
e police also wished to cultivate the appearance of doing everything
they could and in turn combed public houses, hotels, and mass quarters in search
of the suspect. Although this search led to the arrest of several wanted criminals,
Kessler’s killer remained at large.86 Single women were particularly frightened.
Th
ey notifi
ed the police at the slightest noise. A public announcement was made
off
ering a considerable reward if information led to the perpetrator’s arrest. Th is
circumstance further fueled the general sense of uncertainty. A state of emergency
prevailed throughout the city. Ultimately, the authorities were able to make the
crucial breakthrough in their investigation. Th
e police identifi
ed the murderer
as Johann Woboril, a railroad employee, and arrested him a short while later in
Bohemia.87
All the citizens of Vienna fell under the spell of the news of this case. Jews
felt particularly aff
ected by the bloody deed, as Johann Woboril seemed to ex-
hibit animosity toward them. Indeed, there was no convincing evidence that he
had murdered the shop owner on account of antisemitic sentiment. But the fact
that one day before the crime Woboril had told strangers that he would like to
give “the Jew [meaning Kessler] a few slaps” was interpreted as an antisemitic
motive.88 Representatives of the Jewish religious community and various temple
associations attended Kessler’s funeral, as if to honor someone famous. Th
e media
thus stylized Kessler as a Jewish victim of his non-Jewish environment. Rabbi
Taglicht had to interrupt his eulogy several times because tears stifl
ed his voice.89
In this sense, we may assert that Kessler’s murder deeply moved and disturbed
the Jewish community in Vienna. Nevertheless, almost nothing was reported
about him in the Jewish media. Th
e reason for this, however, can hardly lie in
their specifi
c program for reporting. Although it may justify the omission of
the Löwy aff air, it does not explain why Jewish newspapers ignored the cases
surrounding Kessler and Vogl. I argue that these latter two cases were ignored
because the publishers of Jewish media were aware that Jews gained informa-
tion about everyday life in Vienna, including the two criminal cases, from gen-
eral (non-Jewish) newspapers. Th
erefore, there was no need for the Jewish press
to repeat such news. Th is also applies to popular cultural performances, which
sometimes even had a direct connection to religious Jewish culture. Th
e Jewish
newspapers neglected to report on such events because the general press devoted
space to such performances and Jews read these newspapers.
Th e Reception of General Newspapers by Jews
It comes as no surprise that Jews read non-Jewish media. After all, Jews had
higher than average participation in the newspaper industry in terms of their
percentage of the population.90 Important media sources such as the Neue Freie
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Entangled Entertainers
Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
- Title
- Entangled Entertainers
- Subtitle
- Jews and Popular Culture in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
- Author
- Klaus Hödl
- Publisher
- Berghahn Books
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-1-78920-031-7
- Size
- 14.86 x 23.2 cm
- Pages
- 196
- Categories
- Geschichte Vor 1918
- International
Table of contents
- Introduction 1
- 1. Jews in Viennese Popular Culture around 1900 as Research Topic 13
- 2. Jewish Volkssänger and Musical Performers in Vienna around 1900 44
- 3. Jewishness and the Viennese Volkssänger 78
- 4. Jewish Spaces of Retreat at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 121
- 5. From Difference to Similarity 148
- Conclusion 163
- Bibliography 166
- Index 179