Abstract
Historically, many Polish Jews lived in shtetls, villages and small towns, but little of what we know about shtetl life comes from historical research. Topics in this volume include the role of the shtetl in integration, their existence under Russian/USSR and Polish rule, how they changed culturally in the early twentieth century, how they maintained their social relationships, and how they were portrayed in literature. Contributors offer work on correspondence from shtetl residents, the 1936 incidents in Przytyk, and Jewish prisoner labor in Warsaw after the Ghetto uprising.