The Jewish Oil Magnates of Galicia

Part One: The Jewish Oil Magnates: A History, 1853-1945; Part Two: The Jewish Oil Magnates, A Novel by Julien Hirszhaut, Translated by Miriam Beckerman

Julien Hirszhaut, Valerie Schatzker, Valerie Schatzker, Miriam Beckerman

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9780773545540
• eBook ISBN:
  9780773584020
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Jewish History
• Index: History

The near-annihilation of Europe’s Jews in the Second World War destroyed not only much of their history, but also knowledge of the contributions they made to the regions in which they lived. In The Jewish Oil Magnates of Galicia, Valerie Schatzker rescues the almost-forgotten story of the Jews who became the “wildcatters” and oil barons in one of the world's first petroleum industries.

Combining a history of Galicia's petroleum industry with an annotated English translation of Julien Hirszhaut’s Yiddish novel Di yiddishe naftmagnatn (The Jewish Oil Magnates), Schatzker traces the near-century-long boom and bust cycle that took place in the Austro-Hungarian province - from the perilous, back-breaking work of digging for oil by hand, to the introduction of the Canadian drill that increased production. Galician Jews worked in the industry from its beginning to its final days under German occupation. They were pioneers in exploration, refining, and marketing, and in the first part of the twentieth century were prominent among its technical, scientific, and managerial leaders. After the First World War, as borders shifted and minorities clashed, oil resources declined. During the Second World War, Nazi occupiers, using Jewish slave labourers, squeezed out the last barrels for their war effort.

Schatzker’s study and Hirszhaut’s novel illuminate and inform each other: her monograph provides the historical context for the novel and his novel provides colour and detail, personalizing the history.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Copyright
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Illustrations follow page
• The Jewish Oil Magnates - A History 1853-1945
• 1 - Rock Oil and Earth Wax
• 2 - Benighted Galicia
• 3 - A Clean, Bright Flame – the Discovery of Naphtha
• 4 - Galician California
• 5 - Galician Hell
• 6 - Digging for Wax – Drilling for Oil
• 7 - Glut
• 8 - Political Upheaval
• 9 - The End of the Empire
• 10 - Brave New Polish Republic
• 11 - The Oil Bust and the Annihilation of the Jews
• The Jewish Oil Magnates - A Novel by Julien Hirszhaut
• CHAPTER I. Introduction: The Discovery of Liquid Gold
• CHAPTER II. The Sons of the Innkeeper in Rybnik
• CHAPTER III. The Rybnik Estate
• CHAPTER IV. The Road to Success
• CHAPTER V. Changes
• CHAPTER VI. War Erupts
• CHAPTER VII. Khatilya’s World
• CHAPTER VIII. The First Crisis in Borysław’s Wax Industry
• CHAPTER IX. Josef Hersch Sternbach’s Ordeal
• CHAPTER X. Evil Winds
• CHAPTER XI. In the Name of the Holy Magidim
• CHAPTER XII. Moishe Gartenberg’s First Trip to Vienna
• CHAPTER XIII. Rivke Rochel Sells Bagels
• CHAPTER XIV. How to Get a Title
• CHAPTER XV. The Opening of the Old Folks’ Home
• CHAPTER XVI. The Jewish Mayor
• CHAPTER XVII. The General Says Kaddish
• CHAPTER XVIII. The Emperor’s Visit
• CHAPTER XIX. A Jewish Revolution
• CHAPTER XX. Khatilya’s Vow
• CHAPTER XXI. The End of an Era
• CHAPTER XXII. The New Generation
• CHAPTER XXIII. A Unique Stock Market
• CHAPTER XXIV. The World Is on Fire
• CHAPTER XXV. Bloody Elections
• CHAPTER XXVI. The “King” Is Dead
• Bibliography
• Index