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Pulawy

PULAWY (Pol. Pulawy; Yid. Pilev; Rus. Novaya Aleksandriya), a town in Lublin province, Poland. The first Jews to settle in Pulawy came from the neighboring townlets (mostly Wlostowice) at the beginning of the 19th century when the area developed rapidly upon the initiative of its owner, Prince A.K. *Czartoryski. There was an organized Jewish community in Pulawy from 1820. In 1897 it numbered 3,883 (about 73% of the population). The principal Jewish occupations were shoemaking, gardening, furniture-making and shopkeeping. From the middle of the 19th century, the influence of Ḥasidism became widespread among the Jews of Pulawy; they were attached to the ḥasidic courts of *Lublin and *Kotsk and later to those of Gut (*Gora Kolwariya) and *Sokolow. From 1875 to 1884 the rabbinical seat of Pulawy was held by Elijah Lerman, the author of Devar Eliyahu (1884). In 1888, Ḥayyim Israel Morgen-stern, the grandson of Menahem Mendel of *Kotsk, founded a ḥasidic court in Pulawy. At the close of the 19th century, enterprises established by Jewish initiative included iron industries, machinery and shoe manufacture. Jewish workers found employment in them and organized themselves into trade unions. From 1875 Jewish students studied at the Higher Institute of Agriculture of Pulawy; many of the students participated in revolutionary social democratic activities. From 1907 a Jewish cooperative bank functioned in Pulawy with much success. In 1910 there were 6,111 Jews (61% of the population). During World War I, the Jewish population of the town decreased because of persecutions and a fire. From 1917 branches of all parties then active on the Jewish scene were organized in Pulawy. At first, the *Bund and *Agudat Israel wielded the greatest influence, but *Po'alei Zion circles, other Zionist parties, and communists soon grew strong. Jewish craftsmen and merchants established unions in 1920. In 1921 there were 3,221 Jews (45% of the population) living in the town. Between the two world wars there was a private Hebrew secondary school, as well as *Tarbut, Yavneh and Beth Jacob schools, and a Jewish library.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

B. Wasiutyński, Ludnaść żydowska w Polsce… (1930), 34, 63, 72, 77, 78; Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego, 9 (1888), 287–9; 13 (1895), 720; N. Gasiorowska (ed.), Zródła do dziejów klasy robotniczej na ziemiach polskich (1962), nos. 354, 376, 377; J. Bernstein, Yisker Bukh Pulav (1964); R. Bender, in: BŻIH, 34 (1960), 45–46.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.