Życie codzienne bezrobotnych w Zagłębiu Dąbrowskim w okresie międzywojennym
Daily life of the unemployed in Dąbrowa Basin in the interwar period

Author(s): Mateusz Radomski
Subject(s): Modern Age, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010)
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: unemployed; Dąbrowa Basin; Great Depression; poverty; social assistance
Summary/Abstract: The article describes a problem of unemployment in the interwar period in the Dąbrowa Basin. It shows how this phenomenon was developing during the years from regaining independence in 1918 to its loss in 1939. In fact, the greatest intensity of this problem falls on the years 1930–1935, during the Great Depression. Unemployment was particularly strong in the Dąbrowa Basin, due to the large number of industrial plants. The article raises issues related to daily life of unemployed inhabitants of this area. It relates to matters such as poverty, social assistance but most of all, it refers to attempts at coping with this reality. The author shows how the unemployed tried to earn their living, not always legally, e.g. by begging, stealing or illegal coal mining. It all adds up to the difficult history of this period. The article uses archives, the press of that time and diaries of the inhabitants.

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