Żydowska prasa zawodowa i jej rola w rozwoju aktywności społeczno-gospodarczej kupców i rzemieślników małopolskich w okresie międzywojennym

Abstract

The article is a review of the Jewish professional press which was published in Western Małopolska in 1918-1939. Two most serious publications of the Jewish merchant and craftsmen associations, i.e. Przegląd Kupiecki (Merchants Review) and Rękodzieło i Przemysł (Crafts and Industry), are analyzed in detail. Those periodicals played a significant role in the social and economic life of that region. Their appearance was connected with the consolidation and reorganization of the professional movement in the restored Poland, when the press became an important tool in the struggle and defence of the professional interests. It reflected the most important elements of the social and economic life of the Jews living in Western Małopolska. Furthermore, it played a great role in the organization of the Jewish merchants and craftsmen both in Kraków and in the country. It was rather significant for the protection of the economic interests of the Jews, which were endangered by the growing anti- Semitism in the nineteen thirties. The columns of the Jewish professional press reflected all events of the business life in Kraków and Małopolska, as well as in the whole country. Many political issues important for merchants and craftsmen were also covered. Presently, those periodicals are an important source of the social and economic history of the Jewish population on that territory.