THE ROLE OF THE «MIZRACHI» POLITICAL PARTY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF JEWISH PRIVATE SCHOOLING IN INTERWAR POLAND

Abstract

The activity of the Jewish party «Mizrachi» in the 20s and the 30s of the 20th century, aimed at developing private Jewish schooling with Hebrew as the medium of instruction, is analyzed. In interwar Poland, Jewish students were deprived of the opportunity to receive primary education in public schools in the mother tongue as the medium of instruction, as government officials only partially implemented the Little Treaty of Versailles of 1919. The development of Jewish schooling was also complicated by the Polonization policy, the cultural and linguistic heterogeneity of Poland's Jews. Polish-speaking «szabasówka», who implemented a nationwide program of educating Jewish students in the spirit of loyalty to the government, facilitated their assimilation. That part of the Jewish community, which perceived these schools as an assimilation factor, actively participated in expanding the network of private Jewish schools with Yiddish or Hebrew mediums of instruction. An important part in the development of such religious and national educational institutions took the Mizrachi party, whose program principles combined the Jewish religious tradition with activities aimed at forming a Jewish state in Palestine. The author examines the activities of the Jewish cultural and educational societies «Jabne» and «Micyjon tejce Tora», which were cared for by «Mizrachi». The societies took part in establishing preschools, primary and secondary schools, teachers' seminaries, evening courses, public universities, reading clubs, libraries, and more. Both Judaic and secular subjects were taught in these educational institutions. Paying due attention to the teaching of Hebrew, Jewish literature, and Jewish history in schools helped preserve Jewish students' national identity. Keywords «Mizrachi» political party, Poland, cultural and educational societies, religious and national schools, Hebrew, Yiddish.