(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The Jewish population in the Republic of Poland approaches the three million mark, according to official figures made public here.
The statistics were compiled on the basis of the official census taken in September 1921 and embrace the entire territory of the Polish Republic with the exception of the District of Vilna and Upper Silesia.
According to the census, 2,771,949 inhabitants declared themselves to be of Mosaic faith. Replying to the question of nationality, the overwhelming majority of the Jewish population stated that they were of “Jewish nationality”, 2,044,585 replying in this way. 707,251 Jews declared themselves to be of Polish nationality; 3,726 of Ruthenian, 4,084 White Russian, 9,985 German, 1,092 Russian and 77 Lithuanian nationality.
Interesting details are disclosed by the census figures. According to these figures, 2,700 classed as Jews declared themselves to be Roman Catholics, 2,770 Jews declared themselves to be “confessionslos” (without affiliation.)
The proportion of the Jewish population in relation to the general population is, according to these figures, 12 per cent.
Interesting figures on the return to Judaism of former converts to Christianity were published by the Warsaw rabbinate.
During 1926, 32 former converts to Christianity returned to Judaism. Six Poles, 4 men and 2 women, embraced Judaism during the year.
During December, 144 Polish Jews left for Palestine. The number of Jewish emigrants from Poland to Palestine during 1926 amounted to 6,808, as compared with 17,740 for the year 1925.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
