Sex Scandals, Sexual Violence, and the Word on the Street: The Kolasówna Lustmord in
Cracow’s Popular Press, 1905–1906

This article explores the conversation between the popular press and the public on issues for sexual deviance and degeneracy by analyzing one major scandal, the “sexual murder’ (Lustmord) of 9 year-old Marya Kolasówna in the suburbs of Cracow in 1905, while contextualizing it wit current medical-legal discourses and related news stories. It offers a careful reading of the way that the press reported the story, paying particular attention to the papers’ perceived relationship to the “word on the street.” Of particular importance was the tendency of the popular press – following the Austrian authorities, who classified the murder as a Lustmord – to emphasize sex and sexuality in its coverage of the story, despite the fact that no documented sex had taken place. As such, the Kolasówna Lustmord gave citizens a new way to think about violence against women and children, as arising from “sexual urges or temporary insanity.” Finally, because of the clear contribution from the public and the press’s constant reference to public input, the Kolasówna case offers evidence of the existence of a nascent public sphere among the otherwise atomized citizens of a burgeoning metropolis.

Sex Scandals, Sexual Violence, and the Word on the Street: The Kolasówna Lustmord in
Cracow’s Popular Press, 1905–1906

This article explores the conversation between the popular press and the public on issues for sexual deviance and degeneracy by analyzing one major scandal, the “sexual murder’ (Lustmord) of 9 year-old Marya Kolasówna in the suburbs of Cracow in 1905, while contextualizing it wit current medical-legal discourses and related news stories. It offers a careful reading of the way that the press reported the story, paying particular attention to the papers’ perceived relationship to the “word on the street.” Of particular importance was the tendency of the popular press – following the Austrian authorities, who classified the murder as a Lustmord – to emphasize sex and sexuality in its coverage of the story, despite the fact that no documented sex had taken place. As such, the Kolasówna Lustmord gave citizens a new way to think about violence against women and children, as arising from “sexual urges or temporary insanity.” Finally, because of the clear contribution from the public and the press’s constant reference to public input, the Kolasówna case offers evidence of the existence of a nascent public sphere among the otherwise atomized citizens of a burgeoning metropolis.