A contribution to the history of prisons system
in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
©Andrzej
Philips
Various
views are often presented on the Internet. For most people, their most
important value is the views or genre scenes they contain. Personally, what I
value most are postcards from circulation, written by someone to someone
else... Then they are much richer, because they contain not only a picture, a
view, but also have souls - the souls of the old senders and recipients of
these postcards.
An
example would be a card showing men playing cards (I wonder what game it is?)
and enjoying a beer. Seemingly, there's nothing interesting here. However, the
other side is much more interesting. From the postmark we learn that the card
was sent from Műrau (Mirov) in 1906 to the director of the penitentiary in
Wiśnicz[1],
Mr. Stanisław Szczęsnowicz. The sender writes: Dear Szczęsnowicz !
Congratulations ! Best regards, Lachmayer.
Who is this Mr. Szczęsnowicz, who is Mr. Lachmayer ? Congratulations on what occasion? You can find all
this out.
In Shematisms[2] from
1908 there is information:
C. k. Penitentiary for men in Lviv. In this plant in 1785, after the convent of the Sisters of St. Brigid's prison, which currently houses approximately 550 imprisoned males, serving sentences of more than one year. This institution is supervised by the Imperial and Royal State Prosecutor's Office in Lviv, while the Lviv Imperial and Royal State Prosecutor functions as a house commissioner.
Com. House. Barth Mieczysław, Procurator. Countries,
Director Szczęsnowicz Stanisław.
Management Grosse Stanisław.
Controller Fränzel Juliusz.
Adj . Kreutz Francis
— Mertha Adolf.
In-house doctor Berezowski Kazim ., Ph.D. med.
In-house doctor assistant Haisig Karol, dr. med.
priest of the Roman Catholic conf. priest Brukwicki Piotr, from the congregation. XX. Missionaries of St. Vincent de Paul.
priest of the Greek Catholic conf., post vacant.
The clergy of the Mosaic faith is performed by Guttmann Wolf Samuel, Ph.D. phil., rabbi.
Chief Garczyński Władysław.
— Szyporz Józef
Prison guard inspector Myhal Jędrzej.
The home guard consists of 10 senior wardens and 87 prison wardens.
Schematism 1908 - Penitentiary in Lviv
The above list
shows that in 1908 Stanisław Szczęsnowicz was the director of the penitentiary
in Lviv, but the card was sent to him as the director of the penitentiary in
Wiśnicz.
However,
Szematizm for 1908 shows that at that time Emil Smitka was the director of the
penitentiary in Wiśnicz.
Shematism 1908 - Penitentiary in Wiśnicz
Penitentiary in Wiśnicz – 1907
Yes, but the card
was sent in 1906, sent from Műrau ( Mirov ).
Reading about
Mirov we learn:
Mírov ( German Mürau ) is a commune in Šumperk County , Olomouc
Region , Czech Republic . According to data from January 1, 2012, it had 401
inhabitants. […]. In the
1860s, the castle was converted into a prison. The castle in Mírov to this day
serves as a prison for the most dangerous criminals , supposedly the
best-guarded in the Czech Republic[3]. An
extensive history of the Mirov prison can be found in the Czech version of
Wikipedia[4].
Therefore,
it is no coincidence that someone from Mirov sent a card of congratulations to
the director of the prison in Wiśnicz. The penitentiary in Wiśnicz was
established in 1783, when Emperor Joseph II,
by decree, closed down the Discalced Carmelite monastery, turning the monastery
complex into a criminal court and a heavy prison where mainly ordinary
criminals and Tatra bandits served their sentences. In later years, political
prisoners - participants of national liberation organizations - were also sent
to prison. The unit served the Criminal Court of the Central Committee, then
the Penitentiary, and it has remained so to this day[5].
Lachmayer sent a
congratulatory card. By browsing the list of offices "Hof - und Staats-Handbuch der
Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie: für das Jahr 1908” find that the
administrator of the prison in Mirov was Adolf Lachmayer ...
Műrau Penitentiary
management list[6]
And
so the mystery was solved: Mr. Lachmayer, the director of the prison in Mirov,
congratulates Stanisław Szczęsnowicz on his promotion to the director of the
prison in Lviv...
The image on the card is also understandable - men celebrating their colleague's promotion 😊.
Stanisław Szczęsnowicz, in 1934, conducted a column titled "Judicial Errors" in the magazine "Tajny Detektyw".
Fragment of the article "Judicial errors", "Tajny Detektyw" no. 5/1934
He passed away in Krakow in 1942.
Obituary informing about the death of Stanisław Szczęsnowicz
One
inconspicuous card, but so much information. Thanks to it, we learned about the
history of prisons in the times of Austria -Hungary.
[1] Nowy Wiśnicz is a small town in Bochnia
County, Lesser Poland (Cracow) Voivodeship, Poland
[2] The Galician shematisms (from German Schematismus, Polish: ) contained lists
of the names of officials employed in individual institutions of the Imperial
Palace. administration, both autonomous and state. Shematisms also provide
lists of teachers, doctors, engineers, lawyers and other lawyers working in
Galicia. More importantly, they also contain a number of other information,
e.g. lists of landowners, data on clerical authorities of all denominations,
composition of authorities and lists of members of social, economic, charitable
and cultural organizations, as well as lists of foundations. [Szematyzm Królestwa Galicji i Lodomerii z Wielkim
Księstwem Krakowskim - Shematism of the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria with the Grand Duchy of Krakow, pl.wikipedia ]
[4] Věznice Mírov [ cs.wikipedia ]
[5] Prison in Nowy Wiśnicz [
pl.wikipedia ]
[6] Hof - und Staats-Handbuch
der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie: für das Jahr 1908
.jpg)
