Anti-Jewish Laws in Poland

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"As I told you, my father was a kosher butcher… In 1936, after the death of the Polish Marshal Pilsudski, who was the de facto leader of the Polish government who tried to enforce laws protecting the minority-- after his death in 1936, the Polish government issued a decree. Originally they wanted to totally do away with ritual slaughter, but... they came to an agreement that they would allow one third of what was used before for ritual slaughter to be available to Jews for slaughter. My father was a butcher. He could not make a living by selling one third of the amount of meat that he was selling before. So economically things had become much more difficult for us at that time."

Ediitor's note: The death of Marshal Pilsudski and the passing of anti-Jewish legislation, including the ban on ritual slaughter and educational quotas, occurred in 1935. Norbert had already moved with his family to the smaller town of Bielsko-Biala, near Krakow, because Norbert's father thought it would be more affordable.