11/01/2022 · Poland in the interwar years was relatively new to Europe as she had not been an independent country in her own right since 1772, having been previously absorbed into the former Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Her reinstatement and Polish actions did little to peace or stability of post war Europe.

Jewish women’s various roles in the interwar period varied among the different communities of Poland. The absorption of middle-class values by Jews resulted in a more circumscribed role for women centered on the home rather than the marketplace, while more traditional Jewish communities maintained a place for women to sell goods in the marketplace.

Nevertheless, interwar Poland could justifiably claim some noteworthy accomplishments: economic advances, the revival of Polish education and culture after decades of official curbs, and, above all, reaffirmation of the Polish nationhood that had been disputed so long.