FRANCISZEK BUJAK
PROFESSOR
OF
IN
IMPRIMERIE LEVÉ
1919
THE JEWISH QUESTION
IN
WHY
ACUTE
Among the questions which the Polish state is facing at the moment of its creation, one of the most vexatious is the Jewish question. The difficulty is constituted in the three following facts:
1) The
high percentage of the Jewish population in the territories of the
2) The development of the Jewish national spirit, based mainly on the
Jews in Polish territories, and the effectiveness of their intellectual
activities.
3) The
great part played by the Jews in the world’s politics, thanks to their
extraordinary activity, and more especially, thanks to their importance in
finance and in the press.
Taking advantage of the circumstances arising from the organization of the state of things in the whole of Central and East Europe, they endeavor to assure themselves the best possible conditions of existence in the future on Polish territories, from an economic as well as a political point of view.
BEEN
BROUGHT ABOUT?
The
Jewish immigration into
Already in the first centuries of history Jews were in
Jews as a vanguard of Germanism in
While a
considerable number of Germans, settled in the Polish towns and villages,
became entirely polonized in the XV and XVI
centuries, the Jews remained there as a vanguard of Germanism,
with respect to the language as well as to economic relations. They contributed
greatly to the development of German industry and commerce, by traveling in
masses from
Apart from trade, usury,
and in a certain measure handicraft, the foundation of their existence
consisted in taking on lease custom duties and other state revenues, and in
participating in the management of estates as innkeepers, shopkeepers and
commercial agents of large landowners. Poland never drove them away, never
confiscated their property, which has won for her the name of “the Jews’
paradise” (paradisus judaeorum)
{NOTE (1) If Jewish pogroms occurred in Poland in the XVII and XVIII
centuries, the Poles suffered equally from them, as it was exclusively the work
of the Cossacks and Ukrainian peasants, who massacred one as much as the other and destroyed their
estates.}.
The
juridical basis.
As juridical basis of their situation in
The
outcome of the mediaeval conception which looked upon the Jews as a social
class, and the State as an assembly of organized classes, the Jewish diet, had
to disappear since
The
increase of the Jewish population.
At the outset of the XVI century there were in Poland about 100,000 Jews (3.5% of the population of the country), in 1676 their number increased to 200,000, in 1766 to as much as 626,000, and at the time of Poland’s second partition (1793), though the area of Poland diminished, they numbered 900,000 (10.2% of the whole population), the reason for this being partly; that the Prussian and Austrian governments banished the poorest Jews from the annexed Polish territories. No wonder that the impoverished country was unable to entertain such a large number of Jews; consequently the question of improving the material position of the Jews and of turning them into citizens began to occupy the minds of the most prominent Polish politicians in the last years of the Commonwealth, but the last partition did not allow the carrying out of a thorough reform.
The
situation under the rule of the three partitioning powers.
After
the partitions, the Jewish question passed entirely into the hands of the alien
powers.
The Polish standpoint after the partitions.
The government of the Duchy of Warsaw was quite decided to bestow upon the Jews perfect
equality of rights, according to its constitution. However the Jews themselves
tried to hinder the fulfillment of this project; these were mainly the khassids, a sect which rigorously stuck to all the ritual
regulations in life and which at that epoch developed prominently. It feared a
coming together of the Jews and the Christian population, and their
assimilation. Later in the Congress-Kingdom the government took up earnestly
the Jewish question, but had no time to carry out serious reforms. When, for a
short period, the Poles regained self-government under the rule of the marquis
of Wielopolski, one of the first reforms which was brought about was, in 1862, the abolishment of all legal
restrictions concerning the Jews.
In Posnania the provincial diet also claimed equal rights for the Jews (1847).
The same question was decided upon in the Austrian parliament by the Poles, and afterwards the Diet of Lwów, 1868, ordered the carrying out of this principle, notably on Galician territory.
The banishment of Jews and
prohibition of sojourn edicted in
Thus, conforming, to their traditions of tolerance, which were one of their characteristic traits of social organization, the Poles acknowledged the right of equality, whenever they had the chance to manifest their will after the partitions.
Far-reaching social changes and considerable
economic progress, thanks to the ruling liberal policy, contributed to the
development of the welfare and to the increase of the Jewish population in the
Polish provinces. Further, two political events occurred which brought about
artificially a conglomeration of Jews in
Limits of Jewish settlements in
Soon after this a similar
method was adopted in the Russian empire (the notorious count Ignatiew’s rules) for clearing Russia proper of the Jewish
element, which was pouring in from Poland, contrary to ancient forgotten
prohibitions, and so, the so-called “line of settlement” has been decreed,
behind which the Jews were not allowed to dwell. This line corresponds more or
less to the western frontier of the former
The second anti‑Jewish
stage followed in the first decade of the XX century, when the propaganda and
the pogroms, organized by conservative bodies (the so called “true Russian
men”) and supported to a certain degree immediately by the Russian authorities,
began to drive out the Jews from the so called “western” provinces and force
them to settle in Poland or to emigrate abroad.
In
II. —
THE PRESENT STATE OF
1. THE
NUMBER OF JEWS.
As it results from the preceding chapter, the Jews were artificially concentrated by the Russians on Polish soil.
The official statistics demonstrated in 1910 or the
following number of people of Israelite faith.
population
The regency of
Posnania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,486 1.3%
The regency of
Total in the Polish provinces of
In Teschen
In
Total in the Polish
provinces of
In
Congress
In
Total in the Polish
provinces of
Of this number 1,920,000 Jews
dwell on territories which the Poles do not claim, according to the Polish
Delegation map, viz. the
Inaccuracy
of Russian statistics.
The total number of Jews, in
free
In 1897 the Jews
numbered:
population
In Congress
In
In
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,943,600
Natural
increase.
As in the whole of
Should we admit 1.8% as the
yearly increase for all the Jews on Polish territories from 1897 till the war,
which would be an exaggeration, considering the decrease in the number of
births in the last years, the yearly accretion would amount to 71,000 (23,800
of which being in Poland).
Jewish emigration from
Meanwhile in the years from 1897‑8
to 1910‑11 the Jewish emigration to the United States from Russia
numbered 858,226 Jews, at least 80% originating from Poland, for there is no
doubt that the other provinces had a certain Jewish immigration. Every year
49,000 Jews left the Polish territories and settled in
The difference in the number of
Jews in Poland which we notice between the census of 1897 and the year of 1910
amounts to 449,000 and corresponds with the yearly accretion of 34,500, this
being nearly 250% greater than the real accretion of Jews on the whole Polish
territory. There is no doubt, that many Jews arrived in
The state of Jewish matters.
The
census of the population in 1916 in the 3 provinces of
The number of Jews in the whole of
the Kingdom of Poland can be stated only on the strength of fragmentary notes,
with regard to the population of the particular parts of the German occupation
in Poland in 1916, which give a smaller number of Jews than the total
computation, and on the strength of the pre‑war Jewish emigration from
the territories subsequently occupied by the Germans: Suwalki,
Lomza, Plock, Siedlce. In spite of their increase in
The
Jewish emigration during the war.
During the war, instead of emigrating
over the seas, they removed in masses to
It is also probable that the
number of the Jewish population in
In the same degree as in the
preceding decades the Jews in the Polish provinces under German rule must have
been diminishing in number since 1910, so that most probably they number only
about 52,000.
On the whole it has been
scientifically proved that at present (1919) the real number of Jews in
Polish territories is the same as in 1897 (relatively in 1910) and that their
percentage is smaller. They are distributed as follows:
In the Polish provinces of
“
“ “ “
In the
In the other Russian provinces
belonging
formerly to
Total .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,986,000
Of this number there are on the area
claimed by the Polish State 3,520,000.
2. WHAT
IS THE JEWS’ OCCUPATION?
Jews in town and country.
Conforming to the Russian law the
Jews were only exceptionally allowed to dwell in the country; thus in
Ghetto.
In bygone times, in
Professions.
The statistics of
professions afford the best basis for the economic situation and the social
part, played by the Jews on the Polish territories. As for their professions,
the census of 1897 in
Jews
professionally occupied in
In agriculture . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.55% 14 %
In industry . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
35.43% 24 %
In transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 3.18% 4.1%
In trade . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
38.65% 46.3%
In domestic service . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .
6.61% 3.8%
In official and free professions . . . . . . 5.22% 4.9%
Without particular
occupation . . . . . . 5.49% 7.5%
In military service . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 1.07% 0.9%
In Congress
The
conditions of the professional existence of the Jews in
Jews in agriculture.
Of
the 18,987 Galician Jews working independently in agriculture 533 were great
landowners, possessing 301,619 hectares of land, and about 2,000 tenants of
smaller and larger estates, the rest of the Jewish farmers having only taken up
agriculture accidentally. In the
Jews in industry.
In
the industry of the
The statistics of 1897 show
that:
In Congress Poland the
Jews possessed 1,416 or 33.6% factories with 43,011 or 17.5% workmen.
In
Lithuania and White Ruthenia 1,402
or 51% factories with 30,105 or 58% workmen.
In Ruthenia 913 or
34% factories with 23,969 or 27% workmen.
In
In
Jews in
trade.
However the main domain of
their social occupation is trade; in Russia nearly half (46%) of the Jews make
their living in commerce, trading in agricultural products, in corn and cattle,
a fifth of them carry on trade in all sort of articles.
In Congress Poland we find them
especially in the corn trade, in leather and fur trade (93‑94% of all
merchants occupied in these branches), in the cattle trade, dairy produce,
building materials, machines and sale of spirits (the percentage of Jews varies
between 80% and 90%). Of special importance is the part they play as
intermediaries between
As to the free professions the
Galician statistics before the war show that of 1531 lawyers 984 were Jews
(68%) and of 1,464 physicians 411 were Jews (30%). This shows very unhealthy
social conditions. Not less numerous are the Jews represented as lawyers in
The characteristic feature of
Jewish commerce is the inadequateness of capital and the operation with credit,
this state of things, often bringing about an unavoidable rise in prices and,
on the other side; frequent bankruptcies. A further mark of their commerce is a
considerable scattering, which leads to a very keen competition and makes it
difficult for the workers to make their living, in spite of their professional
efficiency, and an unusual capacity of adapting themselves to the economic
conditions.
General characteristics of
the distribution of professional Jews.
On the whole the Jews occupy themselves professionally in quite other ways than the Christian population; their professional differentiation is not sufficient, constituting one class which corresponds with the towns, being too numerous with regard to the economic development of the whole population in the country. In consequence, though very numerous, the Jews do not represent a full and independent social and economic body, but depend entirely upon the still more numerous Christian population surrounding them, and chiefly upon whether this population is producing and consuming enough to give so numerous a trading people a chance to earn their living, and lastly upon whether this population is not adverse to economic relations with them.
3.
GENERAL ASPECT OF RELATIONSHIP OF THE JEWS
WITH
THE POLISH SOCIETY.
Western
and Eastern or so-called Polish Jews.
Contrary to the West‑European Jews,
those in Poland do not try even superficially to assimilate in a cultural way
with the Polish population, so that, to define this difference, they were
lately called “Eastern Jews” (Ostjuden) instead as
heretofore “Polish Jews”. They have many deep‑rooted characteristics, as
it has been stated by several Jewish authors, especially the German scientist
The
religion based upon an agreement between Iehowa and
the Israelites as a chosen nation, and a strict observation of numerous rules
and prohibitions arouse in the Jews a sense of superiority, and of their
secretion from all non‑Jews or strangers, “goiim”.
Led by laws of their own and a different morality, prescribed by their holy
books, the Jews sever themselves and do not allow the Christians to participate
really in their life, hiding themselves as in ancient times in ghettos.
Contrary to this, however, an insignificant part of them, those with
progressive tendencies, try eagerly and sometimes, it may be said, in an
intruding way to obtain a part and influence in the social life.
Orthodox and Khassid Jews.
The
study of their religion is the sole object among the orthodox Jews. In their
childhood they are taught in the “khedarim”, or
primary schools. This religion codified in a series of theologic
and juristic books which form a chain of supplements and commentaries to the “Torah”,
or the pentateuch of Moses,
as the only subject being taught to children in the schools, called “khedarim”. At a more advanced age they study religion in
the Talmud Torah schools, or privately if they have the means for it.
The
mass of Polish Jews is composed of orthodox, but a
considerable percentage are the so called “eager Jews” or Khassidim who play a great part in many Jewish settlements.
Their appearance.
Apart from their physical traits (anthropologic) they can be recognized much easier by their distinct national dress and distinctive cut of beard and hair, for they remain faithful to these customs obstinately for religious reasons, and contrary to the local public opinion, demanding a long time observation of the generally European customs in this respect. They decide upon their chance only when emigrating from the Polish territories in order to facilitate their earnings.
Their language.
The
Jewish idiom used amongst them in
Their part in economic life.
In strict connection with these national traits is their part in economic life. Scattered as they are over the whole territory, they have the best opportunities to intermediate in trade. Thanks to the contact with other Jews and to their dialect which, incomprehensible for the local population, ensures them in commercial relations considerable benefits, and facilitates their commercial relations with the neighboring countries, the Jews are able to overflow the Polish provinces with products of German and Austrian industry, hampering in a great degree the development of industry in Poland, and at the same time preventing cultural progress there.
The Jews are typical
representatives of the capitalistic spirit i.e. of an unbounded and
unrestricted covetousness for money. They busy themselves mainly in
undertakings in which invention and cunning have a fairer play than capital and
physical work, and render to others all sorts of services, as honorable as that
of physicians, and as dishonorable as that of the white slave trade. The
intermediation in commerce as well as in reporting or in journalism belongs, in
fact, to the category of services they render.
The
antagonism between Jews and the local population.
Being quite strange in society,
they can employ so much easier all unscrupulous means of dealing in relations
with the economically weaker population.
Without giving here detailed
proofs it is sufficient to call to memory the agricultural strike of 1902 in
Eastern Galicia, which was due to Jewish abuse; more than 3/4 of the farms
affected by this strike were in the hands of the Jews, either their property or
rented by them. The agricultural disturbances which took place in Roumania in 1907 were also caused by the Jewish abuse of
the peasants.
This is bound consequently to
stir up an animosity and contention, though free of any racial hostility, a
contention which can be compared with the antagonism between masters and
workmen.
The antagonism we notice
between the Christian population and the Jews in
The producer and the consumer look upon the intermediary
in an unfriendly spirit, especially in money affairs, for the mediaeval
opinion: “mercator sine peccamine
vix esse potest” finds as well in these times many followers. In
The law statistics show that
there are whole series of offences committed more often by the Jews than by the
Polish population, viz. usury, imposture, concealment of stolen goods,
horse-stealing, fraud in alimentary provisions, false coinage, bribery of
functionaries, false bankruptcy, etc.
4. THE POLITICAL ATTITUDE OF THE JEWS.
Assimilation
as basis of Jewish politics.
The Jews political attitude
depends entirely on their sense of estrangement and the defense of their
interests. In politics they are no more divided than in professional matters.
Formerly, ten or twenty years ago, the wide masses in Galicia as well as in the
Kingdom, indifferent to the political questions and national matters, were under the influence of the
so-called assimilators, i.e. that group of the Jewish intelligent class which,
partly without personal interest, led by their conviction, partly in order to
gain importance in the country, was fostering friendly relations with the
political circles, acknowledging the political and economical solidarity of
Jews with the Polish nation, and ready, up to a certain point, to oppose
themselves together with the Poles, to the Austrian and Russian governments.
These assimilators had the lead in Israelitic
communities, in the “kahals”, and in
Nationalism.
The
first Russian revolution and universal suffrage law of the Vienna parliament
had the effect that the nationalistic currents, long developing, came to an
open conflict against the assimilators, and soon gained the upper hand, so that
the political organizations of past times lost their influence, at least
temporarily, and the number of Jew‑Poles, or Poles of Jewish confession,
diminished to an insignificant number.
The
"Litwaks."
Apart from the strong Zionist
current from the West, an important part in the political evolution of the Jews
was played by the “Litwaks”, Jews from the western
Russian provinces, who began to transfer their homes to Poland about 1890,
coming either direct from these provinces or from Russia proper, from where
they had been expelled. These Litwaks have taken the
attitude of entire strangers, and created in
The language of the Litwaks is a German‑Jewish dialect, however in
external relations they prefer the use of the Russian language to the Polish
language; as to cultural and political aims, they took also from the very first
a hostile attitude, favorable to the Russian State’s unity, which seemed
important to the Jews’ welfare, they were opposed to every movement of
independence, and this obviously was in the highest degree distasteful to the
Poles.
The
Jews’ radicalism.
Another characteristic trait of
the Jews in politics is their radicalism approaching the limits of social
revolution. This is the consequence of their heated temperament and their
inclination towards analysis and criticism. All their political dealings are
now more or less radical. Apart from the official Zionism, which is democratic
and progressive, there is in
The Jews’ influence in Polish political circles.
The Jews’ activity is so great
that they inoculate with their radicalism the Polish and the Russian people,
even to overwhelming them with it. It is well known that international
socialism has been created by Jews, and that they are its most ardent
propagandists. Not only did they play the well known part of a spiritus movens in the Bolshevist
revolution {NOTE: At the beginning of 1919, 80% of all the higher official
positions in Bolshevist Russia were occupied by Jews, who mostly hide
themselves under Slavonic pseudonyms.}, but it is sufficient to point out
the fact that the Jews exercised a predominant influence in the Social‑Democratic
party of Poland and Lithuania, and were of great importance in both sections of
the Polish Socialist party and in similar organizations in Galicia. In the
revolutionary movement on the
5. THE
JEWS IN ECONOMIC
DURING
THE WAR
The
Jews and the war.
We
must devote a special chapter to the part the Jews were playing in
The Jews in the war economy of
However,
special notice must be taken of the part the Jews played in the war economy of
Austria-Hungary, that is in Galicia and in that part of the Kingdom of Poland
which since 1915 remained under Austrian occupation. Following the German
example,
One of the favorite operations
of the Jews consisted in an unlawful exportation of alimentary articles to
It may easily be imagined what
a chance was given, under these circumstances, to all kind of agents and
speculators, under the cover of unbridled soldiery, owing to the proverbial
indolence of the Austrian administration and the renowned Jewish solidarity.
The whole period of the war was simply nothing but an orgy of abuse, swindles
and offence against the population and the welfare of the State.
The
Jews’ political standpoint.
In no smaller degree did the
Polish population feel the Jew’s political attitude. The generality of Jews
manifested their loyal standpoint towards the Central Powers, in the
territories of the said powers as well as in the occupied area. This was
natural on their part, and in harmony with their unusually strongly developed
sense of self‑preservation. However, they went far beyond this;
foreseeing
Denunciations
and the Jewish military service.
Moreover they were impeaching
the Poles publicly in the papers, reproaching them their lack of patriotism
with regard to
The
Jews and the
With regard to the creation of
the Polish State the majority of Jews took a cool, passive and indifferent
attitude; a small part of them declared their satisfaction and readiness for
participation in public affairs, while a very considerable part, exceedingly
radical in their social views, active in politics and well organized, (this
means the most important part, composed of the Bund, Poale‑Zion,
the Social‑Democracy of the Kingdom and Lithuania, the People’s Party),
did not refrain from showing their animosity, and even their hatred in
newspapers and at meetings, shouting and demonstrating against the Polish army,
the Polish white eagle, the symbol of the State, and even against the State
itself. There were even cases where they attacked the Polish soldiers and tried
to disarm them, by force. These happenings were mainly in the Kingdom; but in
The Bolshevist or communist
agitation in
Jewish
anti-Polonism.
At any rate we may speak with
more truth about Jewish anti-Polonism than about
Polish anti-Semitism, which is not an aggressive movement displaying itself in
consequent deeds, but merely a psychic reaction against damages suffered by the
Polish nation from their part.
In recent times the
relationship between the Jews and Poles has taken an inopportune aspect,
however we do not believe that a pessimistic view ought to prevail about the
mutual relations of the two societies in the future. Apart from the
nationalistic movement, great influence in this matter has manifested itself
through the unhealthy atmosphere caused by the war, in particular by the
extravagant pro‑Germanism, and still more by
the unhealthy revolutionary breeze of Bolshevist contagion.
In peace‑time the Jews
will quickly make friends with a strong
6. THE
QUESTION OF THE SO‑CALLED POGROMS
IN
After Austria's collapse in
November 1918, vexacious events took place in
Galicia, which were described by the press as enormous Jewish pogroms; some
people endeavored to see in this a proof for the assertion that the Poles are
incapable and unworthy of an independent State existence, because their first
steps were an outbreak of racial hatred.
What happened in reality?
The
Poles and the Jewish pogroms.
Undoubtedly, since the first
Russian revolution, the Jews were impairing their relations with the Poles,
which especially during the war were getting worse. However even so great an embitterment would not have made the Poles lose self‑possession.
Their sense of justice as well as their human feelings strongly disapprove such
methods of struggle as pogroms, the best proof of this being that there had
never been any pogrom at all, or even serious riots, in
Exaggeration
in the description of the pogroms.
The news of the aforesaid
events have been enormously exaggerated for two reasons: 1, in consequence of
a natural tendency toward exaggeration on the part of reporters, especially
frequent in Jewish journalistic quarters, and 2, of a well planned Jewish
method of raising a tremendous row, as a sure means of defense against imminent
injury. More than once Jewish newspapers in
The
real cause of these troubles.
The description of these events
was wrong for this reason, because it represented the Jews as a mercilessly and
inhumanly persecuted race, without any due cause or offense, merely in consequence
of racial hostility. The Jews are generally unfit for self‑criticism, and
all attempts of criticism from other sides they take as an offence to their
race and confession. Never has any notice been taken in these reports of the
occasional most self‑sacrificing defense, brought up for the Jews by the
local police; on the other side they did not refrain from reproaching the
Catholic clergy for not being energetic enough in their defense. It may be
mentioned here that during the war the authorities and public opinion were
severely condemning the Jews’ usury in their trading of goods, but few rabbis
openly admitted the blame of it, and even then in a weak and ineffective way.
Political
tendency of the Jews in their anti-Polish campaign.
Stress must be laid here on the
fact that the Jews did not raise such a noisy alarm about the anti‑Jewish
troubles, not less numerous, and great uproars, having taken place about the
same time in Tcheck [Czech], Hungarian, South
Slavonic and Ukrainian territories, which permits us to suppose that, to draw
public attention to the riots in Poland, they had a distinct aim, that of
depriving Poland of the sympathy of civilized countries, and of preparing the
ground for setting forth political demands.
If we take into account the
scenes and the circumstances under which these riots occurred in
No pogroms but riots.
As a matter of fact there were
no pogroms in Galicia, that is to say, no systematically organized massacres
and robberies carried out with the aid of an indifferent attitude, or even of a
co‑ordinate action of the police authorities, as was the case in Russia;
all that occurred there were comparatively insignificant riots, which would
often break out very suddenly.
General
misery.
In
Wild
demobilization.
The falling to pieces of the
army and the political downfall in
The demobilization was taking
place in a frenzied way, hundred thousands of soldiers
were hurrying home by rail and other conveniences, in all directions and in
utmost disorder.
Spontaneous
return of prisoners of war.
At the same time innumerable
crowds of German and Austrian prisoners from
No distinction made between
Jews and Christians.
Inns, containing spirits, were
ransacked, as well as shops with victuals and clothing, military warehouses and
occasionally also private houses, not only belonging to well-to‑do
people, but also those of peasants, priests, etc. No distinction was made
between shops, whether Christian or Jewish; even co‑operative shops with
articles of food were robbed, as f.i. at Jaworzno near
Chiefly,
material losses; loss of life exceptional.
The losses incurred were
chiefly material; loss of life occurred only exceptionally, where the Jews
undertook a regular fight with the armed gangs of robbers. Altogether a few
score of lives have been lost, Jews and Christians, mostly among the militia
which had to fight these highwaymen.
The
action of the new Polish authorities.
The Polish authorities, speedily organized, undertook an energetic action against all this disorder, and they were helped by influential landlords, by the Catholic clergy and by the quickly developing militia, as well as by army volunteer forces, while the proclamation of martial law also proved of great assistance. The result of all this action was an immediate pacification of the country, as confirmed also by the Jewish press, expressing their thanks to the Polish authorities. To foretell and prevent, these disturbances was impossible, as they appeared unexpectedly; at the very moment of the political turmoil.
The general
view.
Considering the terror caused
by the wild demobilization, the destruction of the country, the starving
masses of people, the continuous threat of unrest, due to the great number of
unemployed workmen, the attempts of bolshevist agitation and the ransacking by
marauders, it must be stated that the first beginnings of Polish life have
stood a good test of self‑control, and that the Polish nation has shown
much authority, culture, and organizing ability, certainly deserving approval,
rather than meeting with reproaches of having a barbarous pogrom policy.
The
disturbances of Lwów (Lemberg).
Special attention must be paid
to the question of the pogrom at Lwów, whose
importance has been so much exaggerated in the press of
The Jews as a fighting party.
While the bulk of the Jews, so
far, went together with the Poles in politics, part of them now declared themselves neutral, and formed their own militia which often
infringed the rules of neutrality, while another part adhered openly to the
Ukrainians, fighting against the Poles.
Particulars
of the disturbances.
Before being forced out of the
town, the Ukrainians set at liberty several hundred criminals from the local
prisons, who, together with the hungry rabble of the town and its suburbs, and
with numerous deserters, started robbing and murdering in the Jewish quarters,
taking advantage of the temporary anarchy, which followed the last struggles in
the streets, intended to force the Ukrainians out of the town. About 50 houses
were set on fire then, not 300 as published by Jewish papers! It is equally
not true that a number of Jews, enclosed in the synagogue, were burnt with the
latter. Christian shops were also not spared.
Reaction
on the part of Polish authorities.
By virtue of martial law,
introduced within 48 hours after the beginning of the disturbances, more than a
thousand people were arrested and between one and two hundred were shot. The
Polish government thereafter delegated an investigating commission, consisting
of Christians and Jews, to report on the whole matter. This commission came to
the conclusion that it would have been practically impossible to master the
plundering mob, as there was no authority, responsible for security in the
town, whose situation was by no means settled.
The whole list of killed and
wounded among the population at Lwów amounted to
3,000, of which, as officially stated, only 262, or about 12%, were Jews,
although they represent nearly 30% of the inhabitants. The Jewish committee of
assistance for the victims of the Lwów disorders
could register only 73 killed.
The number of victims of the
pogrom, as stated by the Jewish press, was made to comprise also those Jews who
during the fights died a natural death and could not be buried, owing to the
inaccessibility of the Jewish cemetery. Their number was relatively
considerable, as influenza was just then raging in the city.
The
opinion of Christian journalists from
It must be stated that among
the numerous foreign Christian journalists who have come to
1.
POLITICAL CLAIMS OF THE JEWS.
Jews in
political life.
At all times and everywhere,
since their so-called “diaspora” the Jews considered
themselves as guests, so to say; watching for their seclusion, they were really
only half‑citizens, though often privileged ones. During the second half of
the 19th century they obtained in all European states, except
Present political claims of the
Jews.
At present they claim not only
the formation of a Jewish state in Palestine, to remain under international
control (the main program of the Zionists), but also 1) full rights of
citizens, equal to those of the remaining population in Poland, and besides
this, 2) special rights as a national minority, having its own administration
with the recognition of the Jewish language in all branches of public life;
consequently in the administration of the country, in the schools, in the
courts of justice, in the Diet and in the army. In principle, all the Jewish
political parties in
National
autonomy.
The national Jewish autonomy,
according to this program, shall be based on the Jewish national community,
besides a provincial organization and one for the whole country, taking the
shape of a Jewish national council, acting as legislative and executive
authority for all cultural and partly economical questions, entitled also to
levy taxes. All their political parties agree in claiming their own separate
system of schools, but their points of view diverge considerably as to the
language to be used in these schools, some being in favor of Hebrew, some
preferring Polish, or the German‑Jewish dialect (Yiddish); similarly
there are divergences as to the choice between lay and confessional schools,
and also as to whether they shall be supported by the Polish state or by a
Jewish national organization. Some of the political parties want a national census,
and special Jewish representation at the diet, in all social corporations, and
a proportional share in all State offices.
Character
of the Jewish claims.
The claims of the Jews are
based only on their number and on their strong feeling of common interests;
they are in no way connected with a certain territory within
These claims, due to a middle
age conception of the State, have in fact nothing to do with the great
principles of Justice or democracy, and their realization would mean an
injustice to the Polish people and a very nice reward for its hospitality and
tolerance shown to the Jews in the past!
Why
Poland cannot give up the
chance of creating a modern State, similar to other civilized states, existing
at present, and cannot therefore let the Jews have more rights than have
immigrants in the most liberal countries, as the United States, Great Britain,
Switzerland or France, who have so many immigrants {NOTE: In 1910 New York
State had 1,603,000 Jews among a total population of 10,647,000, or 16% nearly,
consequently even more than Poland. Are the Jews going to put forward here the
same political claims as in
In this respect Poland must be
more careful than other nations, for the Jews, as a general rule, owing to
their dialect (a mutilated German) as well as to their cultural and trade
relations always were champions of Germanism, while
another part of them, the Litwaks, (the Jews from
Lithuania) were ardent supporters of Russian rule and furthered Russian
influences. Under certain conditions a Jewish national autonomy might easily
lead to the most fatal consequences for the
The
danger of a national autonomy to the Jews.
Even for the Jews themselves
their national autonomy would prove fatal. Forming no independent community
and representing practically only one social class, they cannot be self‑sufficing
and are bound to depend on the Polish population surrounding them, and who also
greatly outnumbers them. Imposing on
Obtaining full rights of citizenship and free
settlement in
First of all the Jews should
obtain other and more fundamental rights, far more important than their
national autonomy in
The
difficulty of proposing special rights of a national minority to the Jews.
Certainly a proposition
enforcing on
We must keep in mind that the
Jews have in
Equality of rights for the Jews in
Since 1868 the Jews have
enjoyed full equality of rights in
It was quite different in
In the Warsaw Diet the Jews
have at present 15 members, belonging to 4 different parties; they could have
more representatives, if they were not split up in too many political parties
(in Warsaw there were 8 Jewish lists of candidates, in Cracow
4).
Accordingly in return for
complete equality of rights granted to the Jews,
2.
ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS.
Too many Jews in
The hard struggle for life
which the great majority of the Jews in Poland are undergoing is due to their
very one‑sided and limited kind of occupation, and proves that their
number there, is decidedly excessive, as unanimously stated by all Jewish
experts and scientists who have studied their conditions of life. No country,
indeed, can be expected to provide a living for one eighth of its population by
retail trade alone. The strong emigration among the Polish Jews, prevailing
since the end of the last century, proves that they are not inclined to change
their profession, being one of the most conservative of races.
Jewish monopoly in trade
intolerable.
The eternal Jewish monopoly for
trade was bound, at length, to come into conflict with the national tendency of
the Christian population towards trade, as the number of the Poles was
continuously increasing and in Russia because the latter were not admitted to
any official professions. It would, indeed, prove a kind of mental deficiency,
should the Polish population show no inclination or ability for trade, and
should it not strive to earn its living or to better its economical situation
by individual or co‑operative commercial effort.
Natural evolution leads to development of Polish trade
and industry.
The Polish people could not
forever continue to quietly look at others taking their place in certain
functions, as this would cost them too dear and they have become aware that
this, in the long run, would reduce them to dependence on a foreign element and
cripple them economically and politically. It is not long ago that this danger
became apparent and that steps were undertaken to meet it. That is why the
results are not as yet very considerable, but it will be easily understood by
any unbiased mind, or novice in the contest, accustomed to other economical and
social conditions than those prevailing in Poland or Russia, that these efforts
must continue and stress must be laid on them, as an inevitable feature of a
healthy social evolution.
The Polish people have been
kept back in their social development. Industry was developing slowly owing to
having no government of their own and therefore
enjoying no proper patronage. The Polish agriculture, except in Prussian
Poland, was overcrowded, as per unit of cultivated area there were 2‑3
times more people occupied than in countries such as
Hard conditions of life in
Evidently a great many people
settled also in the Polish cities, where they had to compete with the Jews;
rendering their life very difficult. It is indeed to be regretted that struggle
for life was so hard in
Co-operative movement.
The great enemy of the Jews in
Poland, threatening also merchants in general all over the world, is the co‑operative
movement among peasants and other consumers, which really has developed largely
recently in the field of small credit and retail trade, in articles of food and
special agriculture implements. Also inns for the peasants, kept by Christians,
were beginning to spread, and serious happenings must be noted in certain
Polish provinces, in the dairy and cattle trade, carried on by Poles. This
movement, on the one hand, tends to diminish the number of middlemen, while, on
the other, it introduces and furthers Christian middlemen on the market. It
cannot be denied that this tendency towards social and economical development
of the Polish nation is in a way detrimental to the Jews and therefore undesirable
and disagreeable for them, but, it is inevitable. One thing is certain,
however, that this competition, made to the Jews by the Poles, will be kept
within limits, not only lawful, but also morally acceptable.
Moreover in these days it would
be unthinkable to prevent the people or the government from patronizing these
economical associations of modern times, or to expect the authorities to hamper
this modern action, towards higher forms of social and economical life,
although the Jews implicitly suggest restrictions of this kind. Just as Poland
cannot allow the Jews to form a “State in a State”, she also cannot guarantee
them their position in trade and in the organization of credit, held by them up
to the present time; as this would mean recurring to compulsion against her own
citizens, possible perhaps in some feudal state but entirely impracticable in
present conditions of life. All this, however, cannot be regarded as antisemitism or boycot, although
usually called so by the Jews.
Means of mitigating the economical
crisis for the Jews. Emigration.
Are there any means of
softening this economical crisis with regard to the Jews? Certainly there are,
and among the first we must consider emigration, which already, since the end
of last century has in a way regulated the economical situation of the Jews in
General economical development of
the country.
In parallel with this, the best
means to soften the economical crisis among the Jews will consist in a general
economical development of
Good relations with the Polish element necessary.
A rational and permanent
amelioration in the conditions of life among the Jews in