During Independent Lithuania (1918-1940)
Society and Economics
After WW1 ended and with it the German occupation, Tavrig’s exiled Jews began to return. The first census held by the new Lithuanian government in 1923 showed that only half the exiles had returned to the ruined town. (5,470 residents, of them 1,777 Jews-32%).
Following the autonomy law for minorities, issued by the new Lithuanian government, the Minister for Jewish Affairs, Dr. Menachem (Max) Soloveitshik, ordered elections to be held for community committees (Va'ad Kehilah) in the summer of 1919. In Tavrig a committee of 15 members was elected: 6 neutral men, 4 from "Tseirei-Zion", 1 from the workers list, 4 undefined. This committee was active in almost all fields of Jewish life until the end of 1925.
With the help of the "Joint" association and the Jewish "Folksbank", Tavrig Jews managed to rebuild their houses and to restore their businesses. Within a short period they again became the exporters of timber, flax and geese to Germany.
In the elections to the first Lithuanian "Seimas" (Parliament) which took place in October 1922, Tavrig Jews voted as follows: the Zionist list - 425 votes, "Akhduth" (Agudath Yisrael) - 160 votes and the Democrats - 9.
In the elections to the Municipal Council, which took place in 1921, 4 Jews were elected in a council of 10 members, and in the elections of 1924, the 18 council members included 7 Jews. As a result of a coalition with the Lithuanian Social Democratic party, a Jew was elected to the post of Deputy Mayor and as representative to the District Council. In 1931, 12 members were elected to the Municipal Council and of them 5 were Jews: Eliyahu Goldberg, Hirsh Berman, Shimon Cohen, Reuven Braude and Yakov Fish.
According to the 1931 government survey, Tavrig had 124 shops, including 101 owned by Jews (81%). Details according to the type of business are given in the table below:
|
Type of the business |
Total |
Owned by Jews |
|
Groceries |
10 |
10 |
|
Grains and Flax |
2 |
2 |
|
Butcher's shops and Cattle Trade |
16 |
8 |
|
Restaurants and Taverns |
17 |
12 |
|
Food Products |
7 |
6 |
|
Beverages |
3 |
3 |
|
Textile Products and Furs |
14 |
13 |
|
Leather and Shoes |
8 |
7 |
|
Haberdashery and Home Utensils |
3 |
3 |
|
Medicine and Cosmetics |
4 |
2 |
|
Watches, Jewels and Optics |
1 |
1 |
|
Tools and Steel Products |
9 |
9 |
|
Building Materials and Furniture |
1 |
0 |
|
Heating Materials |
9 |
8 |
|
Machines, Overland Transportation |
2 |
2 |
|
Stationary and Books |
3 |
2 |
|
Miscellaneous |
15 |
13 |
According to the same survey, Tavrig had 61 light industry factories, 46 of them owned by Jews (75%), as can be seen in the following table:
|
Type of the Factory |
Total |
Jewish owned |
|
Metal Workshops, Power Plants |
1 |
0 |
|
Headstones, Bricks |
5 |
3 |
|
Chemical Industry: Spirits, Soaps |
1 |
1 |
|
Textile: Wool, Flax, Knitting |
7 |
6 |
|
Paper Industry: Printing Presses |
1 |
1 |
|
Sawmills, Tar |
7 |
6 |
|
Food Products: Mills, Bakeries |
25 |
20 |
|
Dresses, Footwear, Furs |
8 |
3 |
|
Leather Industry: Production, Cobbling |
2 |
2 |
|
Barber Shops and others |
4 |
4 |
Four Tavrig Jews owned 4 mills: Gitkin-Baikovitz, Yehoshua Cohen, Leib Hirsh, Berelovitz; there was also a candy factory and a sawmill owned by Shereshevsky.
In addition to the merchants there were many craftsmen, most of them organized in a professional society. In 1935 this society had 80 members: 19 tailors, 12 shoemakers, 8 bakers, 5 painters, 5 watchmakers, 5 stitchers, 5 barbers, 3 hatters, 3 butchers, 2 corset makers, 2 glaziers, 2 tinsmiths, 2 photographers, 1 oven builder, 1 electrician, 1 book binder, 1 carpenter, 1 printer, 1 jeweler and 1 other.
There were only two Jewish government clerks in Tavrig, and the municipality, although 90% of its taxpayers were Jews, did not employ any Jewish clerks at all. There were almost no Jewish laborers in town, and only in the big mill were all the employees Jewish. In addition 4 Jewish doctors, 3 dentists, 2 lawyers and 1 midwife worked in the town.
The Jewish Folksbank, which played an important role in the economic life of the Jewish community, had 234 members in 1927, and 322 members in 1929. A private bank, director Dr.Vareta, (associate Avraham Epel) added its share to the economy in town.
In 1939 there were 215 telephone subscribers, of them 61 were Jews. (see copy of the official phone book in Appendix 3)
The economic situation of the Jewish community began to decline in the middle of the thirties due to propaganda by the Lithuanian Merchants’ Society "Verslas" against buying in Jewish shops. Another factor for this decline was Nazi rule in Germany and the worsening of commercial relations between Lithuania and Germany.
Before the "Pesakh" holiday in March 1935 there was a blood libel in Tavrig. Jews were falsely accused of murdering a Lithuanian baby in order to use his blood for baking "Matsoth". Anti-Semitic proclamations, written in German, were disseminated in town, Jews were beaten in the streets and windows in the Beth Midrash and in Jewish houses were broken. The police detained about 50 people who were suspected of taking part in plotting against the Jews, 30 of them received heavy fines.