Uczniowie żydowscy w austriackim systemie szkolnictwa średniego na przykładzie Gimnazjum św. Anny w Krakowie w latach autonomii Galicji

Abstract

JEWISH STUDENTS IN THE AUSTRIAN SECONDARY EDUCATION SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY OF ST ANNE’S GYMNASIUM IN KRAKOW IN THE PERIOD OF GALICIA’S AUTONOMY

In the period of Galicia’s autonomy within the Austrian Empire, St Anne’s Gymnasium (Gimnazjum św. Anny) in Kraków was a secondary school providing high educational standards whose goal was to prepare students for further study at university level. It was attended by young people representing mostly the local élite – the highest social strata of Kraków and the neighbouring towns, as well as members of Poland’s top artistocratic families settled in Kraków, such as the Zamoyskis, or the Potockis. Among the students of St Anne’s were also Jewish boys from assimilated families. In 1900 the sons of wealthy merchants constituted the largest group (73.1 per cent) of St Anne’s total Jewish population, the second largest group being the representatives of assimilated Jewish intelligentsia (23.1 per cent), while students representing other social groups constituted 3.7 per cent of the school’s Jewish population. The number of Jewish students grew steadily throughout the 19th century, especially in the period of Galicia’s autonomy. In 1870 Jewish students constituted 4.4 per cent of St Anne’s entire student population; by 1890 their number grew to 10.7 per cent, only to reach 25.2 per cent (i.e. 159 persons, which was the record high number of Jewish students in the school’s history) in 1909. School leaving exams (matura) at St Anne’s were also taken by extra-mural Jewish students, the largest group among these being young Jewish women. The first extramural female student who passed her matura exams at St Anne’s was Helena Donhajser, a Jewess. Jewish students of St Anne’s Gymnasium used various forms of material support which the school off ered, such as the self-help unit called “Students’ Friendly Help” (Pomoc Koleżeńska Uczniów), and foundations awarding scholarships and providing financial aid for students in need, e.g. M. Silberstein’s Foundation or R. Löwenstein’s Foundation. Jewish-Christian relations among the students of St Anne’s were good, and many of the friendships that developed among the pupils would last for a lifetime. Many of St Anne’s Jewish graduates went on to continue their education at Jagiellonian University, mostly at the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Medicine. Having completed their university studies, many of them – e.g. Józef Rosenblatt and his son Alfred, Tadeusz Epstein, Artur Benis and Henryk Halban, to name only a few – became prominent participants of the public life of Kraków and the newly re-established Polish state.