The Jews in Lublin - Biblioteka Multimedialna Teatrnn.pl - Brama ...

Judaism was practised by the wealthy, assimilated Jews, the so called Poles of Jewish
religion, mainly in Galicia: Krakow, Lviv, Przemyśl and Czerniowice, and though not
as numerously, in the influential groups in Warsaw and Łódź. In Lublin, due to many
reasons, mainly because of the influence of the local orthodoxy, assimilation was much
weaker, although the Frankist and post-Frankist movements, constituting a sui generis
catalyst of the assimilation within Polish lands, had its own accents "from Lublin". It
is sufficient to say, that not only the famous musicians and composers - the Wieniawscy
brothers, but also Jan Czyński, the founder of the first (although short-lived)
daily newspaper in Lublin, the "Kurier Lubelski" in 1830 - came from families with
Frankist traditions.
Comparing both regions we can notice, that in the Kingdom of Poland we deal
with processes of "Polish" acculturation and assimilation. In the Galicia region, these
processes were orientated towards German culture only at the beginning. It is characteristic,
because in the other countries of the Habsburg Empire (in Bohemia, Slovakia
or in Hungary) Jews headed towards the culture of the reigning nation or current
dynasty. In Galicia, apart from the activity of organization named the „Szomer Izrael"
(The Guards of Israel), such a phenomenon could not be observed, and after the establishment
of the „Aguda Achim" (The Alliance of Brothers) in Krakow, which opted for
"Polish" assimilation, the trend continued in this direction. Leading representatives of
this trend from Lviv included: Józef Wittlin writer, Stanisław Ulam (mathematician),
or student of the University of Lviv Pesach Stark, that is Julian Stryjkowski.
In the Kingdom of Poland — and thus also in Lublin — there were in fact no ideas
for "Russian" assimilation, and Mendelsohn, referring to the years preceding the January
Uprising wrote (in the author s opinion a bit too excessively) about "euphoric" moments
in Polish-Jewish relations under Russian rule. However, looking for the differences
between the two regions, one can say, that the Jews of Galicia had an easier route
to emancipation, due to the lack of legal limitations; however, the economic situation
made the Galicia region similar to "Russian Poland", where relatively many people
from the Jewish intelligentsia worked in private occupations. In Galicia, this occurred
to a much lower extent than in the Kingdom of Poland due to the policy of the authorities.
Under the Russian rule, Jews were restricted from joining the governmental
administration services, so the only routes of development open for an educated Jewish
person were the law, medical or journalism studies. It was similar in Galicia — educated
Jews were most frequently doctors, journalists or lawyers, however this was connected
rather with the weaker industrial development of this region than the policy of the
state. Jews in Galicia could find employment in governmental or self-government administrations,
either during the period of Galician autonomy, before the First World
War and even during the inter-war period (e.g. Wiktor Chajes was chosen in 1930 for
the vice-president of the city). In the lands of the Kingdom of Poland, also after 1918,
the visit of a Jew to a governmental office was a frustrating experience for him, due to
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