At the beginning of the 19th century, a group of several dozen German Jews established a Jewish community in Trzemeszno, called kehile in Yiddish and kehilla or kehillah in Hebrew (Hebrew: קהילה). Kahał is a Polish version of these words. Until 1833, it was headed by the elders. The decree of the 1st of June 1833, issued by the Prussian government introduced the obligation to establish the so-called board of directors “to assume full authority and responsibility”. The next decree of the 14th of January, 1834, defined each Jewish community in the province as a corporation, thanks to which Jews were recognized as citizens of the town”[1]Cullman P.S., Historia Żydów w Pile [History of the Jewish Community of Schneidemühl -1641 to the Holocaust], Stowarzyszenie Inicjatyw Społecznych EFFATA, Piła 2017, p. 76.. This is also the term used in two documents of Rabbi Heimann Wolffsohn for the designation of the Jewish community in Wieleń (German: Filehne ), where he came from (photo 1) and in Trzemeszno, which employed him during the years 1837-1841 and (photo 2).
Naturalization procedure
The first of the documents is the so-called naturalization patent. The aforementioned decree divided Jews in The Grand Duchy of Posen (German: Großherzogtum Posen; Polish: Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie) into naturalized, tolerated, and eligible for expulsion. “Naturalizing” the Jews was meant to equate them to the Christian population, although "many restrictions were still imposed on them. (...) they could not hold any state offices or managerial functions in the municipal council, and they could not be elected to local government assemblies (powiat in Polish), commune assemblies, and provincial assemblies. In addition, there were two more recommendations that Jews had to pay recruitment tax instead of military service and that they could not move to the old provinces without the approval of the minister of the interior. (...) Within the provinces, naturalized Jews could settle wherever they wanted, practice any profession, buy real estate without additional conditions and apply for municipal rights, thanks to which they could be elected not as mayors, but as councilors”[2]Kemlein S., Jews in the Grand Duchy of Poznań 1815-1848, Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, Poznań 2001, pp. 119-120.. To obtain this patent, the following requirements had to be met:
1) enjoy an impeccable opinion,
2) know the German language and undertake to use it in all public matters,
3) adopt a permanent surname,
4) have a permanent residence in the Grand Duchy of Posen from June 1, 1815, or - in the case of later settlement - obtain a permit from the state authorities,
5) have a sufficient source of income from scientific or artistic activity or land ownership cultivated in person and providing support to the family, or in the city - from craftsmanship or ownership of an indebted real estate with a value of at least 2,000 thalers or the capital of 5000 thalers.
The last condition could be replaced with "special merits to the state through patriotic deeds"[3]Ibid, pp. 165-166..
Two Jewish authors from the beginning of the 20th century — Herzberg and Heppner — in their book Aus Vergangenheit und Gegenwart der Juden und der jued. Gemeinden in den Posener Landen; nach gedruckten und ungedruckten Quellen provides information about 16 naturalized Jews living in Trzemeszno during the years 1834-1835 [4]Heppner A., Herzberg I., Aus Vergangenheit und Gegenwart der Juden und der jued. Gemeinden in den Posener Landen; nach gedruckten und ungedruckten Quellen, Koźmin - Bydgoszcz 1909, p. 991.. It should be noted that they constituted a narrow group in the then Jewish community, which in 1831 numbered 130 people[5]Dzieje Trzemeszna [The History of Trzemeszno], Cz. Łuczak [Ed.], Wydawnictwo WBP, Poznań 2002, p. 114.. Why so narrow? The reason was not the lack of interest of Jews in obtaining this patent, but the politics of the officials granting it. Sophie Kemlein, in her book Jews in the Grand Duchy of Poznań 1815-1848 , outlines the difficulties faced by applicants for a naturalization patent. In practice, the provincial authorities introduced additional criteria which they applied subjectively and unequally to all. In the end, the historian concludes that "the Jews were still left to the grace and disfavor of the officials in this matter, so important for their existence"[6]Kemlein, op. cit., p. 178.. As a result, only every fifth application for naturalization in the Poznań voivodeship was considered positive[7]Ibid, p. 167..
Rabbi Heimann Wolffsohn - a citizen of Trzemeszno.
26-year-old Heimann Hermann Wolffsohn, son of Adele and Wolf Wolffsohn from Wieleń, was one of the "lucky" men who received a naturalization patent in 1836. Only with it, he could apply for citizenship of the town of Trzemeszno, where, as I mentioned, he was employed by a Jewish corporation in 1837.
