Na równi pochylej. Żydzi Białegostoku w latach 1918-1939: demografia, ekonomika, dezintegracja, konflikty z Polakami

Abstract

In Białystok in 1895 Jews constituted 76% out of 63 000 inhabitants, being the largest group within the whole population of the town. Later, particularly after World War I, the percentages started decreasing systematically. In the interwar period Jews ceased to be the largest ethnic group. In 1936 their number amounted to about 43% of the population. The Jews of Białystok were usually involved with trade and handicraft, but also - to a larger extant than elswhere in Poland - they were employed in industry. Jews dominated in the learned professions while very few could be found in administrative and public employment. There were fewer criminals than in the non-Jewish population. There were no cases of murders or assassinations (even attempts) among the Jews. The outbreak of World War I stopped intensive development of the town. It affected badly the economic positions of Jews. Russians evacuated, disassembled or destroyed many industrial enterprises. The restrictions introduced by Germans who took over the town in August 1915 completed the economic ruin. In February 1919 Polish army entered the town. The position of Białystok as a front-line town till the automn of 1920 was not conductive to the development of industry. The production in the war conditions affected badly the workers, their legal status and earnings. The rising costs of living and spreading diseases added to the difficułty of the situation. The 1920 Pollsh-Soviet War made a number of Jews leave the town. The stabilization of the political situation in 1921 resulted in cutting away of the Russian markets due to hermetically closed border. On the internal market the industrialists from the Łódź and Bielsko-Biała producers. This situation had a negative impact on industry. In 1914 219 factories in Białystok employed 6970 workers. In 1922 only 4757 persons were employed in 119 factories. The ups and downs of economy, stagnation and recessions of the first post-War years caused Białystok industry to become one of the most badly affected by the depression in the scale of the whole country. The economic crisis influenced the disintegration of the Jewish community. Fewer and fewer persons participated in the elections to the Kahał board. In 1938 only slightly above 3500 persons out of over 39 000 of the Białystok Jews contributed to the Kahał collections. It exemplified, among other things, the loss of the prestige of the Kahal The Jews of Białystok were very religious. There were many houses of prayer and several synagogues. Most workers tried not to work on Saturdays. The deterioration of the economic situation, the strenghtening of the leftist tendencies, modernization of the society, low prestigei of the Kahal - all these factors caused the erosion of the traditional way of life. The most significant factor disintegrating the Jews was their political discord. All Jewish movements existing in Poland were active here, frequently fighting each other. In 1939 47 social and political Jewish organizations functioned in Białystok. Bund was the largest and the most active party. In the interwar period it cooperated more and more frequently with the Polish Socialist Party. The conflicts with Poles increased in the discussed period. In 1918/19 Jewish politicians postulated making Białystok a free town or its incorporation to Lithuania. The press condemned the Polish Parliament's resolution to incorporate Białystok to Poland. This brought about Poles' indignation and anger. Since Poles dominated in the Town Council; the divisions of municipal funds discriminated the Jewish community, The stereotype of „żydokomuna" (the association between the Jewry and the communists) was common among the Poles. This stereotype, religious prejudices, economie difficulties, new fascist tendencies coming from abroad - all these factors contributed to the increase of the anti-semitism by the end of the studied period. It is difficult to foresee the possible destiny of the Jews of Poland - hence also those of Białystok - if they were not tragically stopped by the war and the holocaust. It is even more difficult, however, to imagine a fortunate solution to the Jewish problem without radical improvement in the economic situation of the whole country and the change of the frame of mind of the majority of Poles, grown in the years of fighting the denationalization and foreign domination.