2. Compared with occupation by the Germans, it was the “lesser evil”.
Up to 85% of Poles also voted in the elections, for the first-mentioned reason, but they ventured to add demonstrative comments on the ballot papers. It should be stressed that, when it comes to elections, the coffers of the national bank are always open. No money is spared and, [8] although there is always only one list (the bloc of Bolsheviks and non-party Bolsheviks), there is much more advertising than in such campaigns in capitalist countries.
One hundred (100) delegates were elected to the above-mentioned assembly in Lvov, including a few scattered Jews. The Ukrainian (albeit nationalistic) intelligentsia was very much fussed over; in general, Ukrainian nationalistic transgressions were deliberately overlooked. The Ukrainians exploited the situation skilfully since, under the covers, the nationalist movement was growing. In 1941 it was perceptible that the Ukrainian nationalist movement was receiving encouragement and support from “outside”. There were cases – by no means isolated – of assassination attempts on prosecutors, NKVD agents, and other local party leaders in small towns and villages.
In the provinces, the authorities began to organise public socio-political life much earlier, almost immediately. Nationalisation took place in the provinces immediately after the elections to the “Lvov assembly”, [9] not only of large landholdings and bank capital but also of small properties and shops whose owners had a category 2 licence or a turnover of 50,000 zlotys. Nationalisation hit Jewish traders and landlords very hard. The authorities implemented the nationalisation using almost exclusively local Jewish Commies, who carried it out ruthlessly. It should be stressed that although nationalisation hit Jewish traders very hard economically, it did not break them psychologically. Psychological breakdown came only when all those who had been nationalised were forced to leave their homes and move to the provinces (this applied to oblast towns). In December 1939, without any prior notification, the Polish currency was cancelled with immediate effect. That hit the Jews, in particular the refugees, very hard economically.
When the large landholdings were redistributed, Jewish peasants, of whom there were several thousands in the Stanisławów oblast for example, were almost completely disregarded. However, Jewish peasants were not treated worse than [10] non-Jews, although the Ukrainian peasants immediately displayed hostility towards the Jews, and their children, on seeing a Jew
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