By Staff
Title: Steiger Affair, reflected in Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian periodicals, 1924, 1925, 1924-1928
Predominant Dates:1924 -- 1925
ID: RG-105/RG-105
Primary Creator: Natan Loewenstein, Jewish jurist, lawyer, deputy to the Constituent Sejm in 1919 -1921 (1859 -- 1929)
Other Creators: Chwila (the Moment), editorial board and contributors (1919 -- 1939), Dilo, editorial board and contributors (1914 -- 1918), Nasz Przeglad (Our Review), editorial board and contributors (1923 -- 1939), Novyi Chas (The New Time), Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance (1925 -- 1939), Nowy Dziennik, Jewish daily in Polish language, editorial board and contributors (1918 --1939), Pawel Korzec, Polish historian (1919 -- 2012)
Extent: 1.0 Boxes
Subjects: Assassination attempt on the life of Stanislaw Wojcechowski, President of Poland, September 1924, Benzion Lichtenstein, witness in the Steiger Trial, court session October - December 1925, Chwila, Cafe de la Paix, Lwow (Lviv) in regard to observation point, testimonies of witnesses, 1924m 1925, Criminal investigation is based on two principal witnesses, Maria Paternal and Wiktoria Loedl, 1924, Cross-examination of witnesses, prosecution and defense, the Steiger Trial, court in session, Dr. Grek, attorney at law, defense lawyer in Steiger Trial, 1924, 1925, Dr. Landau, attorney at law, defense lawyer in Steiger trial, 1924, 1925, Dr. Ringel, attorney at law, defense lawyer in Steiger Trial, 1924, 1925, Chwila, 1924, 1925, Failed assassination attempt on President of Poland, Wojcechowski in Lwow (Lviv), 5 September 1924, Formal legal premises for summary tribunal in Eastern Galicia, 1920s, Interpellation in Prussian Parliament (Germany) in regard to the Steiger Affair, Chwila October 1925, Investigation in the Steiger case is renewed, September 1924 -- October 1925, Janina Onyszkiewicz, witness in the Steiger Trial, court in session, October - December 1925, Jewish political and public figures intervention on behalf of Stanislaw Steiger, 1924 -- 1925, Jewish political spectrum in interwar Eastern Galicia, Only one judge of the Steiger trial summary tribunal voted against his guilt, September 1924, Polish political spectrum, 1918 --1939, Pre-trial police investigation on Stanislaw Steiger, Lwow (Lviv) criminal police, September 1924, Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial, Lwow (Lviv), 1924 -- 1925, by Dilo, Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial by Chwila, 1924 -- 1925, Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial by Ilustrowany Kuryer Condzienny, Cracow, 1924 - 1925, Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial by Nasz Przeglad, 1924 -- 1925, Warsaw, Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial by Novyi Chas, 1924 -- 1925, Lviv (Lwow), Reflections and discourse of the Steiger Trial, 1924 -- 1925 by Slowo Polskie, Lwow (Lviv), Reflections and discourse of the Steiger Trial in Nowy Dziennik, Cracow, 1924 -- 1925, Stanislaw (Szlomo) Steiger, biography, Stanislaw Wojcechowski, Polish politician, Minister of Interior, 1919-1920, President, 1922 --1926, Stanislaw Wojcechowski, President of Poland, 1922 -- 1926, Stanislaw Wojcechowski, President of Poland, visit to Lwow (Lviv), beginning of September 1924, Statement of the Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO) sent to Jewish daily Chwila, September 8 1924, Statements and narratives of Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO) in regard to Steiger Trial, 1924, Steiger Affair, Lviv, 1924 -- 1925, Steiger Affair and Trial, 1924 -- 1925, Steiger is regarded a warranted suspect in a failed assassination of President Wojcechowski, 1924, Steiger trial, court in session, October -- December 1925, testimonies of witnesses, Chwila, 1925, Steiger Trial, examination of witnesses, prosecution, court in session, 1924, 1925, Steiger Trial, examination of witnesses by defense, court in session, 1924, 1925, Steiger Trial, Police examination with excessive force, Lwow (Lviv) criminal police, 1924, Steiger Trial, police investigation, Commissar Kajdan exercising of excessive force, 1924, Steiger Trial, police investigation, Inspector Lukomski, exercising of excessive force, 1924, Steiger Trial, Summary Tribunal refers the case to the court of jury, September 15 -17, 1924, Summary tribunal in the Steiger case consisted of counselor (judges) Dukiet, Huth, Mayer and Socha, Summary Tribunal in the Steiger Trial, Lwow (Lviv), September 15, 1924, Teofil Olshanskii, Ukrainian militant, implementer of the failed attempt on President Wojcechowski, Teofil Olshanskij, member of the Ukrainian Military Organization, a militant, The course of assassination attempt on President Stanislaw Wojcochowski, September 5, 1924, Lwow, Ukrainian political spectrum in Eastern Galicia, 1918 -- 1939, Verdicts of summary tribunal are to be passed unanimously, otherwise case goes to regular proceeding, Witnesses in the Steiger Trial, Lwow (Lviv), 1924 -- 1925, Witnesses in the Steiger trial, Z. Ecktein, bystander, sessions on 1925, Wojcech Bill, policeman, witness in the Steiger Trial, court in sesssion October - December 1925
This Collection contains materials, largely in the form of reportages and articles from the newspapers published in 1924, 1925 and later in regard to the Steiger Trial. There are also personal accounts and interviews. The Stanislaw Steiger Trial in Lviv (Lwow), commonly referred as a Steiger Affair was boradly reflected by Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian periodicals as well as by foereing press.
Assassination attempt on the life of Poish President Stanislaw Wojcechowski took place on September 5, 1924, when President visited the city for the opening ofTargi Wschodni (Eastern Trade Fair). It was a bomb thrown at his open carriage. President had not been hurt and nombody sustained any personal injuiries. The bomb did not go off as deivised. It was accidently crashed by a cortege officers' horse.
Stanislaw Steiger who happened to be among spectators behaived nevrously and began to run into safety. He was arrested by the police becaue several bystanders pointed on his suspicious behavior. Some even testified that they saw hem throwing out a package that could have been a bomb.
Stanislaw Steiger, by no means was a culprit, altoough the summary tribunal commenced. This tribunal did not reach a unanimous decision and the case had been passed for further investigation and for trial by juries.
Here the "Steigeriada" how it was often named had began. It lasted until the end of 1925.
The process or the Steiger Trial unfolds via reportages and reports continuously published in Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian periodicals. The court of Juries is presented by an array of conspiracy versions, from a Communist to Zionist to Ukrainian nationalists, not excluding just an anti-Polish plot, perhaps not related to a given ethnonational group. Often it seems that investigation is lost in supporting controversial version, only based on dubious testimonies of a few unreliable witnesses. The criminal police in Lviv (Lwow) often demonstrates inability to filter improbable evidences and to concentrate on conceivable evidence-supported discourse related to the conspiracy masterminded by the Ukrainian Military Organization. It took intervention of the Warsaw political police and its Lviv counterpart to adhere to the Ukrainian-related course of investigation. With a publication in Ukrainian press together with actual confession of Teofil Olshanskii, a militant from the UVO, who escaped to Germany, the court reluctantly accepted a Ukrainian, not Jewish and not a Communist trace in this case. Even with obvious evidences presented by the Ukrainian members of the UVO and confession of the actual culprit, the Steiger defense is of utmost significance. It takes a Jewish lawyer, Natan Lowenstein whose reputation of Polish patriot and unbiased jurist is of no doubts to persuade the Jury (not all members) of Steiger's innocence.
From a broader perspective it was not only a Steiger trial, it was a trial of Polish - Jewish and Ukrainian - Jewish mutual perception presented as ethno-political narrative and standing as a common national minorities discourse of interwar Eastern Galicia.
On September 5, 1924, Polish President Stanisław Wojcechowski visited Lviv for the opening of the Targi Wschodnie (regional Eastern Trade Fair). When the presidential cortege was passing through the intersection of Legionów and Kopernika streets, a bomb was thrown at his open carriage. Having rebounded from the carriage, it fell down on the ground. At that same moment, it was crashed by the horse of a cavalry officer. It had not detonated under the horse hoofs, nobody was hurt.
The Police made arrest right at the site. They arrested Stanisław Steiger, a Jew, who happened to be at the spot. Two witnesses immediately testified against him. The authorities held him responsible, relying solely on their testimonies. They stated: he first raised his arm, and then started running away. After a short police investigation, Steiger was put before the summary tribunal. The had begun on September 15, 1924, ten days after the assassination attempt. The Tribunal consisted of counselor (judges) Dukiet, Huth, Mayer, and Socha. In the case of death sentence, their unanimous decision was required. Steiger’s defense held Dr. Grek and Dr. Bromberg.
Stanislaw (Szlomo) Steiger was born on 14 December 1900 in Lviv. His family fled Galicia for Vienna at the beginning of the First World War. At the end of the war he was drafted in an Austrian army non-combat unit. Upon return to Lviv, Steiger entered the Jan Kazimierz University to study law. He also had a job at the commercial firm S.A. Koloniale.[i] Being sympathetic to Zionism, he participated in social activities of the local [i]Makabea, Karen Kayemet, and Keren Hayesod Funds.[ii] Having no real affiliation with the Communist movement, Steiger was familiar with its theoretical conceptions.
Communist movement, Steiger was familiar with its theoretical conceptions.
In 1924, summary courts still existed in Poland, especially in eastern Galicia—the home to Ukrainian dissent. By and large the summary courts dealt with political and criminal cases, which fall under the category of capital punishment. The Austrian law from the 23rd of May 1873 on such criminal proceedings had been still in force, providing legitimacy for summary trials, although Polish Legislature was debating its abolition. Summary proceedings constituted a curtailed version of the normal court proceeding. Resting on the principles of openness, retaining judicial indictment and the right on defense, the summary courts had no jury and there was no right to appeal the sentence.
The criminal police built its investigation on the testimonies of two primary witnesses—Maria Pasternak and Wiktoria Loedl. The investigators completely disregarded a good number of other key witnesses who testified differently. All the testimonies, which did not support the police version, had not been taken into account or deliberately misinterpreted. The prosecutor, adherent to the police version, charged Steiger with the planned assassination attempt on the President, also linking him to a communist conspiracy. Defense lawyers Grek and Bromberg had been constantly drawing court’s attention to the drastically controversial circumstances of the case. They emphasized the blatant contradictions in the testimonies, pointing out onto the principal disagreement between the key witnesses.
On 8 September 1924, three days after the attempt, [i]Ukrains’ka Viiskova Organizatsija or UVO (Ukrainian Military Organization), an underground paramilitary structure committed to the cause of Ukrainian independence issued a statement, claiming responsibility for the attempt on Wojcechowski’s life. The statement delivered to Lviv Jewish daily Chwila (A Moment) revealed the following:
Dear Mr. Editor, assassination attempt, executed around 3 P.M on the 5th of September in Lviv at Kopernika street, has been organized within a row of other actions by the Ukrainian Military Organization and designed by its members, Ukrainians. Having thrown the bomb, the UVO’s member realized its ineffectiveness. He intended to resolve the task with a revolver, remaining for a while at the place. Although not being able to accomplish that, he involuntarily saved himself. Whereas he was remaining on the site, the other, not connected to the action, began to flee. At that moment absolutely innocent Steiger was arrested by the Polish police … We regret that the UVO’s action unintentionally brought serious harm to a completely innocent person of Jewish nationality and caused the new attacks on the Zionist party and the Jewish community.[ii]
[i] Ibid., 33.
Dr. Leon Reich, head of the Eastern Galicia Zionist Organization and Member of Parliament together with Henryk Hescheles, editor in chief of Chwila, immediately intervened, notifying all relevant authorities about the obvious clarification in the Steiger case, although to no avail. The court dismissed these new evidences on the ground of the prosecution’s objection to its authenticity. The summary court was anything, but not interested in any circumstances that could shed light on the case and provide for an alternative interpretation. The court’s primary goal was to determine whether or not Stanisław Steiger had to be indicted.
On behalf of Polish Republic, the District Criminal Court in Lviv, acting as Summary Court, after having concluded two days of deliberation, in the view of not reached unanimity, has referred the case to the regular proceeding. The Court also rules to hold Steiger incarcerated in the pre-trial jail. [i]
Three judges admitted Steiger guilty, voting for conviction, while the only one judge voted against it, thus saving his life. If not him, the only remaining hope for life would be a presidential pardon. The new phase of the Steiger Affair began. A day earlier, Steiger’s father, his fiancée Józefa, and his friend Fichtman were released from incarceration. Stanisław Steiger would spend another 15 months in jail until after the new ten-weeks trial, on the 17th of December 1925, the jury delivered the final verdict.
The new investigation coincided with a number of crucial for Jewish society political developments. Firstly, the Polish-Jewish relations on the governmental level had reached a culminating point: whether or not Jewish political representation would carry on an anti-Polish policy of the Bloc of National Minorities or it will be prone to conform with the Polish Government and make itself independent from the Bloc of National Minorities. After tormenting for the Jews negotiations the Jewish Parliamentary Representation, headed by Dr. Leon Reich, signed the Agreement with the Polish in July 1925 (widely known as Ugoda).
[i] Chwila (Lviv), September 18, 1924, 1.
<b style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">Natan Loewenstein, Jewish public and political figure, supporter of acculturation and emancipation of Jews with Polish culture and Polish statehood. </b>
<b style="color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.4px;">He played a prominent role in the defense of falsely accused Stanislaw Steiger. In 1926, he published a monograph About the Steiger Case, a reflection on his defense discourse and the win of the case in October -December 1925. </b>
Assassination attempt on the life of Stanislaw Wojcechowski, President of Poland, September 1924
Benzion Lichtenstein, witness in the Steiger Trial, court session October - December 1925, Chwila
Cafe de la Paix, Lwow (Lviv) in regard to observation point, testimonies of witnesses, 1924m 1925
Criminal investigation is based on two principal witnesses, Maria Paternal and Wiktoria Loedl, 1924
Cross-examination of witnesses, prosecution and defense, the Steiger Trial, court in session
Dr. Grek, attorney at law, defense lawyer in Steiger Trial, 1924, 1925
Dr. Landau, attorney at law, defense lawyer in Steiger trial, 1924, 1925
Dr. Ringel, attorney at law, defense lawyer in Steiger Trial, 1924, 1925, Chwila, 1924, 1925
Failed assassination attempt on President of Poland, Wojcechowski in Lwow (Lviv), 5 September 1924
Formal legal premises for summary tribunal in Eastern Galicia, 1920s
Interpellation in Prussian Parliament (Germany) in regard to the Steiger Affair, Chwila October 1925
Investigation in the Steiger case is renewed, September 1924 -- October 1925
Janina Onyszkiewicz, witness in the Steiger Trial, court in session, October - December 1925
Jewish political and public figures intervention on behalf of Stanislaw Steiger, 1924 -- 1925
Jewish political spectrum in interwar Eastern Galicia
Only one judge of the Steiger trial summary tribunal voted against his guilt, September 1924
Polish political spectrum, 1918 --1939
Pre-trial police investigation on Stanislaw Steiger, Lwow (Lviv) criminal police, September 1924
Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial, Lwow (Lviv), 1924 -- 1925, by Dilo
Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial by Chwila, 1924 -- 1925
Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial by Ilustrowany Kuryer Condzienny, Cracow, 1924 - 1925
Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial by Nasz Przeglad, 1924 -- 1925, Warsaw
Reflections and discourse of Steiger Trial by Novyi Chas, 1924 -- 1925, Lviv (Lwow)
Reflections and discourse of the Steiger Trial, 1924 -- 1925 by Slowo Polskie, Lwow (Lviv)
Reflections and discourse of the Steiger Trial in Nowy Dziennik, Cracow, 1924 -- 1925
Stanislaw (Szlomo) Steiger, biography
Stanislaw Wojcechowski, Polish politician, Minister of Interior, 1919-1920, President, 1922 --1926
Stanislaw Wojcechowski, President of Poland, 1922 -- 1926
Stanislaw Wojcechowski, President of Poland, visit to Lwow (Lviv), beginning of September 1924
Statement of the Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO) sent to Jewish daily Chwila, September 8 1924
Statements and narratives of Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO) in regard to Steiger Trial, 1924
Steiger Affair, Lviv, 1924 -- 1925
Steiger Affair and Trial, 1924 -- 1925
Steiger is regarded a warranted suspect in a failed assassination of President Wojcechowski, 1924
Steiger trial, court in session, October -- December 1925, testimonies of witnesses, Chwila, 1925
Steiger Trial, examination of witnesses, prosecution, court in session, 1924, 1925
Steiger Trial, examination of witnesses by defense, court in session, 1924, 1925
Steiger Trial, Police examination with excessive force, Lwow (Lviv) criminal police, 1924
Steiger Trial, police investigation, Commissar Kajdan exercising of excessive force, 1924
Steiger Trial, police investigation, Inspector Lukomski, exercising of excessive force, 1924
Steiger Trial, Summary Tribunal refers the case to the court of jury, September 15 -17, 1924
Summary tribunal in the Steiger case consisted of counselor (judges) Dukiet, Huth, Mayer and Socha
Summary Tribunal in the Steiger Trial, Lwow (Lviv), September 15, 1924
Teofil Olshanskii, Ukrainian militant, implementer of the failed attempt on President Wojcechowski
Teofil Olshanskij, member of the Ukrainian Military Organization, a militant
The course of assassination attempt on President Stanislaw Wojcochowski, September 5, 1924, Lwow
Ukrainian political spectrum in Eastern Galicia, 1918 -- 1939
Verdicts of summary tribunal are to be passed unanimously, otherwise case goes to regular proceeding
Witnesses in the Steiger Trial, Lwow (Lviv), 1924 -- 1925
Witnesses in the Steiger trial, Z. Ecktein, bystander, sessions on 1925
Wojcech Bill, policeman, witness in the Steiger Trial, court in sesssion October - December 1925
The Steiger Affair refers to the trial held in Lviv (Lwow) in September of 1924 and in October – December 1925 over a falsely accused Stanislaw Steiger, a Jew and a moderate supporter of the Zionist movement. He was caught on September 5, 1924, on the spot of assassination attempt to President of Poland, Stanislaw Wojcechowski on one of the central street in the city.
Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian public and political figures became associated with this trial and its discourse vividly illustrated almost irreconcilable controversies and prejudice between ethnonational communities and the Polish state itself.
