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[Page 61]

The Demographic and Socio-Economic Aspects
of Jewish Life in Drohobycz and Surroundings*
[1]

by Dr. Benjamin Zvi Gil (Freilichmann)

Translated by Susan Rosin

Introduction

Source of Materials:

This demographic review presents the composition and some of the socio-economic characteristics of the Jewish population of Drohobycz and the surrounding rural areas but without Boryslaw and its surrounding areas (such as Tustanowice and Schodnica). Although Boryslaw was administratively part of the Drohobycz sub-district, as far the Jewish community organization is concerned it became independent as of 1935 with separate community institutions. This review is based mainly on the Drohobycz Jewish community office's index cards. A small portion of the review is dedicated to the town of Boryslaw. In the office of births, marriages, deaths and divorces in Boryslaw we were able to copy some very interesting details. For instance for deaths: age at death and cause of death. For marriages: ages of the bride and groom and the groom's occupation. In Drohobycz we were able to collect data only about marriages but not about births and deaths.

The information copied from the index cards was as follows:

  1. For the mother and father – birth year, place of birth or origin, occupation, and education level;
  2. For each child – birth year, sex, occupation, education level, marital status, and place of residence in the case the child did not live at home.
The names were not copied due to obvious reasons and the objection by the community offices. I agreed to this request without hesitation because that information was not needed for statistical purposes. Who knew that a list of names would have been a treasure trove of information not only for the Drohobycz survivors but also for the commemoration of Europe's Jewry. On occasion it was not easy to convince the clerks to divulge this information. Some were wondering “why would they want to know in Rome what happens in Drohobycz?”. In one instance, a births and deaths registration clerk in a small town referred me to the Polish sub-district supervisor to obtain permission to copy the entries. Mostly, though I encountered a sympathetic and understanding attitude.

The index cards included also children living outside the home – children living outside of Drohobycz, but also those who married and did live in Drohobycz and were registered separately. This is due to the fact that the cards were indexed by family association. Therefore, when we processed the data statistically on the Drohobycz population we had to ignore the children living outside the home. However for other purposes such as number of children per mother, father's and son's occupation and education we included “all the children”.

The information was copied in the years 1934 – 1936. At the time I was a Ph.D. student at the Rome (Italy) University. My research was about the demographics of a number of Jewish communities in Poland. In the summer of 1934 I performed a detailed demographic study in the small town of Halicz. During summer vacations in 1935 – 1936 I collected demographic materials from Drohobycz, Boryslaw and the surrounding areas (I was born in the small village of Stebnyk near Drohobycz) as well as some larger cities such as Lvov, Krakow and Warsaw. Some of the materials were collected by people I hired. The entire project was financed by my late father who was proud that information about Drohobycz, Boryslaw and the surrounding area would be discussed and studied in far-away Rome.

The materials were transferred to the Italian committee for population research, where I processed the data.

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In 1939 I left Italy and immigrated to Israel. At the time, Italy was already under the Nazi influence and it was too risky to take this material with me. All this information excluding “cause of death” remained with an Italian Christian friend of mine. He safe-guarded it all until I came to visit him in August 1954.

In normal times these materials would not amount to much. Statistical information from community index cards is not considered accurate or reliable because the updates were normally late in coming and sometimes non-existent. However, because so much Jewish communities' information was lost in the Holocaust, this type of material is an important demographic and socio-economic source. To the best of my knowledge this is the only case where an entire Jewish community's in Poland index was preserved and the information presented in a Yizkor Book.

 

The Quality of the Families' Statistical Data:

It is a well-known fact that such index cards were not up-to-date. Considering the size of the Jewish population in Drohobycz (about 13,000) and the geographical spread of the surrounding villages it is unrealistic to expect that these cards would have been updated on a regular basis. There was a lack of an orderly updating process, as well as the lack of municipal and state resources. Although originally there was enthusiasm in many of the Jewish community offices to organize an index, no thought was given to the future operations of such an index.

We made some comparisons to validate the quality of the numbers. Based on the Polish government census of 1931, 12,931 Jews lived in the city of Drohobycz and 3,961 lived in the surrounding rural areas (16,892 combined). Based on our data the numbers were: 13,640 in Drohobycz and 2,148 in the surrounding areas (15,788 combined). These numbers mean that the community index cards contained more people than the census. One explanation is that the index continued to be updated even after the census was conducted in 1931. We found that the surrounding areas indices were incomplete and in certain cases whole villages were missing. A list of villages in the Drohobycz sub-district[2] at the end of this article details the numbers of Jews and is derived from the 1921 census. For the city of Drohobycz itself, we used the numbers from the 1931 census. For comparison purposes we enclosed in parentheses the numbers from the index cards that we do have for the small villages. In some places our numbers are different than those from the list. This is reasonable considering the time that elapsed between 1921 and the indices dates. We are missing numbers for some of the rural areas leading us to the conclusion that those indices were much less up-to-date than those of the city of Drohobycz most likely due to the wide areas covered. Some of these villages belonged administratively to the Boryslaw Jewish community (such as Schodnica and Tustanowice), and therefore do not need to be included in our study.

We also encountered the issue of determining the time frame for the data. After consideration we determined that the Drohobycz data is updated up to and including 1932 whereas the rural data is updated only up to 1924. In spite of these inconsistencies we decided to merge the two and in most cases the analysis was done for both Drohobycz and the surrounding areas.

 

The Drohobycz County

Before World War One during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Drohobycz county of Galicia included the towns of Drohobycz and Boryslaw and about 90 villages and rural localities (see table 22 at the end of this article). Between the two wars, Drohobycz was part of the Lvov province of Poland. The county of Drohobycz was one of the 27 counties of the province and consisted of 5% of the county's area and 7% of the population (0.4% of Poland's area and 0.3% of its population).

The county and specifically the towns of Drohobycz and Boryslaw were known as industrial centers and their rich deposits of petroleum and ozokerite (earth wax) and salt. 53% of the county's economy was agriculture and 47% was based on mining, industry and services. In comparison, the Lvov county (excluding the town of Lvov), 70% of the economy was agriculture.

Population wise, the majority - 56% were Ruthenians – Ukrainians, 27% Polish and 15% Jewish (based on the 1931 census, Jews were 14.8%). The rest were Russians, Germans, etc. The Ruthenians were the majority 77% in the rural areas. In the city of Drohobycz, the population composition was: 40% Jews, 33% Poles and 25% Ruthenians. In the city of Boryslaw, the Poles were 47%, the Jews 29% and the Ruthenians were 23%.

This population composition was a source of troubles for the Jews in the 1930. Using Anti –Semitism, the Poles tried to blur the political differences between them and the Ukrainian national movement.

[Page 63]

The infamous agreement between the Polish government and the Ukrainian leadership caused venomous anti- Jewish propaganda and economical-boycott. The Jewish situation was dire, especially in the rural areas where the Ruthenians were the majority. Jewish fields and homes were set on fire, thus forcing the smaller communities to liquidate their businesses and move away from the villages. Thus, the Ruthenians achieved their goal of “Jewish free villages”.

A. The Demographic Characteristics

The growth of the Jewish Population in Drohobycz

The data about the Jewish population in Drohobycz is derived from various sources: authors, censuses, and various estimates. As can be expected, there are many inconsistencies between these various sources and it is difficult to determine their reliability. Even the censuses cannot be completely reliable as the population (both Jewish and non-Jewish) was reluctant to participate due to the fact that the data was usually used as means for tax collection.

Based on table #1 below we can see that in 1663 there were 15 houses on the Jewish street (Na Łanie) and after 150 years (based on the 1812 census) Drohobycz had 636 families (2492 persons). In 1880 there were 9181 Jewish persons. However 10 years later, in 1890 the number dropped to 8708 Jews. Possibly there were fluctuations in the Jewish population, but it is also possible that the differences are a result of a lack of definition as to which areas were included in the censuses. It seems as the greatest population growth took place between 1900 and 1910. However, it is uncertain since it is unknown which surrounding communities were included, where the largest one was Boryslaw.

 

Table Number 1- Number of Jews in the Drohobycz Sub-District 1663 – 1931

Numbers in parentheses indicate the percentages of Jews out of the entire population

Year Town of Drohobycz Town of Boryslaw Surrounding Areas Total Number in
Drohobycz Sub-District
Source of Data
1663 15 houses[3] = 75 persons       Gelber, pg.12
1812 2,492       Gelber, pg. 27
1869 8,055       Gelber, pg. 32
1876 9,000       Gelber, pg. 33
1880 9,181 (50.4%)     21,963 Gelber, pg. 35
1890 8,708 (48.0%)     23,819 Gelber, pg. 35
1900 8,603 (44.7%) 1,240   22,001 Gelber, pg. 35 and Gruiński
1910 15,315 (44.2%)     29,600 (17.2%) Krzyanowski,Kumaniecki
1921 11,833 (45.0%) 7,170 (44.5%) 7,308 26,311[4] (16.1%) 1921 Census
1931 12,931 (40.1%) 11,996 (29.0%) 3,961 28,888 (14.8%) 1931 census

 

The numbers for 1921 and 1931 look the most reliable because they were taken from the census and they were for a clearly defined area. Based on this data, there were 26,311 Jews in the county of Drohobycz. In 1931 there were 28,888 Jews in the county, a growth of only 2,577 persons which is less than 10% in 10 years. This slow growth can be attributed to birth rate decline as well as presumably migration from Drohobycz (this is discussed below).

The interesting phenomenon discussed by many statisticians is the decline of the relative percentage of Jews in the general population. In 1880, the percentage of Jews in the town of Drohobycz was 50.4% and in 1931 it dropped to 40.1%. In the entire county, the Jews were 17.2% in 1910 and only 14.8% in 1931. The greatest decline in both the town of Drohobycz and the entire county was between the years 1921 and 1931. There is no data after 1931, but based on the knowledge of birth rate decline it is reasonable to assume that this trend continued throughout the 1930's.

[Page 64]

The Migration from Drohobycz

The index cards had sometimes notes that may shed some light on the migration phenomenon. If one of the parents was born outside of Drohobycz, his or her place of birth was indicated. If children lived outside of Drohobycz, their new location was indicated by their names.

This data is incomplete and unreliable due to the following: For the first situation when the parents were born outside of Drohobycz, this information was given only for those who were still alive. Therefore, the numbers are lacking for the migration to Drohobycz. For the second situation for migration from Drohobycz, the numbers are even much less accurate. This is because the data contains only sons and daughters who still had parents in Drohobycz. Numbers for those who had no longer parents in town or when entire families moved is not provided. In spite of these limitations, the data can shed some light on the migration from Drohobycz.

 

Table Number 2 – Families in which one or both parents
were born outside of Drohobycz by number of children

Number of
Children
Both
Parents
Just the
Father
Just the
Mother
0 17 162 162
1 20 65 40
2 24 63 72
3 7 44 53
4 12 4 35
5 4 20 25
6 6 10 12
7 1 9 6
8+ 2 4 7
Total 93 417 412

 

Parents Place of Birth

From table number 2 it looks that the number of families where both parents were born outside of Drohobycz was rather low: only 93 families out of 4857 (including singles) in Drohobycz and the surroundings (based on index cards data) - less than 2%. Mostly only one of the parents was born outside of Drohobycz (417 fathers and 412 mothers). It can be deduced that most of the migration to Drohobycz was due to marriages[5] and not due to economical reasons. To support this assumption, we can see that the number of mothers and fathers that were born outside of Drohobycz is almost identical. Although we do not have numbers for those who left Drohobycz due to marriages, it is reasonable to assume that this tendency (of marrying spouses outside of town of residence) worked both ways. The number of families where both parents were born outside of Drohobycz was 93 amounting to 222 persons.

 

Children Migration out of Drohobycz

In processing this data we zeroed in on two factors:

  1. The size of the family and the number of children (both sons and daughters) migrating out of Drohobycz;
  2. Where did the children migrate to?
Table number 3 shows that children from 554 families left Drohobycz out of the 4857 families residing in town and the surrounding areas (only 11%). Just one child left from 284 families and two children left from 167 families. In total, 1013 children left Drohobycz and their families[6] (13% of the total number of children).

Most of the children who left Drohobycz were mainly from large families. In families with two children, less than 2% of children left – 14 children out of 796 families. In families with five children the number was higher – about 23% (115 out of 558 families). Among larger families of 8 or more children, greater number left town about 43% (53 out of 123). Similarly, with larger families, greater number of children left home.

Most of those leaving Drohobycz moved to other towns and cities in Poland (Table number 4) – about 59% (603 out of 1013), and only 40% moved to other countries. The move to other towns was probably due to marriages. It is interesting to note that the percent among those migrating to other towns 50.4% were men and among those migrating to other countries 65% were men.

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Table Number 3 – Children who left Drohobycz by family size and by Number of Children leaving

Size of Family Number of Children leaving
Total 1 2 3 4 5 6+
554 284 163 56 32 12 7
14 14
38 35 3
90 46 37 7
115 69 35 10 1
109 55 39 10 3 2
81 30 23 13 10 4 1
53 14 16 11 8 2 2
35 14 7 2 9 2 1
19 7 3 3 1 2 3
Rate of migration per 100 families Total Number of Children Migrating Average Number of Children Migrating per Family
Total 1.5 1,013 1.8
2 (2.0) (14) (1)
3 4.9 41 1.1
4 11.5 141 1.6
5 23.4 173 1.5
6 29.0 185 1.7
7 37.0 181 2.2
8 43.1 133 2.5
9 58.4 88 2.5
10+ (40.4) 57 3.0

 

Table Number 4
– Children migrating from Drohobycz by country

Country Males Females Total
Total 594 419 1,013
Other Towns in Poland 328 275 593
Soviet Union 5   5
Romania 2   2
Yugoslavia 2 1 3
Germany 35 12 47
Austria 54 49 103
Czechoslovakia 21 4 25
Hungary 5 2 7
Switzerland 2 1 3
Belgium 3   3
The Netherlands 2   2
France 17 2 19
United Kingdom 2 1 3
Finland 2   2
Italy 2   2
United States 92 43 135
Brazil 1 1 2
Argentina 8 3 1
Israel 15 7 22
Other Countries 1 1 2

[Page 66]

Table Number 5 – Age Distribution of the Jewish Population:
Drohobycz (1932), Rural areas (1924), Drohobycz and Boryslaw (1921), Lvov District (1931), and Poland (1931)

  Absolute Numbers Percentages
Age Town of Drohobycz 1932 Rural Areas 1924 Drohobycz Rural Drohobycz and Boryslaw Lvov District Poland Jews
  Males Females Total Males Females Total
0-4 238 205 443 96 100 196 3.60 9.30 6.40 8.40 9.60
5-9 554 552 1,106 53 64 117 9.00 5.60 9.70 11.00 11.60
10-14 440 380 820 125 85 210 6.70 10.00 13.10 7.40 8.40
15-19 493 563 1,056 127 134 261 8.60 12.40 12.70 8.70 9.70
20-24 655 759 1,414 103 136 239 11.60 11.40 10.80 10.80 10.60
25-29 619 769 1,388 96 101 197 11.30 9.40 7.90 9.50 9.30
30-34 528 630 1,158 65 60 125 9.40 5.90 12.60 7.90 7.40
35-39 401 475 876 62 52 114 7.20 5.40 11.90 6.60 6.50
40-44 390 423 813 46 63 109 6.60 5.20 5.70 5.50
45-49 313 385 698 49 57 106 5.70 5.00 8.20 5.00 4.80
50-54 361 382 743 54 70 6.10 5.90 4.90 4.30
55-59 300 313 613 51 30 81 5.00 3.80 6.70 4.20 3.70
60-64 216 203 419 68 47 115 3.40 5.50 3.70 3.30
65+ 336 376 712 58 52 110 5.80 5.20 6.10 5.30
Not Specified 679 702 1,381 35 9 44          
Total 6,523 7,117 13,640 1,088 1,060 2,148 100.00 100.00 100.00 99.90 100.00

 

It is a well-known fact that the percent of men migrating to other countries was higher than women.

The main countries of migration were: United States (145), Austria (103), Germany (47), Czechoslovakia (25), and Eretz Israel (22).

This data shows a much lower number of those immigrating to Eretz Israel as compared to data from other sources. It is possible that the differences are due to the fact that those immigrating to Israel did not leave parents behind in Drohobycz, or perhaps the registration was lacking and incomplete or perhaps both.

 

Age Distribution[7]

The First World War had a major impact on the age distribution of the Jewish population as is evident from the various age groups (table number 5). In the Drohobycz rural areas the lowest percentage of the entire population (5.6%) was for the 5 – 9 years olds (those born between 1915 and 1919). The percent for children aged 10 – 14 (10%) and youth aged 15 – 19 (12.7%) are much higher. Similar age distribution results can be seen for Drohobycz, Boryslaw and the surrounding areas from the 1921 census data. The percent of children aged 0 – 4 (born 1916 – 1921) and to a certain extent age group 5 – 9 (born 1911 – 1915) was lower than the age groups of 10 – 14 (born 1906 – 1910) and 15 – 19 (born 1901 – 1905). The effect of the war is also true for the Jews of Drohobycz. The lowest percentages of the population can be seen for the 10-14 (born 1918 – 1922) and 15 – 19 (born 1913 – 1917) age groups. The same can be seen for the Lvov district as well as the entire Jewish population in Poland in 1931.

On the other hand, following the war, we can see an increase in the birth rate. In Drohobycz, ages 5 – 9 (those born 1923 – 1927) (9.4%) and ages 0 -4 (1923 – 1927) (9.3%) in the surrounding areas. However, this was a short lived period. We can see that in the late 1920's there is decrease in the birth rate. In 1931, the percent of children in the age group of 0 – 4 was only 3.6%, which is the lowest in the population. Although it is possible that the registration of births was incomplete, this lower number is definitely a result of lower birth rate.

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In the Lvov district (excluding the city of Lvov), the number of children in the 0 – 4 age group was 8.7% as compared to 11.3% in the 5 – 9 age group. These numbers correspond to the trend in the Jewish Polish population as a whole – 9.6% for ages 0 – 4 as compared to 11.6% for ages 5 – 9.

The numbers of ages 20 – 65 was higher in Drohobycz (66.3%) as compared to the Lvov district (58.3%) and 55.4% in the entire Jewish Polish population. This reflects probably the internal migration of people to the industrial city of Lvov. The percent of people age 65 and older is low in Drohobycz (5.8%), the Lvov district (6.9%) and Poland as a whole (5.3%). These numbers point to the fact that life expectancy was not high among Poland's Jews.

 

Marital Status

The age distributions of men and women over the age of 15 (table 6) by marital status are confirming some of the known facts about the marriage traditions of the Jewish population.

 

Table Number 6 – Population age of 15 and over by sex and marital status in Drohobycz and the Lvov district

Men

Age Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas Lvov District (excluding Lvov)
Single Married Widower Divorced Total Single Married Widower Divorced Total
Total ages 15 and up 50.2 47.4 2.3 0.1 100.0 38.7 56.3 4.7 0.3 100.0
15 – 19 100.0       100.0 99.9 0.1     100.0
20 – 24 96.7 3.3     100.0 96.0 3.9   0.1 100.0
25 – 29 78.4 21.2 0.3 0.1 100.0 68.3 31.2 0.3 0.2 100.0
30 – 34 36.7 62.9 0.4   100.0 27.8 71.5 0.4 0.3 100.0
35 – 39 17.0 82.0 0.8 0.2 100.0 9.4 89.3 0.8 0.5 100.0
40 – 44 11.8 87.5 0.7 100.0 4.3 94.0 1.3 0.4 100.0
45 – 49 7.2 90.6 1.9 0.3 100.0 2.3 95.0 2.3 0.4 100.0
50 – 54 3.7 94.4 1.7 0.2 100.0 1.6 93.2 4.7 0.5 100.0
55 – 59 2.6 91.5 5.7 0.2 100.0 1.1 90.6 8.1 0.2 100.0
60-64 3.6 88.5 7.6 0.3 100.0 0.7 85.2 13.8 0.3 100.0
65 + 3.7 76.2 19.8 0.3 100.0 0.6 64.4 9.5 25.5 100.0

 

Women

Age Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas Lvov District (excluding Lvov)
Single Married Widower Divorced Total Single Married Widower Divorced Total
Total ages 15 and up 47.6 43.4 8.7 .3 100.0 36.5 50.6 12.1 0.8 100.0
15 – 19 99.2 0.8     100.0 99.4 0.6     100.0
20 – 24 90.6 9.1 0.3   100.0 89.7 10.1 0.1 0.1 100.0
25 – 29 62.5 36.9 0.4 0.2 100.0 55.6 43.3 0.4 0.7 100.0
30 – 34 29.9 67.3 2.3 0.5 100.0 18.7 78.1 1.8 1.4 100.0
35 – 39 16.8 80.0 2.5 0.7 100.0 7.1 86.6 4.2 2.1 100.0
40 – 44 8.6 83.0 6.6 1.8 100.0 3.6 85.2 9.4 1.8 100.0
45 – 49 6.3 78.9 13.6 1.4 100.0 1.5 82.3 15.2 1.0 100.0
50 – 54 3.7 79.4 16.0 0.9 100.0 1.5 75.8 21.6 1.1 100.0
55 – 59 3.4 68.9 27.4 0.3 100.0 1.0 69.7 28.8 0.5 100.0
60-64 2.9 64.0 32.6 0.8 100.0 0.8 60.6 38.1 0.5 100.0
65 + 2.6 41.2 55.1 1.1 100.0 0.8 39.7 59.2 0.3 100.0

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The number of singles among both men and women over the age of 50 was very low (less than 4%) meaning that marriage was the rule rather than the exception. Comparing the numbers of singles (both men and women) among the Jews of Drohobycz with the trends in the Lvov district (excluding Lvov) show different patterns. The data from the 1931 census shows that the numbers of singles in Drohobycz was lower than in the Lvov district. The conclusion from this comparison is that people tended to get married later in life in Drohobycz than in the Lvov district.

The low number of widows and widowers in Drohobycz probably stems from the fact that some of these declared themselves single or perhaps the update of data was not complete. Also the numbers for divorces seems very low both in Drohobycz and in the Lvov district. It is possible that some of those who reported to be singles were actually widows, widowers and divorced.

 

Age Differences between Husband and Wife or Bride and Groom

Differences based on husband's age

In most cases the husband was older than the wife in both Drohobycz and the surrounding areas (table 7). On average, the husband was 4 – 6 older than the wife. It is interesting to note that the number of husbands younger than their wives is not negligible especially in the younger ages. In the age group of 25 – 29, 34% of the husbands were younger, 15% were of the same age and only 51% were older than their wives. In older age groups such as 60-69 only 8% of the husbands were younger, 13% of the same age and 79% were older than their wives. Similarly, the age difference between the spouses is greater in the older age group. For the age group of 20 – 25 the average age difference was 1.5 years, whereas for the age group of 60 – 69 the average difference was 5.9 years. The reason is that older men tended to marry younger women.

 

Table Number 7 – Drohobycz and Surroundings Areas Families (percentages)
by Husband's Age and Difference in Age between the Spouses

Husband's Age Husband younger than wife - by years Both of the same age Husband older than wife - by years Average age differences
  1 2 3 4 5+ Total   1 2 3 4 5-9 10-14 15+ Total Younger by years Older by years Total years
20-24 (4.0) (16.0) (8.0) (4.0) (12.0) (44.0) (8.0) (24.0) (8.0) (4.0) (12.0)       (48.0) -(2.1) (2.4) (0.2)
25-29 11.8 9.2 3.4 2.6 7.2 34.2 14.5 7.9 13.8 12.5 3.3 13.2   0.6 51.3 -1.7 3.8 1.5
30-34 4.9 4.1 3.2 3.2 4.9 20.3 13.5 11.3 11.3 9.2 11.2 21.6 1.6   66.2 -1.9 4.3 2.6
35-39 3.7 4 2.7 1.3 2.9 14.6 11.2 5.9 8.3 9.3 9.6 32.8 8.3   74.2 -2.1 5.7 4.1
40-49 3.6 3.4 1.7 1.3 3.1 13.1 9.4 7.2 10.2 7.7 7.8 29.4 13.4 1.8 77.5 -2 6.3 4.9
50-59 2.1 2.4 0.6 1.1 2.6 8.8 10.8 5.5 10.7 6.5 8.9 29.1 13.5 6.2 80.4 -4.1 7 5.4
60-69 2.3 2.3 0.8 0.8 1.5 7.7 12.7 5.8 6.8 9.6 6 26.7 12.9 11.8 79.5 -5.5 7.7 5.9
70+ 1.5 0.7   0.7 2.2 5.1 8.8 2.2 11 8 5.1 29.9 17.5 12.4 86.1 -1.7 8.3 5.9
Total 3.5 3.4 1.7 1.5 3.2 13.3 11.2 6.9 9.9 8.3 8.3 27.3 10.3 4.3 75.5 -3.1 6.4 4.6

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For men aged 60 – 69 12.9% were 10 – 14 years older than their wives and 11.8% were older by 15+ years. Obviously among those aged 20 -24 it is impossible to find 15+ age differences.

After World War One, the number of marriages where the husband was younger than the wife increased and the age differences between husband and wife decreased.

 

Age Differences by Marriage Registration Period

In the registration index cards in Drohobycz we found data about the ages of bride and groom at the time of marriage or the ages of husbands and wives if the registration took place years after the actual marriage. In many cases the registration took place many years after the actual marriage or was not registered at all. Because of this, it is only possible to calculate the age differences and not the ages when the actual marriage took place.

 

Table Number 8 – Couples by Dates of Registration and Age differences between Brides and Grooms (percentages) in Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas and Boryslaw

Year of Registration Husband younger than wife - by years Both of the same age Husband older than wife - by years Average age differences
  1 2 3 4 5+ Total   1 2 3 4 5-9 10-14 15+ Total Younger by years Older by years Total years
Drohobycz
Until 1900 4.7 3.5 3.1 1.6 1.7 14.7 9.5 11.6 13.1 8.9 8.4 20.2 9.4 4.2 75.8 3.0 5.2 3.7
1901- 1918 5.7 4 2.8 2.2 4.5 19.2 8.2 9.8 10.2 8.9 5.9 26.9 7.3 3.6 72.6 2.9 5.4 3.5
1919-1935 5.7 4.2 4.5 2.6 5.6 22.6 6.4 8.7 9.8 7.5 8.6 25.9 7.5 3.0 71.0 2.7 5.5 3.2
Boryslaw
Until 1918 3.3 3.1 1.4 1.6 2.7 12.1 8.9 10.0 7.7 10.9 8.6 31.6 8.4 1.7 78.9 2.7 5.7 4.3
1919-1935 6.2 4.8 3.1 3.1 4.5 21.7 7.0 1.8 6.9 10.9 8.6 27.4 7.8 7.8 71.3 2.9 5.6 3.4

 

From this data (table number 8) it looks that for the marriages recorded until 1900, 14.7% of the grooms were younger than the brides, compared to 22.6% for those registered for the years 1919 – 1935. In Boryslaw, for marriages registered until 1918, 12.2% of the grooms were younger than the brides compared to 21.7% after 1918. At the same time, the average age difference between the bride and groom decreased in both towns, but more so in Boryslaw. In marriages recorded by the end of the 19th century in Drohobycz, the groom was older by 3.7 years than the bride. That difference dropped to an average of 3.2 years for marriages recorded in the years 1919 – 1935. In Boryslaw, the average difference was 4.3 before 1918 and dropped to 3.4 in the years 1919 – 1935. As stated above, these differences stemmed from the fact that many of the grooms were younger than the brides and not because of a true reduction in average age differences. When the groom was older than the bride, there were no differences between marriages that took place until 1900 (5.2 years) and those that took place between the years 1919 – 1935 (5.5 years).

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Age Differences Between Husband and Wife by Husband's Occupation

It is interesting to examine the age differences between husbands and wives based on the husband's occupation which reflect the socio-economic status to a certain extent.

 

Table Number 9 – Families by Husband's Occupation and Age differences between Husbands and Wives for Drohobycz and the Periphery (percentages)

Husband's Occupation Husband Younger Than Wife by Years Both of the Same Age Husband Older Than Wife by Years Average Differences Total Families
Up to Two (2) Years 2-4 5+ Total for Younger Husband Up to Two (2) Years 2-4 5-9 10 + Total for Older Husband Younger Husbands
-Years
Older Husbands
+ Years
Toal for Older Husbands
+ Years
All Occupations 6.8 3.2 3.2 13.2 11.3 16.7 16.5 38.0 4.3 75.5 3.1 6.4 4.6 100.0
Professional & Technical 5.7 3.5 2.2 11.4 8.6 14.0 14.0 48.1 3.9 80.0 2.9 7.2 5.6 100.0
Managers 3.7 2.9 4.4 11.0 10.3 11.8 14.0 49.2 3.7 78.7 4.1 7.0 5.2 100.0
Clerks 6.7 2.4 1.2 10.3 9.2 17.5 14.4 46.6 2.0 80.5 2.4 6.4 5.1 100.0
Merchants 6.2 3.1 3.1 12.4 11.8 18.6 17.1 36.9 3.2 75.8 3.1 5.9 4.3 100.0
Industry & Crafts 6.9 3.1 3.3 13.3 13.5 16.7 15.2 34.9 6.4 73.2 2.9 6.6 4.7 100.0
Unskilled Labor 8.3 4.3 4.3 16.9 9.7 16.9 20.9 32.3 3.3 73.4 3.2 6.0 4.0 100.0
Services 7.1 5.6 1.4 14.1 9.9 8.4 25.3 39.5 2.8 76.0 1.9 6.6 5.0 100.0
Unemployed (2.0) (2.0)   (4.0) -15.6 (21.6) (9.8) (39.2) (9.8) (80.4) 1.0 7.2 6.2 100.0
Not Stated 11.8 2.8 6.1 20.7 10.7 15.4 17.1 30.4 5.7 68.6 3.3 6.4 3.9 100.0

 

We can divide the occupations into two major groups: the intellectuals group that includes professional and technical, managerial and clerical, where the age differences between the spouses was between 5.1 and 5.6 years whereas in the group that includes, merchants, craftsmen, unskilled laborers the age difference was 4.0 and 5.0 years. It is possible that the differences stem from the fact that the intellectuals (as defined above) married at an older age.

 

Family Size and Number of Children

1. Family Size

The two types of data we processed are very different but together they give a very interesting demographic picture. The number of children shows the economic composition of the family per a specific household. We removed all the children with the notations of “outside the home” (those living abroad or in another town) and all the married children (those appear separately in the index cards) from the families lists. By doing so we separated the multi-generations families into one generation. As an example, a family consisting of parents, their married children and their children were divided into two family units.[8] Therefore, when evaluating the family size data, this has to be taken into account with the understanding that it is lacking.

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Comparing the family size in Drohobycz with that of the Lvov district and Israel in 1957[9] we can see a major difference for the number of single persons. 23.3% in Drohobycz, 7.4% in Lvov and 9.9% in Israel. See table 10. However, if we compare families with more than one person, we can see that this number is not different between Drohobycz (4.1) as compared to the Jewish population in Israel (4.0) of European and Asian-African descent. The conclusion is that if we did not separate the Drohobycz families (as explained above), we would get much higher numbers for the size of families in Drohobycz.

 

Table Number 10 – Heads of Households by Gender and number of persons.
Drohobycz (1932)
[10], Lvov District (1931) and Israel (1957)

Number of Persons in Family Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas Lvov District Israel 1957
Absolute Figures Percentages Percentages
Males Females Both Males Females Both
All families 3,598 1,259 4,857 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1 479 662 1,141 13.3 52.6 23.3 7.4 9.9
2 703 171 874 19.6 13.6 18.0 14.2 18.9
3 688 156 844 19.2 19.4 17.4 16.2 21.2
4 713 113 826 20.0 8.8 17.1 19.4 23.5
5 454 86 540 12.6 7.0 11.1 17.0 12.7
6 278 40 318 7.8 3.2 6.6 11.7 5.8
7 146 17 163 4.0 1.4 3.4 7.0 3.1
8 78 10 88 2.9 0.8 1.8 3.8 2.4
9 29 3 32 0.8 0.2 0.7 1.9 1.3
10+ 30 1 31 0.8   0.6 1.4 1.2
Average Including Single (1)
Person Families
3.6 2.3 3.3       4.3 3.7
Average not Including Single (1)
Person Families
4.2 3.7 4.1       4.6 4.0

The number of women as head of household was especially large. Out of 4,857 families about 25% (1,259) were headed by women. If we take into consideration that about 600 were widows or divorcees, then about 600 head of household women were single. Some lived alone and others lived with their brothers and sisters.

 

2. Average Number of Children by Mother's Age

A completely different set of data was gleaned from the family index cards and it relates to the number of living children by the mother's age (See table 11). We need to be very careful when drawing conclusion and making comparisons from these numbers.

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Table Number 11 – Mother's Age[11] and Number of Living Children[12] (Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas)

Mother's Age No Children 1 2 3 4 5 6+ All Families Average Including Families without Children Average Excluding Children
All women age 15+ 15.4 19.2 23.8 15.6 10.5 6.9 8.6 100.0 2.5 3.0
15-19 66.7 33.3           100.0 0.3 1.0
20-24 53.1 34.9 10.5 1.5       100.0 0.6 1.3
25-29 34.1 38.2 21.2 5.3 0.4 0.8   100.0 1.0 1.5
30-34 19.6 28.6 33.2 11.4 5.6 0.8 0.8 100.0 1.6 2.0
35-39 15.0 23.0 28.8 18.7 8.2 4.0 2.3 100.0 2.1 2.4
40-44 11.7 14.4 27.3 19.3 11.7 6.7 8.9 100.0 2.7 3.1
45-49 6.7 12.7 23.1 21.3 14.9 9.0 12.3 100.0 3.1 3.4
50-54 9.0 7.0 17.3 18.0 18.4 13.8 16.5 100.0 3.5 3.9
55-56 6.3 8.3 16.7 17.7 16.7 15.0 19.3 100.0 3.7 4.0
65+ 4.6 8.3 16.7 15.7 16.7 13.9 24.1 100.0 3.9 4.1

 

The estimates may be on the low side because they include only the children that were alive at the time we copied the numbers from the index cards (and not all the children that were born later on). On the other hand we included only families where both parents were alive, thus we did not include all the mothers.

Two important conclusions from the numbers in Table 11:

The number of childless women age 45 and older is relatively low ranging between 4.6% and 9%. Considering the fact that these numbers do not include deceased children we can probably conclude that the number of women who could not give birth was very low.

The second conclusion is the relatively high number of children for the pre-world war one generation. The average number of children for women 50 and older was 3.5. This refers of course to the married women. But even if we take into consideration the single women, widows and divorcees we will find the number of children per woman was pretty consistent. The number of single women in this age group was very low. The number of unmarried women for this age group (widows and divorcees) was about 30% of all women. The number of living children for this group was 2.2 children per woman. Therefore the number of living children per woman was close to 3.2.

The number of children per woman was much lower for the younger generation, those that were married after the war. For women in the age group of 40-49 the average number of children was 2.9. With the widows and divorcees that number was 2.7.

 

3. Average Number of Children Relative to Father's Occupation

Table 12 shows us the differences in the number of children based on the various socio-economic status of the family. For a correct comparison we included only families where the mother was 45 years old or older. The figures do not show major differences between the various groups except for the two extremes: White collar workers (3.0) and Transportation workers (4.6).

It is important to note that these numbers refers mostly to the ages group of pre-world war one.

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Table 12 – Families[13] by Father's Occupation and Number of Living Children for Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas

Father's Occupation No Children 1 2 3 4 5 6+ All Families Average including
Childless Families
Average Excluding
Childless Families
All Occupations 8.2 9.4 16.7 19.7 16.8 12.8 16.4 100.0 3.5 3.8
Professionals, Technical, Managerial and Clerical 7.9 15.0 23.4 19.0 13.7 10.0 11.0 100.0 3.0 3.3
Merchants and Brokers 8.5 16.8 18.5 18.1 12.2 6.6 17.4 100.0 3.5 3.8
Crafts and Industry 5.1 6.2 10.8 27.3 21.6 12.5 16.5 100.0 3.7 3.9
Costruction and Unskilled labor 7.4 9.0 16.4 18.0 15.6 17.2 16.4 100.0 3.5 3.8
Transportaion and Porters 3.2 6.2 15.6 15.6 15.6 15.6 28.2 100.0 4.6 4.7
Miscellanous and Undefined 11.0 8.4 15.6 18.2 14.8 13.5 18.5 100.0 3.5 3.9

 

B. The Economical Characteristics

Breadwinners' percentages

Here we are looking at people who were economically active. Therefore, all dependents, those on welfare, the very young and the very old, housewives and those who were receiving pension, rent, etc. were excluded. This does not mean that all those included were actually employed or active economically. It is likely that people indicated profession/occupation, but they were not in the workforce. Either they never worked in their profession or did not work for a long time. The modern definition of workforce is being actually employed, mostly employed or unemployed but looking for work. Therefore it stands to reason that the number of breadwinners as detailed in table 13 is higher than was the actual situation. On the other hand we did remove those that did not indicate a profession and we assumed they did not belong to the workforce. This assumption is based on the fact that many young people did not work and were actually dependent on their parents.

Although the definition for employment in Drohobycz was different than the “modern definition” (see above paragraph) data shows that there is not much difference between the male workforce in Drohobycz (75%) as compared to the Jewish male workforce in Israel (80%). There is however difference in the female work force in Drohobycz (11%) as compared to the female workforce in Israel (28%).

The numbers of the unemployed (37), those living from rent, pension, etc. (32) seem to be low and we suspect that some of them were included in the “undefined”.

 

Economic Background[14]

In his article, Dr. Gelber discusses the occupations of Drohobycz Jews in the 19th century and the period before world war one. The discussion encompasses the development of industry and crafts in town dominated by the mining of salt, wax and oil. The town was dominated not only by craftsmen such as tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, upholsterers and glaziers, but also by industry workers such as tinsmiths, welders, and coppersmiths in addition to non-skilled workers in the mines and oil industry. In time, the center of mining and industry moved to Boryslaw, the well-known oil town.

[Page 74]

Table Number 13 – Employment Characteristics by Gender and Age in Drohobycz (percentages)

Men
Age All 15+ 15-19 20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
In Workforce 75.2 24.5 62.5 79.0 91.0 91.4 89.4 70.0
Students 6.9 36.0 16.1 3.2        
Dependents 1.2 3.2 1.2 0.8   0.1 2.5 2.4
Undefined 16.7 36.3 20.2 17.0 9.0 8.5 8.1 27.6
All Males 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Women
In Workforce 10.9 7.1 23.1 13.9 6.4 7.2 7.4 8.3
Students 6.7 41.6 13.9 1.1        
Undefined 82.4 51.3 66.0 85.0 93.6 92.8 92.6 91.7
All Females 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

 

Based on the 1931 census, 68% of the entire population in Boryslaw, 41% in Drohobycz and 34% in the Lvov district (excluding Lvov) were employed in the mines and the oil industry. Drohobycz became a commerce center (17%) and services for the agricultural neighboring areas.

 

Occupation

In the 1930's, as gleaned from the index cards, the Jewish occupation picture in Drohobycz was different than the rest of the general population and even the Jewish population in Poland[15] (Table 14). Out of more than 3,900 men (15 years old and older) whose occupation was indicated, 1,285 (33.2%) were in commerce: about 800 merchants, 220 peddlers, and about 200 agents and other commerce workers. 1,127 men in crafts and industry (29%), 722 were employed in tailoring and textiles, 270 mechanics, 243 carpenters and construction workers and 188 were in the food industry.

Out of the rest of the occupations 13.9% were in administration and clerical, 9.4% were professionals, and 9.9% were unskilled laborers, including porters.

If we divide all the workers into two general groups we find that “white collar” workers (including merchants) were 56% whereas crafts and industry, services and laborers were 44%. In Israel, the “white collar” workers are 39% whereas workers in the fields of industry, transportation, agriculture and services are 61%.

 

Changes in the Occupations

Table 15 describes the changes in occupations for Drohobycz and Boryslaw families based on the information of marriage registration. These numbers do not reflect the complete occupational picture because they were extracted for marrying men. As we will see below, the composition of occupations changes by age. It should be noted that the number of those who did not register is not insignificant. It is highly likely that those who did not register belonged to a lower socio-economic group. The numbers from the marriages registration in Drohobycz for the years 1919 – 1935 show that 20% of the grooms were in crafts and industry and 45% worked in commerce. The numbers extracted from the index cards showed 29% and 33% respectively. Therefore it is only possible to make a historical comparison based on age groups assuming that these will provide information about the occupations of all workers.

[Page 75]

Table Number 14 – Males Aged 15 and Up by Occupation (Drohobycz and Periphery)

Occupation All Age 15+ Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Numbers Percentages
All Occupations 5,125 1,175 1,243 806 777 633 401 22.9 24.2 17.5 15.2 12.3 7.9
Professional & Technical 366 27 104 91 87 33 24 7.4 28.4 24.8 23.8 9.0 6.6
Managers & Business Owners 148 1 15 30 36 39 27 0.6 10.1 20.3 24.3 26.4 8.3
Clerical 391 28 127 110 64 44 18 7.2 32.4 28.1 16.4 11.3 4.6
Merchants & Agents 1,285 120 301 293 262 203 106 9.3 23.5 22.8 20.4 15.8 8.2
Crafts & Manufacturing 1,127 278 280 196 165 142 66 24.8 24.8 17.5 14.6 12.6 5.7
Unskilled Workers 366 35 121 69 64 74 23 9.1 31.3 17.9 16.6 19.2 5.9
Services 177 48 35 23 33 27 11 27.1 19.8 13.0 18.6 15.3 6.2

 

Table Number 15 – Grooms by Occupation and Marriage Registration Year Drohobycz and Boryslaw
1880 – 1935

Occupation Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas Boryslaw
Until 1900 1901-1918 1919-1935 Until 1918 1919-1935
All Occupations 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Professional & Technical 8.9 4.3 6.2 2.9 3.9
Managers & Business Owners 18.8 4.8 2.1 15.5 1.2
Clerical 10.9 9.0 15.2 4.4 16.2
Merchants & Agents 42.3 39.3 45.0 42.4 38.4
Crafts & Manufacturing 10.7 24.1 20.5 9.1 15.8
Unskilled Workers 2.2 15.1 8.4 12.2 22.3
Services 5.2 3.4 2.6 13.5 2.2

[Page 76]

The main differences that can be gleaned from these numbers show a decrease in the number of managers (including business owners) and increase in the number of clerical workers and those in the crafts and manufacturing sectors in both Drohobycz and Boryslaw. These numbers show the changes in the economic structure for the Jews in the two cities. With the growth of industry and the establishment of bigger factories, the numbers of managers and owners of smaller factories decreased and the numbers of clerical and professional workers in the growing industries increased. This is a well -established phenomenon for developing industries.

 

Occupation by Age

The age distribution of the various occupations depends on the ages of entering and exiting the work force for a particular occupation. There is a low number of managers and business owners for the lower ages (only 0.6% were managers for ages 25 and under). However, there was a tendency to continue in these occupations for many years (18.3% were aged 65+). On the other hand, those in crafts and industry entered the workforce at a relatively young age (24.8% were 25 years old or younger) and stopped working at an earlier age (only 5.7% were 65 years old or older).

These differences may reflect the changing occupation trends for the younger generations. Many of the younger people preferred more productive occupations.

 

Table Number 16 – Children's occupation designation by Father's Occupation for Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas

Father's Occupation All Children Occupation Indicated Students Not Stated
Numbers Percentages
All Occupations 5,394 100.0 18.7 18.7 62.6
Professional and Technical 275 100.0 15.2 26.2 58.6
Managers and Business Owners 279 100.0 15.8 17.3 66.9
Clerical 292 100.0 18.3 35.9 45.8
Merchants and Agents 1,825 100.0 16.8 21.4 61.8
Crafts and Industry 1,378 100.0 17.8 15.2 67.0
Unskilled Workers 561 100.0 27.2 14.8 58.0
Services 134 100.0 23.9 19.4 56.7
Unemployed 174 100.0 13.3 9.7 77.0
Not stated 475 100.0 29.0 12.2 68.8

 

Father's and Children's Occupations

In working with this data, every father was counted for each of his children who were 15 years old or older. Among the children we included also those that left Drohobycz as the intent was to show the occupation trends for all children. Therefore the numbers refer to a whole generation. Fathers that were unemployed were also included and among the children we included students and those whose occupation was not specified. This number was especially high among girls and women.

From table 16 we can see that except for a few professions, there is a correlation between the father's and children's occupations. Two trends are clear from these numbers: The tendency to improve the socio-economic status in the younger generation as well as a tendency towards more “productive” occupations. Large number of the children leaned towards the professions and technical occupations (including large number of high school students). This is especially seen among the children of managers, clerks and merchants. Generally more men than women were in the technical and professional occupations.

The numbers for craftsmen and skilled industry workers were higher for the children than for their parents. About 40% of the children were in crafts and industry as compared to just over 20% for the parents. Among those that selected these occupations 55% were the children of craftsmen, 29% were children of merchants and 57% were children of unskilled workers/laborers. For this last group, selecting craftsmanship as an occupation meant improving their socio-economic standing.

[Page 77]

C. Educational Level – Level of Secular Education

Educational Level by Age and Gender

Table Number 17 – Children Aged 15 and Up (with stated Occupation) by Father's Occupation and their Own Occupation for Drohobycz and Surrounding Areas

Father's Occupation Total Professional and Technical Managers and Business Owners Clerical Merchants and Agents Crafts and Industry Unskilled Workers Services
All Occupations 100.0 9.1 0.9 12.2 27.9 39.2 7.3 3.4
Professional and Technical (100.0) (40.5)   (11.8) (16.7) (26.2)   (4.8)
Managers and Business Owners 100.0 15.9 9.1 20.5 43.1 9.1   2.3
Clerical 100.0 26.4 1.9 20.8 18.9 28.3 3.7  
Merchants and Agents 100.0 10.1 1.0 11.8 43.3 28.5 4.6 0.7
Crafts and Industry 100.0 2.0   10.2 23.6 54.5 8.1 1.6
Unskilled Workers 100.0     6.6 8.5 56.6 18.4 9.9
Services 100.0 12.5     25.0 37.5 3.1 21.9
Unemployed 100.0 13.2   16.5 28.5 33.0 7.7 1.1

 

This data was processed for the entire population of 15 year olds and older.

Table 18 shows the level of secular education among the Jewish population but does not reflect the actual educational level. In most European countries, there is no difference between the official education and the actual educational level as most of the population got their education through schools. However, this is not the case for the Jewish population in Eastern Europe before the World War One. Many received their Hebrew-Religious education and sometimes even the secular education (such as the local language (German or Polish depending on the area) and math in the “Talmud Torah” or privately. For people who indicated they cannot read or write, it does not mean they were illiterate. Most of them could read and write Yiddish and some had knowledge of the local language. The lists we copied from did not indicate if the lack of knowledge referred to the Polish or other language. Only when a person cannot read or write in any language at all he or she is considered illiterate.

The data here is very interesting because it gives an indication about the educational level by age, gender and occupation.

About 10% of men and about 13% of women were illiterate (Table 18). The numbers were higher for the older population, a phenomenon known around the world. Among those 65 and older, 44% of the men and 59% of the women were illiterate.

These percentages of illiteracy are lower than in the general population in the Drohobycz, Boryslaw and the surrounding area villages. Based on the 1931 census, the illiteracy rate among the men was 21% and over 33% for women. The illiteracy among the Jewish population in Drohobycz was similar to that found in the general population in Drohobycz and Boryslaw – 10% for men and 16% for women.

[Page 78]

Table Number 18 – Population age 15 and Up by Age, Gender and Education Level

Age Total Write and Read Only Elementary School High School Higher Education Not Stated Write and Read Only Elementary School High School Higher Education
Yes No Grade 4 Grade 5-8 Yes No Grade 4 Grade 5-8
Men
Total Numbers Percentages
15+ 4,632 365 165 1,217 860 683 276 1,066 10.2 4.6 34.1 24.1 19.2 7.8
15-24 1,160 14 19 236 300 178 9 404 1.9 2.5 31.2 39.6 23.6 1.2
25-34 1,151 25 18 283 277 258 95 195 2.6 1.9 29.6 29.0 27.0 9.9
35-44 793 43 21 262 133 116 85 133 6.5 3.1 39.7 20.2 17.6 12.9
45-54 675 67 40 198 100 77 60 133 12.4 7.3 36.5 18.5 14.2 11.7
55-64 516 113 43 164 41 41 13 101 27.2 10.4 39.5 8.2 9.9 3.1
65+ 337 103 24 74 9 13 14 100 43.5 10.1 31.2 3.8 5.5 5.9
Women
Total Numbers Percentages
15+ 4,803 517 91 969 1,855 462 55 1,350 13.2 2.3 24.5 46.9 11.7 1.4
15-24 1,226 16 9 157 479 177 5 383 1.9 1.0 18.6 57.0 21.0 0.5
25-34 1,184 19 14 218 659 180 34 60 1.7 1.2 19.4 58.7 16.0 3.0
35-44 780 68 14 191 367 71 12 7 9.5 1.9 26.4 50.7 9.8 1.7
45-54 953 110 26 203 229 19 3 3 18.6 4.4 34.4 38.8 3.2 0.6
55-64 593 141 17 125 98 10 1 1 36.0 4.3 31.9 25.0 2.6 0.2
65+ 277 163 11 75 23 5     58.8 4.0 27.1 8.3 1.8  

 

The illiteracy among the non-Jewish population and the villagers was higher – 29% among the men and 45% among the women.

We are also finding a higher percentage of Jewish men who attended high school (without indicating if they completed their studies) and higher education: 19% attended high school and 7% enrolled in higher education compared to 12% and 1% respectively among the women. It is worth noting that the percent of Jewish high school student was relatively high compared to the general non-Jewish population and even to the numbers in Israel.

Another interesting phenomenon is the high percentage (47%) of all female students (ages 15 and up) in grades 5 – 8. It can be deduced that a girl entering an elementary school would have normally graduated. That is different for boys, who in many cases dropped-out after the 4th grade. This was most common before world war one as can be gleaned from the numbers for men ages 35 and up. This still continued to a certain degree even after the war (see values for ages 15 – 24). It had a lot to do with the state of mind in those days and also on the possibilities of education (as described in dr. Gelber's article).

The percentage of girls in high school increased after the establishment of the all-girls high school in Drohobycz. 21% of female students ages 15 – 24 was not much different the 23.6% for boys in that age group. That is in contrast to the situation that existed before the war (ages 45 – 54) where 14% of the men and only 1% of the women attended high-school.

After the war the number of women in higher education increased somewhat whereas the number of men in this category decreased somewhat. Among the men ages 35 – 44, 12.9% had a higher education degree whereas among the 25 – 34 years old only 9.9% had such a degree. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that certain percentage of young men studied abroad and after completing their studies did not return to Drohobycz and thus did not register with the community.

[Page 79]

Table Number 19 – Population Age 15 and up by Occupation and Education Level

Fathers and children of both genders (does not include mothers)

Occupation Total Read and Write Elementary School High School Higher Education
Numbers Percentages No Yes Up to 4th grade Grades 5-8
All Occupations 4,570[16] 100.0 8.3 3.7 30.5 34.5 16.8 6.2
Professional and Technical 319 100.0 2.6 4.7 8.8 6.9 12.2 64.8
Managers and Business Owners 81 100.0 4.9 6.3 33.3 13.6 33.3 8.6
Clerical 363 100.0   1.2 6.6 28.8 55.5 7.9
Merchants and Agents 930 100.0 7.6 7.7 38.8 29.7 14.6 1.6
Crafts and Industry 932 100.0 6.2 2.7 46.5 37.6 6.6 0.4
Unskilled Workers 315 100.0 32.3 5.4 41.6 18.2 2.5  
Services 142 100.0 25.4 5.6 41.6 24.6 2.8  
Not Stated 1,486 100.0 6.9 1.7 22.0 48.1 19.6 1.7

 

Education Level and Occupation

Generally there is a correlation between the level of education and the occupation (Table 19). The highest level of education, namely 65% can be found among those in the professional and technical occupations (doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.). On the other hand, higher education is almost non-existent among the unskilled and service workers, merchants and craftsmen. In these occupations, the percent of illiteracy and education up to the 4th grade is relatively high. Among the managers, business owners and clerks 8%-9% had higher education. 33% among the managers and business owners, and 55% among the clerks had high school education.

The managers and business owners can be divided into two groups: More than third had low level of education (up to the 4th grade). The second group (42%) had high school and higher education levels. However, the numbers with grades 5 – 8 education level in these occupations is quite low (14% compared to about 30% among the clerks and merchants).

It is also interesting to note that among those where occupation is “not stated” there is relatively a high number with grades 5 – 8 (22%) and high school education (48%). It is possible that among those are young people who have not entered the work force yet, were not married and were dependent economically on their parents[17].

 

Husband and Wife Education

In most cases there was a “match” between the husband and wife's education levels. Table 20 shows a series of three sets of numbers. The lower level of the table shows the women's educational level distribution based on the husband's level of education.

13.4% of women married illiterate men. Among those with educational level of 4th grade, 66% of women married men with the same educational level. Among women with high school education 41% married men with the same educational level whereas 39% married men with higher education level. Among women with high school education there was a tendency to marry more educated men.

[Page 80]

Table Number 20 – Couples by Educational Level of Husbands and Wives

Includes only families where both spouses are alive

Wife's Education Level
Husband's Education Level All Wives or Couples Literacy Elementary School High School Higher Education
No Yes Up to Grade 4 Grades 5-8
All Husbands 1,683[18] 235 55 482 737 158 20
Literacy No 225 131 4 70 16    
Yes 105 20 32 22 29 2  
Up to 4th Grade 677 67 10 319 275 6  
Grades 5-8 307 9 6 46 222 24  
High School 239   1 23 149 64 2
Higher Education 130   2 2 46 62 18
 
Percentages of Husbands by Wife's Education Level
All Husbands 100.0 13.6 3.2 29.2 43.9 8.9 1.2
Literacy No 100.0 59.9 1.8 31.2 7.1    
Yes 100.0 19.0 30.6 20.9 27.6 1.9  
Up to 4th Grade 100.0 9.9 1.5 47.1 40.6 0.9  
Grades 5-8 100.0 2.9 2.0 14.9 72.4 7.8  
High School   100.0 0.4 9.6 72.4 26.8 0.8
Higher Education   100.0 1.5 1.5 35.5 47.7 13.8
 
Percentages of Wives by Husband's Education Level
All Husbands 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Literacy No 13.4 58.4 7.3 14.6 2.2    
Yes 6.3 8.7 58.2 4.6 3.9 1.3  
Up to 4th Grade 40.2 29.0 18.2 66.2 37.3 3.8
Grades 5-8 18.2 3.9 10.9 9.5 30.2 15.1  
High School 14.2   1.8 4.8 20.2 40.6 10.0
Higher Education 7.7   3.6 0.4 6.2 39.2 90.0

 

The highest number of students enrolled in higher education was among the children of the managers and business owners – 13%, whereas the numbers are minute for the children of craftsmen, industry workers ad laborers (Table 21). The same pattern can be seen for high school education: 10% of children of craftsmen, industry workers and laborers were enrolled in high school whereas the numbers were 40%-60% for managers, business owners and professionals.

High school and higher education expenses were high.

[Page 81]

In addition, there were limitations on the numbers of Jewish students that were allowed to enroll in institutions of higher education in Poland (numerus clausus) and in many cases the youth had to go abroad to study. Only in rare cases could a child of a poor family continue his or her studies. In many cases the oldest child had to drop out of school to help support the family. The cases where a child from a poor family was able to break the cycle were few and far between and made a great impression on the community.

 

Table Number 21– Father's Occupation and Education Level of Children

This data is only for families where the eldest son was 15 years old and older

Father's Occupation Total Literacy Elementary School High School Higher Education
Numbers Percentages No Yes 4th Grade Grade 5-8
All Occupations 2,036 100.0 1.4 1.0 2.6 48.6 24.2 4.2
Professional and Technical 100 100.0 3.9 4.9 5.9 41.2 38.2 5.9
Managers and Business Owners 92 100.0     10.9 26.1 50.0 13.0
Clerical 275 100.0     4.6 22.2 59.3 13.9
Merchants and Agents 663 100.0 0.7 0.6 14.5 50.9 29.1 4.2
Crafts and Industry 387 100.0 0.5 0.5 29.3 57.6 11.6 0.5
Unskilled Workers 276 100.0 1.9 1.4 40.2 50.7 5.4 0.4
Services 60 100.0     16.6 75.1 8.3  
Unemployed 193 100.0 4.2 2.9 20.2 46.4 19.7 6.6

 

Translator's Footnotes
  1. The statistical calculations and processing was performed by Mr. Alexander Gersten a Boryslaw native and currently a student at the Hebrew University under the supervision of Ms. Malka Segev and Mr. Amnon Kotler both from the Central Bureau of Statistics. Our thanks go to all of them.
    Special thanks to Dr. N. M. Gelber the editor of this Yizkor book. It is due to his initiative that the organization of Drohobycz, Boryslaw and the surrounding areas appropriated the funds to process this data. I thank the organization and its chairperson Dr. Simcha Margalit. Return
  2. Our thanks to Yad Vashem who provided this list Return
  3. Only number of houses was provided. The rest of the numbers refer to number of persons. Based on historical data, the average number of persons per house was 5. Therefore 15x5 = 75 Return
  4. The decline between 1910 and 1921 may be a result of changes to the sub-district boundaries Return
  5. It was a well-known tendency to search for a spouse from out of town of residence Return
  6. The number of children is 6916. Including those who left, the total number of children in Drohobycz and the surrounding areas amount to 7929 Return
  7. The data for Drohobycz Jews refers to the year 1932 whereas the data for the surrounding areas refers to the year 1924. This has to be taken into consideration while analyzing the data. Return
  8. It was necessary to take this approach due to the fact that the young families were also registered separately and it was difficult to correlate them to their parents' families. Families registration was conducted on a biological demographic basis Return
  9. Based on labor data; See Israeli Statistical Publication , February 1958 Return
  10. Does not include the town of Lvov Return
  11. Including only families where both parents are alive Return
  12. All children including those who left the household Return
  13. Mother's age is 45+ Return
  14. Please see The History of Drohobycz Jews by Dr. Gelber Return
  15. It is not possible to compare the economic information from the 1931 census to the information from the index cards. Return
  16. Does not include children where education level was not stated Return
  17. Refer to table 14 with data for men only Return
  18. Excluding couples where education level of husband or wife was not stated Return

 

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