Blackmailers and shmaltzovniks under the law in occupied Cracow

The purpose of this article is to analyze blackmail in occupied Cracow based on the criminal cases from 1939–1946 and the witness accounts. The article discusses the specific nature of crime in occupied Cracow and the activities of blackmailers based on selected stories of blackmailers who heard the charge of blackmailing Jews during World War II and were brought to justice by the occupation judiciary. These surviving cases are a unique historical feature and need to be discussed. These are the stories of: Maria Jawułowa, Helena Loho and Władysław Urbańczyk, Tadeusz Pawlus, Zdzisław Pohorecki, Feliks Kowalski and Aleksandr Radwan, whom the author deliberately mentions by name. The author also looks at the different techniques used by blackmailers, depending on whether they acted alone or in a group, in a planned or spontaneous manner. The premise of the article is to present the attitudes of blackmailers, their victims and occupation law enforcers.