ABSTRACT
The current chapter builds upon the analyses and classification of the variety of Jewish lifestyles from the following standpoints: profession, religion, migrations – provenience and migration plans, material status and political views. These are required to support the central thesis, which presents Polish Jewish society between wars as an early example of modern complexity. The resulting framework enables recognising the lifestyle individuals or families led, which influenced the choices referring to the preferred living place. A summary of the main threads of formal urban planning through the ages follows. It gives us the backdrop to grasp the diachronic complexity. Against this backdrop, we look at the development of Jewish settlements in a quest for their specific features. The final part showcases the state of Jewish settlements in the interwar period, the complexity of which is the result both of previous development and, at the same time, the outcome of modernisation processes.
