A Town after a fire: losses and behaviour of Jewish communities

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Lietuvos istorija; Socialinė istorija; Kasdienybė; The Lithuanian history; Social history; Trivial round.

ENIn this chapter attention is drawn to an under-researched problem in the history of everyday life of the early modern period in eastern Europe: the behaviour of the residents in some towns and small towns of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the second half of the eighteenth century in the wake of a natural disaster. It is approached through the discussion and comparison of the actions of the Christian and Jewish residents regarding the structure of the losses they had incurred. It should be noted that on the basis of the records of fire losses incurred by the residents of towns in Samogitia (Žemaitija), Eimantas Meilus has attempted to compare the differences4 between the property (wealth) owned by the Jewish and Christians residents, but he did not analyse the structure of the property in greater detail. In this particular case, the components of the property owned and property lost during a fire and their proportions are of special importance for the assessment and comparison of the nature of the economic activity and financial potential of the Jews and the Christians of the town in question (that is, in the same economic system and space). [Extract, p. 62-63]