Juliusz Karol Kunitzer

Who was Juliusz Karol Kunitzer?

Juliusz Karol Kunitzer was a Polish-German industrialist, economic activist, philanthropist, one of the industrial magnates of Łódź. He owned a textile and later a joint stock company. His viciousness towards workers and cooperation with Russian authorities gained him notoriety among Łódż citizens. He was assassinated by Polish Socialist Party activists in the aftermath of the 1905 Łódź insurrection.

Kunitzer was a polarizing personality and career. Known among Łódź's elites as a shrewd businessman, "cotton king" who became a tycoon due to his personal skills and luck, respected for this and his philanthropy and other public initiatives, for others – particularly radicals and socialists, he was a vicious exploiter of workers and a leader of anti-labor industrialists.