Three Worlds, Three Lives

Abstract

Samuel Iwry (pronounced “EE-vree”) was born into the eastern region of Poland, which since 1797 had been occupied by the Russian Empire. Western Poland had been divided between Austria and Prussia. When Poland became an independent republic after World War I, its many decades under foreign rule were readily apparent. Not only was Poland a mosaic of ethnic minorities, but the Poles living under the Tsars barely recognized those living under the Austrians. The new country inherited six different currencies. The war had left the land devastated and looted, and a third of the population was near starvation. Yet the country’s economic and political achievements between the two world wars were stunning.