training as doctors, engineers, or teachers found work in their professions. The others took up [5a] jobs as warehousemen, building administrators, ormanual labourers.
Jews penetrated all areas of employment in the city – for example, in Białystok industry, where they had previously been employed in large numbers – and occupied public offices and positions in state enterprises.
The greatest satisfaction with the new situation was shown by the workers. They were employed without interruption, earned good salaries, and were no longer confronted with the spectre of unemployment; consequently, their standard of living changed. The workers were well nourished everywhere and very often bought new items, either for personal use, such as clothes, or for the household, such as appliances, furniture, and the like.
Artisans found work in craft associations and also made a good living. A declassed merchant, if he was not deported, found employment as an unskilled labourer, a snabzhenets,146 or a warehouseman. Merchants abandoned trade. Buying currency was not considered a trade but as insurance for the future, after someone had sold all his merchandise and needed to exchange the money.
Smuggling mostly involved ready-made clothing. High demand on the part of the new arrivals, whether [6(11)] Russians or refugees, the propensity of the working population to purchase new consumer goods, and the fact that such items were regarded as a good capital investment all combined to created favourable conditions for smuggling them.
Education of the young enjoyed strong government support. New 7-year and 10-year schools were established. Every ethnic group could easily find schools in its national language. Indeed, in Białystok there were Yiddish 7-year schools and one 10-year school. Nevertheless, a large number of Jewish children attended Russian schools. Even children who spoke Yiddish at home were sent by their parents to Russian schools. There were two reasons for this: (a) the old Białystok tradition which had made it a Russian-speaking city; and (b) career prospects. Those two reasons motivated most parents to opt for the Russian language in the referendums which the schools conducted. That also happened in the school attended by Salomea’s cousins. Her uncle, who had taken part in the referendum, said he could not understand why
