Who was behind the murder of Anežka Hrůzová? Unsolved mystery from Polná still waiting to be solved

The story began on 29 March 1899, when Anežka Hrůzová, a nineteen-year-old seamstress from the nearby village of Věžničky (formerly Malá Věžnice), was brutally murdered in the Březina forest near Polná in the Highlands. Her killer attacked her from behind, hitting her on the head, then strangled her with a rope and finally cut her throat with a sharp knife. He tried to hide the body in the lush vegetation and then fled.

The girl’s body was discovered on April 1, during White Saturday, when around 100 residents from Polna and surrounding villages took it upon themselves to search for her. The exhumation of the corpse revealed a large bloody wound on the neck, which was seen as a remnant of traditional “koshering” – a ritual slaughter in which a Jewish butcher kills an animal according to strict rules. The autopsy also revealed that she was a virgin. The coincidence of a Christian virgin dying on White Saturday, which also happened to fall on the Jewish holiday of Passover this year, led to the murder sparking an old dark superstition that Jews supposedly add the blood of Christian virgins to matzos, the bread prepared during Passover.

Hilstner was convicted on circumstantial evidence

Although the police investigated several suspects, in the end only Leopold Hilsner, a 22-year-old Jew from Polná who earned his living as a vagrant beggar, was arrested. He was considered to be the only problematic individual with below-average intelligence. Hilsner later nicknamed the whole case the Hilsneriad. He testified falsely several times during the investigation and trial, and although he never confessed, the evidence against him was only circumstantial. Even so, he was sentenced to death on 16 September 1899 for his part in the murder of Hrůzová. Later President T. G. Masaryk was actively involved in the case, opposing anti-Semitic sentiments and repeatedly demanding an objective investigation of the case. The first verdict was overturned in April 1900, but in a new trial, which took place in Písek in November of that year, Hilsner was again sentenced, again on the basis of circumstantial evidence, to death for complicity in the murder of Anezka Hrůzová, and in addition for the murder of Marie Klímová, who also died in 1898 in the forest near Polná.

The key weakness of both trials was that Hilsner was convicted only on the basis of testimony and circumstantial evidence, which, moreover, was completely lacking in the case of the murder of Marie Klímová. It was never possible to obtain Hilsner’s confession, let alone to uncover his accomplices or to prove by direct evidence his involvement in the murders. This sentence, which was confirmed by the Vienna High Court, was commuted to life imprisonment by Emperor Franz Joseph I in June 1901. However, repeated requests for a review of the trial, which continued to be advocated by Masaryk along with other prominent scholars and humanists, were denied. The pardon granted to Hilsner by Emperor Charles I only brought him freedom at the very end of World War I in March 1918.

Who really committed the murder? Brother Jan, the strange Zatřepálek, the Pytlík or an unknown stranger?

The real perpetrator remains unknown to this day and has never been clearly identified. It is known that so many people came to the crime scene that most of the evidence was trampled and irretrievably destroyed. According to some theoretical lines of inquiry, the murderer of Agnes Hrůzová could have been her brother Jan, who had quarreled with her about the dowry on the day of her death. However, Jan Hrůza was never convicted and is not known to have ever confessed to the crime himself. Family quarrels were common among the Hrůza family. Jan owed Anežka some of the money he was supposed to pay her from his inheritance, which his greed would not allow him to do. The morning after the murder, he went to confess in the church in Polná. A piece of a bricklayer’s apron was found at the scene, and Jan was a bricklayer. He arrived at the funeral with his right hand bandaged and the condolence receiver was left; his neck was bandaged with a scarf. Interestingly, Father Horror also died (about seven years before Agnes) under mysterious circumstances in the woods, where a log supposedly fell on him.

There were also many others among the accused. For example, František Pytlík, whose profession was the processing of cat skins, was seen near the forest at the time when Agnes was walking there. The bloodstains on his trousers (it was not established whether they were human or cat) were also suspicious. Another suspect was Vincenc Zelinger, described by his fellow inmate at the workhouse as “a cunning all-rounder”. He did not return to his room until late at night on the day of the murder and in the morning ordered a kettle of hot water from the housekeeper, something he had never done before. In addition, one of his shirts was missing.

We learn from eyewitnesses that on Ugly Wednesday an unknown man with a stick came out of the Březina forest where Anežka Hrůzová was murdered – the stick was later found by her corpse. It is also known from the local press that in 1900 an unknown rapist, who was a bricklayer according to his clothes, roamed the area around Saxon Kamenice and attacked, raped and killed 14-year-old girls. It would not be surprising that a piece of a mason’s apron was found next to Anezka’s corpse.

A small series of assaults on girls and women was also suspected and linked to the criminal activities of the Polish rapist and deviant Josef Zatřepálek. The latter was described by those attacked as a man with a stud in his ear – he could also theoretically have been Hrůzová’s killer. However, the authorities did not discover the connection until 1913, fourteen years after the murder. Zatřepálek had sexually assaulted five women and managed to rape four others. He attacked girls and women of all ages, from six-year-old girls to 17-year-old girls to women aged fifty-three. However, nowhere has there been a clear explanation as to who actually committed the murder.

The 1899 Murder of Agnes Hrůzová and the Case of Leopold Hilsner

Explore the tragic events and subsequent miscarriages of justice in the historic anti-Semitic case, with a tour of significant sites in Polná, including the Baroque Church of the Assumption.

Key Events

• Murder of Agnes Hrůzová:

  • Date: March 29, 1899

  • The murder of Agnes Hrůzová shocked the community and set off a series of events that fueled dark superstitions.

• Miscarriage of Justice:

  • Accused: Leopold Hilsner, a young man of Jewish origin, was wrongly accused of the murder.

  • Legal Outcome:

    • Originally sentenced to death, Hilsner’s sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

    • He was eventually pardoned.

• Anti-Semitic Superstitions:

  • The murder reignited baseless superstitions, with some accusing Jews of using the blood of Christian virgins in the making of matzah, a rumor linked to the tragic coincidence of a Christian virgin’s death on the White Sabbath.

Historical and Cultural Sites

• Polná Historical Tour:

  • The tour includes various historical sites in Polná, offering insights into the case and the era’s societal attitudes.

• Church of the Assumption:

  • A Baroque architectural gem and a national cultural monument.

  • Highlights:

    • Admire the views from the choir.

    • Explore the exposition above the sacristy.

This tour not only sheds light on a dark chapter of history marked by injustice and superstition but also provides an opportunity to appreciate significant cultural and architectural heritage.