Emancipation Ensured by Law. The Legal Status of Jews under the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

Jewish History and Culture of East-Central Europe summer school hosted a lecture by Dr. Rasevych.

The lecture dealt with stages of Jewish emancipation in Europe from the period of "enlightened absolutism" until the December Constitution of 1867 went into effect. It discussed the gradual removal of restrictive regulations that limited the Jewish population socially, economically, and religiously, stressing the Austrian phenomenon. It explored the Habsburg monarchy’s policy to gradually introduced legislation to equalize the rights of Jews, and how this policy was put into effect in various corners of the empire. Halychyna was offered as an example of a multicultural society where equal rights were insured by law.