Description
Book SynopsisThis quantitative study of Piotrków Trybunalski traces the evolution of the population in the typical early modern semi-agrarian town in which the majority of activity was concentrated in the Jewish suburbs into a provincial capital in Congress Poland. Through the use of longitudinal aggregations and family reconstruction it explores fertility, mortality, and marriage patterns from the early nineteenth century, when civil records were introduced, until the Holocaust, revealing key differences as well as striking similarities between local Jews and non-Jews. The example of Piotrków set in a broader European context highlights variations in the pre-transitional demography of Ashkenazi Jewry and lack of universal model describing the “traditional” or “eastern European” Jewish family.
Table of ContentsNote on Place Names and Their Transliteration Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables Abbreviations Introduction 1 Quality of Vital Registration 1 Legal and Ideological Context 2 Sex Ratio at Birth as a Quality Measure 3 Regional Perspective 4 Local Perspective 5 Additional Indicators of Registration Quality 6 Causes of Under-Registration 7 Vital Registration in Piotrków Trybunalski 8 Conclusions 2 The Jewish Town of Piotrków 1 What Is a Shtetl? 2 The Twin-Town 3 Economic Conditions 4 Social Inequalities 5 Naming Patterns and Social Attitudes 6 Population Dynamics 7 Conclusions 3 Marriage and Household Formation 1 Quality of Marriage Registration 2 Age at Marriage 3 Permanent Celibacy 4 Marriage and Socio-Economy 5 Remarriage 6 Divorce 7 Household Formation 8 Endogamy and Social Networks 9 Conclusions 4 Births and Fertility 1 Marital Fertility 2 Premarital Conceptions and First Birth Interval 3 Birth Intervals and Spacing 4 Nonmarital Births 5 Conclusions 5 Deaths and Mortality 1 Infant and Child Mortality 2 Distribution of Age at Death 3 Breastfeeding, Mortality and Natural Increase 4 Maternal Mortality 5 Causes of Death 6 Local Health Care 7 Conclusions Conclusions Bibliography Archival Primary Sources Printed Primary Sources Data Sources for Figures 3–7 Secondary Sources
