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LUBOML'S ECONOMIC SITUATION UP TO 1939
By Moyshe Bialer
There was a densely populated, organized, thriving
community in town whose main occupations
were business and the trades. The Jewish community
constituted 60 percent of the total population.
In the whole Luboml district there were
more than 100,000 Ukrainians and a small number
of Polish residents [usadniks] whose main occupation
was farming. In spite of the differences
in religion, race, nationality and occupations, the
Jews and non-Jews complemented each other in
the economic sphere and formed a single economic
unit.
What was the economic structure of each of
these comp on ents?
More than half of the city's population made
a living from business, as was said before, which
was basically retail and based on the labor of
family members without outside help. It was
centered around the market place [rynek]. This
was a town square that measured 400 x 400 yards,
where farmers parked their wagons when they
came every Monday to the "big fair" [yarid] and
every Thursday to the "little fair." Those who had
shops on the square were the business elite of
Luboml. Following them were those whose shops
were on the adjacent streets, but no further than
350 feet from the square.
Another group consisted of those with small
stores on other streets, and at the crossroads near
the entrance to the city. A large number of peddlers
who had no stores spread out their wares
along these roads and in the square itself on
market days, and would buy and sell anything
that came to hand. Another sort of peddler went
out to the villages on Sunday mornings to visit
the village homes with a wagon full of merchandise
to barter or sell for cash, returning home just
111
before the Sabbath with either a bag full of money
or with farm produce and poultry.
Another type of merchant [exporters] bought
agricultural produce and sold it in the big cities.
There were also several wealthy merchants who
dealt in the export of cattle, grain, and lumber
through Silesia to Germany, and to Danzig. Business
also provided service jobs, such as agents,
wagondrivers, porters, etc.
Until the last years before the war, business
was exclusively in the hands of the Jews and
while there was stiff internal competition, it was
still possible to live respectably, though frugally.
But around 1934, alongside increasing animosity
on the part of the authorities, new factors
appeared in the business sector: agricultural marketing
cooperatives [spo]dzielna rolnicza] run by
non-Jews. They competed successfully with the
Jewsboth because of official support from the
government, which did not tax them and lent
them money interest-free, and because of propaganda
among farmers not to buy from Jews. And
as if that were not enough, the Polish Treasury
authorities finished the job by slapping various
heavy taxes precisely on the Jews, thereby damaging
the Jewish businessmen even more. This
policy of dispossession put Luboml's economic
viability in grave doubt. It was the main reason
for the depression, bitterness, and lack of selfassurance
that most of the community felt at this
time.
The next most important sector was that of
craftsmen. It is noteworthy that the Jews of
Luboml were outstanding craftsmen in all areas,
especially in building. The primary occupations
were sewing, tailoring, shoemaking, carpentry,
blacksmithing, metal work, locksmithing, hair-