June 28, 1919
The Republic of Poland, reconstituted as an independent country in connection with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points after World War I, enacts the Minorities Treaty to protect the rights and safety of the many Polish ethnic and religious groups.
During the Paris Peace Conference, a major initiative was the recognition of minority rights in European states and helping those groups maintain their distinct national cultures.
Poland’s Minorities Treaty not only addresses the rights of minorities in general, but also specifically mentions Jewish cultural and civil liberties.
Fourteen other countries adopt similar treaties.
In addition to the Minorities Treaty, the Polish Constitution extends civil liberties to non-Poles and declares that minorities will be allowed to preserve their national traditions.
A 1921 Polish national census records 2.86 million Jews in Poland; in 1931, the number has risen to 3.1 million. Jews represent 10% to 15% of Poland, which has the largest Jewish population in Europe. Jews are officially recognized as a nationality within Poland.
Despite the legal protections, antisemitism continues to plague Polish Jews between the world wars. At the time Poland enacts the Minorities Treaty, the Polish government considers expelling Russian Jews from the republic.
The treaty promises that Jews will have their own schools and institutions, but the government provides little support for such organizations. As a result, communal institutions have little authority and are essentially limited to religious affairs.
Poland renounces the Minorities Treaty in September 1934.
