Heaven for the nobles, Purgatory for the townspeople, Hell for the peasants, and Paradise for the Jews

An early, Latin-language printed version of the epigram, which satirically marked the 1605 wedding of Sigismund III Vasa and Constance of Austria.[1]
"Paradisus Iudaeorum" (Jewish Paradise) gallery in POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

"Heaven for the nobles, Purgatory for the townspeople, Hell for the peasants, and Paradise for the Jews" is an epigram or proverb about the society of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in Early modern Europe, describing the social and political system known as the Golden Liberty or Nobles' Commonwealth, generally seen as very favorable for the nobility (szlachta) and the Jewry, less so for the townspeople (mieszczaństwo or burghers), and much less so for the enserfed peasantry.[2]

History and versions

The author of the epigram is unknown, through it has been suggested it was created by a Catholic townsman, perhaps a priest, jealous of more privileged position of the nobility and the Jewry.[3][4] The epigram dates to 16th[5] or more likely 17th century;[4] by the latter time it has been quite popular.[2] Polish historian Stanisław Kot found the earliest printed reference to this saying in an anonymous Latin poem (though with a Polish title, Paskwiliusze na królewskim weselu podrzucone) of 1606,[4] satirically commemorating the wedding of Sigismund III Vasa and Constance of Austria the previous year.[1] The poem was later included in a work by Szymon Starowolski in 1636.[6] Some of its earliest records exist in several versions as part of brief Latin verses from throughout Europe in the writing of the Croat Juraj Križanić,[7] and later the Italian Giovan Battista Pacichelli[8] and the Slovak Daniel Krman.[9] It has been repeated in numerous works since; for example in the 19th century is it was used by Polish novelist Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, who referred to it as "an old proverb".[10] It was also used outside Poland; for example by the 20th century German novelist Alfred Döblin.[11]

The phrases are often in a varying order, with some elements omitted (ex. Kraszewski cites only the "Hell for the peasants, and Paradise for the Jews" part). The four-part version, including the reference to the purgatory for the townspeople, has been recorded in Polish paremiology collection of 1887 by Samuel Adalberg (""Polska niebem dla szlachty, czyśćcem dla mieszczan, piekłem dla chłopów, a rajem dla Żydów""), and it is also closest to the 1606 original ("Raj dla Żydów, piekło dla chłopów, czyściec dla mieszczan, panowanie dworzan"), which differs only in order, and in referring to the ruling class as "courtiers lordship" rather then "heaven for the nobles".[4] Less common is a five-part version version including a non-Biblical reference to Poland as a goldmine for foreigners, first recorded by Križanić in 1664, which has been attributed as a German proverb in 1861 and goes "Polen ist der Bauern Holle, der Juden Paradies, der Burger Fegefeuer, der Edelleute Himmel, under der Fremden Goldgrube".[12][13]

Paradise for the Jews

The epigram refers to the political power of the nobles in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the extent of rural poverty, and the relative safety and prosperity of the Jewish population.[14][5] The expression "Paradisus Iudaeorum" or "Paradise of the Jews" has in modern times come to signify the golden age of Jewish life, and is the most often cited part of the saying. It has also been often described as exaggerated, as the Jewish situation in early modern Poland, while comparatively privileged compared to many other classes in the Commonwealth, and to the Jewish position in many other contemporary countries, was hardly idyllic.[14][5][15][16][4] The concept was positively invoked in Henryk Nussbaum's Jewish assimilationist newspaper Rozwaga in 1918,[17] and this became a popular civic sentiment in postcommunist Poland. The phrase is used as the name of a gallery covering the golden age period in POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, though originally in the epigram this was more of a lampooning reference, and its inclusion and form were subject to a heated discussion.[3]

Early verses

  • anon, Paskwiliusze na królewskim weselu podrzucone, 1606

Królestwo polskie to:
Raj dla Żydów, piekło dla chłopów, czyściec dla mieszczan, panowanie dworzan,
pomieszanie ról, zbytek kobiet, włóczęga po jarmarkach, kopalnia złota dla przybłędów,
powolny ucisk kleru, oszukaństwo ewangelików, swoboda marnotrawców,
zwady heretyków, nierząd obyczajów, częstowanie pijaków,
ustawiczne wałęsanie się, natrętna gościna, prawa naruszanie, brak troski o przyszłość,
ujawnianie obrad, niedbałość o nabyte, praw zmienność – co widzi każdy naród

Polonia est:
paradisus Judaeorum,
infernus rusticorum,
purgatorium Plebeiorum,
Dominatus famulorum,
confusio personarum,
luxus foeminarum,
frequentia nundinarum,
aurifodinae advenarum,
Cleri lenta praessura,
Evangelicorum impostura,
libertas prodigorum,
prostitutio morum,
pincerna potatorum,
perpetua peregrinatio,
assidua hospiratio,
juris inquietatio,
consiliorum manifestatio,
aquisitorum injuriatio,
Legum variatio,
quam videt omnis natio.

Polonia est Nova Babylonia, Tsiganorum, Germanorum, Armenorum et Scotorum colonia;
Paradisus Hebraeorum, infernus rusticorum;
aurifodina advenarum, sedes gentium vagabimdarum;
comitiatorum assidua hospitatio, populi perpetua inquietatio, alienigenarum dominatio.
Quam despuit omnis natio.

  • Giovan Battista Pacichelli in 1685:[8]

Clarum regnum Polonorum
Est coelum nobiliorum,
Infernus rusticorum,
Paradisus Judaeorum,
Aurifodina advenarum,
Causa luxus foeminarum.
Multo quidem dives lanis,
Semper tamen egens pannis;
Et copiam in lino serit,
Sed externas diligit;
Caro emptis gloriatur,
Empta parvo aspernatur.

  • Daniel Krman in 1708-9:[9]

Clarum regnum Polonorum
est coelum nobiliorum,
paradisus Judaeorum,
purgatorium plebeiorum
et infernus rusticorum,
causa luxus foeminarum,
multis quidem dives lanis,
semper tamen egens pannis,
et copiam lini serit,
sed externam telam quaerit,
merces externas diligit,
domi paratas negligit,
caro emptis gloriatur,
empta parvo adspernatur.

References

  1. 1 2 Matyjaszek, Konrad (2018-03-05). "„Trzeba mówić po polsku". Z Antonym Polonskym rozmawia Konrad Matyjaszek ["You need to speak Polish": Antony Polonsky interviewed by Konrad Matyjaszek]". Studia Litteraria et Historica. 0 (6). doi:10.11649/slh.1706. ISSN 2299-7571.
  2. 1 2 Skinner, Quentin; Gelderen, Martin van (2013-03-07). Freedom and the Construction of Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 233. ISBN 9781107033061.
  3. 1 2 "A Virtual Visit to the Museum of the History of Polish Jews". Culture.pl. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Joanna Tokarska-Bakir (2004). Rzeczy mgliste: eseje i studia. Fundacja Pogranicze. p. 53. ISBN 978-83-86872-60-2. Mirror
  5. 1 2 3 Modras, Ronald (2000). The Catholic Church and Antisemitism: Poland, 1933-1939. Psychology Press. p. 17. ISBN 9789058231291.
  6. 1 2 Starowolski, Szymon (1636). Stacye zołnierskie: Abo W wyćiągániu ich z dobr kośćielnych potrzebne przestrogi. Dla Ich Mćiow Pánow Zołnierzow stárych, y inszych młodych, co się ná Zołnierską vsługę sposabiáć będą (in Polish).
  7. 1 2 Palmer, William (1876). The Patriarch and the Tsar ... Trübner and Company. p. 58.
  8. 1 2 Archivio storico lombardo (in Italian). Società storica lombarda. 1907. p. 409.
  9. 1 2 Monumenta hungariae historica: Irök (in Hungarian). Magyar Tudományos Akadémia. 1894. p. 473.
  10. ↑ Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (1875). Polska w czasie trzech rozbiorów 1772-1799: studia do historyi ducha i obyczaju. 1791-1799. J. K. Żupański. pp. 107–.
  11. ↑ Döblin, Alfred (1991). Journey to Poland. Tauris. p. 51. ISBN 9781850433637.
  12. ↑ Walsh, William Shepard (1892). Handy-book of Literary Curiosities. J.B. Lippincott Company. p. 790.
  13. ↑ Proverbs of All Nations, Compared, Explained. W. Kent & Company. 1861. pp. 224–.
  14. 1 2 Haumann, Heiko (2002-01-01). A History of East European Jews. Central European University Press. p. 30. ISBN 9789639241268.
  15. ↑ Byron L. Sherwin (24 April 1997). Sparks Amidst the Ashes: The Spiritual Legacy of Polish Jewry. Oxford University Press. pp. 56–. ISBN 978-0-19-535546-8.
  16. ↑ Moskalewicz, Marcin. Jewish Medicine and Healthcare in Central Eastern Europe. Springer. p. 20. ISBN 9783319924809.
  17. ↑ Janicka, Elżbieta (2016-12-28). "The Embassy of Poland in Poland: The Polin Myth in the Museum of the History of Polish Jews (MHPJ) as narrative pattern and model of minority-majority relations [Ambasada Polski w Polsce. Mit Polin w Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich jako wzór narracji i model relacji mniejszość-większość]". Studia Litteraria et Historica. 0 (5): 1–43. doi:10.11649/slh.2016.003. ISSN 2299-7571.
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