Studies in Polish Jewry Polin (Volume Seventeen) – The Shtetl: Myth and Reality

The shtetl is one of the key concepts of our understanding of the Jewish past in the eastern Europe. Although today most Jews live in big cities, the majority of Jews in Poland historically lived in villages and small towns known as shtetls; even as late as 1931, only 43 per cent lived in towns with a population of more than 20,000. The shtetl was thus the main context and area for Jewish life in Poland, but much of what we know of shtetl life comes from literary accounts rather than historical research.