What happened
On the night of 16–17 September 1807 a fire broke out in Reszel in Warmia, destroying several buildings and killing two people. Suspicion fell on Barbara Zdunk, a poor woman approaching forty, mother of several children born out of wedlock, who was unhappily in love with a much younger farmhand, Jakob Auster, who was staying in one of the houses. The townspeople were convinced she had set the fire out of revenge – and by witchcraft. The trial dragged on for years and went through every level of the Prussian courts until the death sentence by burning was confirmed by King Frederick William III himself. Throughout this time Zdunk was held in custody, where she was abused by the guards and gave birth to two children. On 21 August 1811 she was burned at the stake before a crowd. According to some accounts the executioner quietly strangled her first to spare her suffering.
Witnesses
The people of Reszel and the crowd at the execution; the case is known from Prussian court records.
Explanations and hypotheses
Prussian law no longer punished witchcraft – formally she was convicted of arson, and the sentence was meant as a deterrent. Much suggests, however, that belief in her witchcraft sealed the fate of a woman who may have been mentally disabled. Some historians suggest that the town was set on fire by Napoleonic soldiers passing through Warmia. Barbara Zdunk is often called “Europe's last witch.” Re-enactments of her execution staged in Reszel have drawn protests for trivialising the wrong done to her.
Explained The phenomenon has a widely accepted, down-to-earth explanation.
Sources
- Joanna Podgórska, Pożar z czaru (Polityka, 2006)
- Polskie Radio – Barbara Zdunk – ostatnia czarownica Europy (2017)
- Focus Historia – Ani czarownica, ani ostatnia, tylko stos prawdziwy
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