Józef Reinhold (1884–1928) – „zapomniany” profesor prawa karnego Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego

The university career of Józef Reinhold had not been particularly long, as it lasted merely ten years (1918–1928). Due to his premature death at the age of 44, he occupies a rather peripheral place among the luminaries of Polish penal law, remaining in the shadow of such famous professors as: Edmund Krzymuski, Juliusz Makarewicz or Józef Rosenblatt. Yet the academic achievements of Józef Reinhold, and particularly his paper entitled Preventive Measures Against Criminal Offenders published in 1913, puts him among the ranks of the precursors of a sociological approach to the Polish penal law in the 20th century. He was also the first propagator of criminal policy on Polish territories which he regarded as a separate discipline of law. Thanks to the academic research conducted by Józef Reinhold, the sociological approach to criminal law had been more widely recognized on Polish territories which found its most tangible reflection in chapter XII (“Preventive measures”) of the Polish Penal Code of 1932. However, the merits of Józef Reinhold in propagating the principles of the sociological approach to criminal law had been overshadowed by the academic achievement of Julisz Makarewicz, the author of the Polish penal code. A considerable part of Józef Reinhold’s professional career was associated with the Krakow jurisdiction (1910–1921). Contrary to his colleagues, fellow professors and masters, Józef Reinhold was not “a boisterous character and was always characterized by moderation”. This trait of his character may be one of the reasons why in the history of the Polish science of law and in the history of Polish Jews, professor Reinhold did not find a deserving place which was definitely due to him, taking into consideration his original and creative academic output, and the attitude of a “good, talented Jew as well as a staunch defender” of Judaism.