ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how early proponents of modern anti-Jewish politics initiated the Tiszaeszlár case and crafted an interpretation that rendered the case symbolic on a national and European scale. In response to the emancipation process that had granted legal equality to Jews, early antisemites transformed the old blood libel into a form of modern antisemitism. The chapter follows them to a First International Anti-Jewish Congress in Dresden, Germany, where they exhibited a painting of Eszter Sólymosi. The chapter argues that racial notions of Jewishness and modern concepts of history, the nation, and the Others of Europe were at the core of the interpretation of the Tiszaeszlár case. As participants were transgressing the threshold of a racial program, they presented her story as a case against Jewish-Christian coexistence in Europe. In this wider context of anti-Jewish politics, the chapter reflects on the potential of Eszter's emerging image for challenging the liberal principles of late nineteenth century Europe.
