The Jewish Gendarme who went dancing and got caught: The Gendarmerie of Bukovina on the Eve of World War I

This paper takes a microhistorical approach to examine the gendarmerie of the Bukovina crownland on the eve of World War I by way of following the career path of one man, Josef Lebzelter, a Jewish gendarme sergeant. By incorporating biographical details, religious statistics gathered from the Grundbuchblätter of the gendarmes in the decade prior to World War I, as well as details from the daily log of the Czernowitz headquarters, the paper presents an introductory sketch to this imperial institution, with an eye to its Jewish personnel and everyday interactions in this multiethnic province.