Hilsner affair

Symbolic grave of Anežka Hrůzová (top), place where Anežka Hrůzová was murdered (bottom)

The Hilsner affair (also known as the Hilsner trial, Hilsner case or Polná affair) was a series of anti-semitic trials following an accusation of blood libel against Leopold Hilsner, a Jewish inhabitant of the town of Polná in Bohemia, Austria-Hungary in 1899 and 1900. The affair achieved widespread media publicity at the time, and Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, then professor at Charles University in Prague also got involved in the case to defend Leopold Hilsner. Hilsner spent 19 years in prison before being pardoned by the Emperor of Austria-Hungary.