"''Paradisus Judaeorum''" is a Latin phrase which became one of four members of a 19th-century Polish-language

proverb A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbia ...

that described the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

(1569–1795) as "heaven for the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

, purgatory for townspeople, hell for peasants, paradise for Jews." The proverb's earliest attestation is an anonymous 1606

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

pasquinade A pasquinade or pasquil is a form of satire, usually an anonymous brief lampoon in verse or prose, and can also be seen as a form of literary caricature. The genre became popular in early modern Europe, in the 16th century, though the term had ...

that begins, "''Regnum Polonorum est''" ("The Kingdom of Poland is").

Stanisław Kot Stanisław Kot (22 October 188526 December 1975) was a Polish historian and politician. A native of the Austrian partition of Poland, he was attracted to the cause of Polish independence early in life. As a professor of the Jagiellonian Univer ...

surmised that its author may have been a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cleric who criticized what he regarded as defects of the realm; the pasquinade excoriates virtually every group and class of society."Regnum Polonorum est: Paradisus Judaeorum, infernus rusticorum"
Wielkopolska Digital Library.. The phrase "''Paradisus Iudaeorum''" appears as the epigram to a

POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews ( pl, Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich) is a museum on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto. The Hebrew word ''Polin'' in the museum's English name means either "Poland" or "rest here" and relates to a ...

gallery that ends in a "Corridor of Fire symbolis ngthe Khmelnytsky Uprising" (1648-1657). Mikołaj Gliński notes that Jews consider the latter uprising to have been "the biggest national catastrophe since the destruction of Solomon's Temple." Some commentators have read the phrase, "''Paradisus Iudaeorum''", as an observation on the favorable situation of Jews in the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

and the subsequent

, a polity that was notable for giving Jews special privileges from the Statute of Kalisz of 1264, while Jews faced persecution and murder in Western Europe. Other commentators have read the phrase as antisemitic – as suggesting that the Jews of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were overprivileged. Most present-day usage relates to the first interpretation.

History of versions

While the saying has sometimes been attributed to the 16th-century Polish rabbi

Moses Isserles ). He is not to be confused with Meir Abulafia, known as "Ramah" ( he, רמ״ה, italic=no, links=no), nor with Menahem Azariah da Fano, known as "Rema MiPano" ( he, רמ״ע מפאנו, italic=no, links=no). Rabbi Moses Isserles ( he, משה ...

, the Polish literary historian

provided the earliest printed attestation of part of the saying — "Heaven for the nobles, purgatory for townspeople, hell for peasants, and paradise for Jews" — in an anonymous 1606

. text, one of two that are jointly known by the Polish title, ''Paskwiliusze na królewskim weselu podrzucone'' ("Pasquinades Planted at Royal Wedding Celebration"), in reference to the wedding of

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

and

Constance of Austria Constance of Austria (german: Konstanza; pl, Konstancja; 24 December 1588 – 10 July 1631) was Queen of Poland as the second wife of King Sigismund III Vasa and the mother of King John II Casimir. Biography Constance was a daughter of Charles ...

that had taken place on 11 December 1605.: "W rękopisie Czartoryskich ... dano im wspólny tytuł: 'Pasquilliusze na królewskim weselu podrzucone'. Jest to wiadomość, której mie było by powodu poddawać w wątpliwość. Wszak ślub Zygmunta III z Konstancją Austriaczką odbył się 11 grudnia 1605, zatem rzecz zupełnie naturalna, że utwór plątający się wśród wierszy rokoszowych z 1606 rozrzucany był właśnie podczas źle widzianego w społeczeństwie wesela." ("In the

Czartoryski The House of Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; lt, Čartoriskiai) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian- Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia. The family, which derived their kin from the Gediminids dyna ...

s' manuscript, they were given a joint title: ''Pasquilliusze na królewskim weselu podrzucone'' Pasquinades Planted at Royal Wedding Celebration" There is no reason to doubt the information. The wedding of Zygmunt III and

took place on 11 December 1605, and so it is quite natural that a piece of writing, mixed in with

rokosz A rokosz () originally was a gathering of all the Polish ''szlachta'' (nobility), not merely of deputies, for a ''sejm''. The term was introduced to the Polish language from Hungary, where analogous gatherings took place at a field called Rákos ...

verses of 1606 hen_the_Zebrzydowski_rebellion_against_the_King_began.html" ;"title="Zebrzydowski_rebellion.html" ;"title="hen the hen_the_Zebrzydowski_rebellion_against_the_King_began">Zebrzydowski_rebellion.html"_;"title="hen_the_Zebrzydowski_rebellion">hen_the_Zebrzydowski_rebellion_against_the_King_beganwas_scattered_about_during_a_wedding_celebration_that_was_ill-viewed_in_society.") Of_the_two_texts_attributed_to_the_same_anonymous_author,_the_part_that_became_the_proverb_ A_proverb_(from__la,_proverbium)_is_a_simple_and_insightful,_traditional_saying_that_expresses_a_perceived_truth_based_on_common_sense_or_experience._Proverbs_are_often_metaphorical_and_use__formulaic_language._A_proverbial_phrase_or_a_proverbia_...

Pasquinade

Mirror
/ref> Konrad Matyjaszek describes it as "expressing anti-gentry and anti-Jewish sentiments". According to

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (born September 30, 1942, in Toronto, Ontario) is a scholar of Performance and Jewish Studies and a museum professional. Professor Emerita of Performance Studies at New York University, she is best known for her int ...

, it was political satire,

"a
pasquinade A pasquinade or pasquil is a form of satire, usually an anonymous brief lampoon in verse or prose, and can also be seen as a form of literary caricature. The genre became popular in early modern Europe, in the 16th century, though the term had ...
critical of everything in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—foreigners,
immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...
, '
heretics Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
,'
peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
, burghers, and
servants A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
, and also Jews."

Kot writes that other versions in the 17th and 18th centuries criticized the clergy, Gypsies, Italians, Germans, Armenians, and Scots: groups were added or removed from the list, depending on the authors' allegiances. Krzyżanowski sees the 1606 text as a satire on all of Polish society. Some 17th- and 18th-century Polish authors, themselves either nobles or clients of the nobility, saw it as an attack on the nobility's

Golden Freedoms Golden Liberty ( la, Aurea Libertas; pl, Złota Wolność, lt, Auksinė laisvė), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( pl, Rzeczpospolita Szlachecka or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a pol ...

and ascribed it to a foreign author, refusing to accept that a scathing criticism of Polish society could come from a Polish author. Kot writes that the pasquinades are some of the most pointed examples of self-criticism originating in Polish society and that the nobility's refusal to accept that such criticism could come from within that society reflects sadly on the deterioration of Polish discourse in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Proverb

Over time, the 1606 pasquinade lapsed into obscurity, reduced to the popular proverb, that described the historical

(1569–1795) as "heaven for the

, purgatory for townspeople, hell for peasants, paradise for Jews.".. The proverb contrasts the disparate situations of four social classes in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The privileged nobility ('' szlachta'') is at the top ("heaven for the nobility"), and the impoverished, usually enserfed peasantry are at the bottom ("hell for peasants"). The other two commonly named classes are the townspeople (or burghers) and the Jews. By the 16th century, the position of townspeople in the Commonwealth had been in decline (hence, "purgatory for townspeople"). The situation of the Commonwealth's Jews, while similar to that of the townspeople, was fairly secure and prosperous, particularly compared to the situation of Jews in most other European countries. Due to its criticism of the nobility, the proverb was most popular among townspeople; much less so among the nobility, whose writers, if they referred to it, used it mainly in the context of Polish Jewry. The proverb has been described as still (as of 2004) very popular in Poland, and as often influencing people's views about the situation of the social classes, particularly the Jews, in the Commonwealth. In various versions of the proverb, phrases appear in varying order and sometimes do not appear at all; there are also some minor changes in wording. Križanić, for example, writes "paradisus Hebraeorum" ("paradise for

Hebrews The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still ...

") rather than "paradise for Jews". A five-part proverb variant appears in a treatise, ''Palatinum Reginae Liberatis'' (c. 1670), by the Polish Jesuit , who omits mention of the townspeople, instead adding "purgatory for royalty" and "

limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...

for clergy". Another five-part 1861 German variant ("''Polen ist der Bauern Hölle, der Juden Paradies, der Burger Fegefeuer, der Edelleute Himmel, und der Fremden Goldgrube''" – "Poland is hell for peasants, paradise for Jews, purgatory for townspeople, heaven for the nobility, and goldmine for foreigners") includes the 1606 pasquinade's "goldmine for foreigners", which did not make it into the final modern proverb that lists the nobility, townspeople, peasants, and Jews. Samuel Adalberg's 1887

paremiology Paremiology () is the collection and study of paroemias (proverbs). It is a subfield of both philology and linguistics. History Paremiology can be dated back as far as Aristotle. Paremiography, on the other hand, is the collection of proverbs. ...

records a four-part version ("Polska niebem dla szlachty, czyśćcem dla mieszczan, piekłem dla chłopów, a rajem dla Żydów" – "Poland is heaven for the nobility, purgatory for townspeople, hell for peasants, and paradise for Jews") that is closest to the 1606 original, which latter differs only in the order of the phrases and in not including "heaven for the nobility".

Paradisus Judaeorum

The origin of the phrase "''paradisus Judaeorum''" ("paradise of the Jews") has been described as antisemitic, and the 1606 pasquinade's author as having viewed Poland as being run by overprivileged Jews. In the centuries since, the phrase has lost its negative connotations and has been used to refer to the golden age of Jewish life in Poland. For example,

John Klier John Doyle Klier (13 December 1944 – 23 September 2007) was a British-American historian of Russian Jewry and a pivotal figure in academic Jewish studies and East European history in the UK and beyond. At the end of his career and life, Klier wa ...

titled a chapter in his book about Eastern European Jewish history "Poland–Lithuania: 'Paradise for Jews, and Gershon Hundert writes:

"The Polish Jewish community was vibrant, creative, proud and self-confident .. Their neighbours knew this as well, referring to Poland as Paradisus Judaeorum .. The full expression went: 'Poland is heaven for the nobility, hell for the peasants and paradise for Jews'."

The process of transformation of this phrase from antisemitic to philosemitic has been described by Piotr Konieczny as an example of linguistic reclamation. The comparison of Jewish and noble classes has generally been described as exaggerated (Hundert himself writes that it was

hyperbole Hyperbole (; adj. hyperbolic ) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and ...

), 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. Norman Davies says Jews "were widely denounced as the chosen instrument of 'the Polish lords'" in Ukraine.

Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw Main exhibition Paradisus Iudaeorum 01

In the

that opened in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 2013, a gallery covering the "Golden Age of Polish Jewry" was named, "''Paradisus Iudaeorum''". The gallery's name became a subject of discussion when in 2016 Joanna Tokarska-Bakir argued that its use for the gallery was disrespectful. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Program Director of the Core Exhibition of the POLIN Museum, says that the intention is to engage the reader in a complex debate going beyond a binary black-and-white oversimplification. In 2017 Kamil Kijek wrote that, out of context, the phrase can indeed be confusing, but within a broader context it is representative of a much more complex, nuanced relationship between Jews and non-Jewish Poles.

History of versions

Pasquinade

Proverb

Paradisus Judaeorum

Latin texts

Notes

References

Further reading