Berek Joselewicz

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Berek Joselewicz,
painting by Juliusz Kossak

Berek Joselewicz , Berek, son of Josel (Joseph), Hebrew דוב בער Dov Ber (* ≈1764 in Kretinga , Grand Duchy of Lithuania , † May 5, 1809 in Kock near Lublin ) was a Jewish colonel in the Polish army who set up a Jewish cavalry unit in 1794 and commanded the Kościuszko uprising against the Russian troops. He fell in 1809 at the head of a squadron of the army of the Duchy of Warsaw in the battle of Kock against Austria. He is revered as both a Polish and a Jewish freedom fighter.

Life

Joselewicz was probably born on September 17, 1764 in Kretinga, Lithuania, a small town about 12 km east of the port city of Palanga and 25 km north of Klaipėda , with a Jewish population of 14 families (1771), where he received a traditional Jewish education. He was initially administrator of the local prince and bishop of Vilnius Prince Massalski , on whose behalf he also traveled to Western Europe. He then worked as a trader in Vilnius and later in the Warsaw suburb of Praga , supplying the army in particular with goods.

After the second partition of Poland , Joselewicz supported the Polish uprising under Tadeusz Kościuszko , in the hope that this would bring the Jews equality with the Christians in the Kingdom of Poland . In 1794, a Jewish cavalry unit was formed on his and Jozef Aronowicz's initiative. In September Kościuszko appointed him colonel. In an appeal in October Joselewicz addressed the Jews of Poland-Lithuania in biblical terms to join the regiment. The number of Jewish fighters who responded to his call is not known, many of them were killed in the Russian attack on Praga on November 4, 1794. The rest of the regiment made their way to France, joined the Polish Legion under Napoleon and participated later engaged in the establishment of the Duchy of Warsaw. However, Joselewicz settled in Lviv in now to Austrian monarchy belonging Galicia down. His proposal to form a group of Jewish volunteers within the Austrian army was rejected in Vienna .

Joselewicz became an officer in the Polish Legion under General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and fought on the French side in Italy and Germany. After the Treaty of Lunéville in February 1801, he asked to be discharged from the army, presumably because of difficulties he was exposed to as a Jew and in the belief that a liberation of Poland by the Polish Legion was hopeless. In 1803 he joined the Legion of the Hanoverian Dragoons , which was under French command, and fought in France, Austria and Italy. After the establishment of the Duchy of Warsaw, he returned to Poland in 1807, where he commanded a cavalry squadron. On May 5, 1809, he fell in a battle against hussars of the Austrian army near Kock, where a monument was erected in his honor.

Joselewicz's widow received a pension and was allowed to settle in a part of Warsaw that was otherwise closed to Jews. Joselewicz's grave in Kock is still visited today. A memorial stone was erected on the centenary of his death with the following text:

“Berek Joselewicz - Józef Berkowel Berkowicz, born in 1760 in Kretynga in Lithuania. Colonel of the Polish Army, leader of a squadron of the 5th Mounted Regiment of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, Knight of the Legion of Honor and holder of the Virtuti Militari order . He fell in 1809 in the Battle of Kock. He is buried here. He did not gain fame through dizziness or drinking, but with his blood. "

To mark the 200th anniversary of his death, a special stamp with a portrait of Joselewicz by Juliusz Kossak was issued in Poland and Israel at the same time.

Joselewicz's son Józef Berkowicz (1789–1846) was also an officer in the Polish Legion, fought in the Battle of Kock and took part in Napoleon's Russian campaign.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The History of Kretinga . seligman.org.il (accessed September 9, 2010)
  2. ↑ Herman Rosenthal: Berek, Joselovich . In: Jewish Encyclopedia . New York / London 1901–1906, 12 volumes (English), accessed September 9, 2010
  3. ↑ Hészel Klépfisz: Inexhaustible Wellspring. Reaping the Rewards of Shtetl Life. Devora Publishing, 2003, ISBN 1-930143-75-3 , p. 156 ff. (English) books.google.ch
  4. ↑ a b Heiko Haumann : A history of East European Jews . Central European University Press 2002, ISBN 963-9241-26-1 , pp. 70 f. (English) books.google.ch
  5. ↑ François Guesnet: Joselewicz, Berek . In: The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe . 2 volumes. Yale University Press, New Haven 2008, accessed September 9, 2010
  6. ^ Gravestone and memorial stone Berek Joselewicz . Photo by Maciek Pawłowski
  7. ^ Translation from English to: Kock, Traces of the Past . See also the rhyme "Once there was Berek, a tough Jewish man / He was decent, and he was brave / He didn't drink and he didn't cheat / But shed his blood to gain his fame." Polonica (English) accessed September 9, 2010
  8. ↑ Année de la Pologne en Israël / The Polish Year in Israel . Blog timbré de ma philatélie (English, French) accessed on September 9, 2010
  9. ↑ Joselewicz, Berek and Berkowicz, Joseph . In: Michael Berenbaum, Fred Skolnik (Ed.): Encyclopaedia Judaica . 2nd Edition. Macmillan Reference, Detroit 2007, Gale Virtual Reference Library, accessed September 9, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Joselewicz, Berek
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dov Ber (Hebrew)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jewish colonel in the Polish army
DATE OF BIRTH around 1764
PLACE OF BIRTH Kretinga , Grand Duchy of Lithuania
DATE OF DEATH May 5, 1809
Place of death Kock , Lublin