Olosz_Levente_Galiciaiak_borkereskedok_es_razziak

Galicians, Wine Merchants and Raids in North-East Hungary in the Summer of 1918

Abstract

In the summer of 1918, large-scale raids were conducted under the pretext of enforcing taxation in the northeastern counties of Hungary, and nearly one million crowns were collected from those deemed guilty. Despite the authorities’ justification that this was to curb speculators inflating the price of wine and other products, the raids exclusively targeted individuals of the Jewish faith, and their brutality reached unprecedented levels. The study traces the unfolding events from four different perspectives: 1. First, relying on the accounts of the victims, the local Jews, the study presents the grievances suffered, particularly the discrimination against Hungarian Jewish citizens. The Egyenlőség (Equality) provided the most detailed coverage of the experiences of those who were persecuted. 2. The wider public may have perceived the events as justified action against “Galician” price gougers, since the majority of the Budapest press conveyed this image to readers. The second perspective of the study concerns this media campaign. 3. The third part presents the raids from the viewpoint of the financial authorities’ employees, who reported in detail their experiences and results achieved. Evaluating the suppression of Galician traders and their taxation as failures, these reports contradicted the press reports portraying the raids as overwhelming success. 4. Finally, the study examines the impact of the events on the local wine trade, highlighting the fluctuation of wine prices from the perspective of wine merchants. The raids had a devastating effect on wine production and trade, both prospering in the wartime boom. The soaring wine pricesof the wine exchanges in Sátoraljaújhely and other cities in the grey zone plummeted to a fraction of their former value. Beyond exploring these perspectives, the study also reveals the underlying purpose of this drastic intervention: the raids could have been connected to the imminent monopolization of Ukrainian wine export