A large role in this process was played by women, who were holders of capital and entered into contracts on their own, e.g. by establishing partnership companies. The confessional-ethnic affiliation of entrepreneurs and management bodies is the main reason for calling businesses "Jewish companies."

As of 2019, the Institute of Judaic Studies at the Jagiellonian University is conducting a research project entitled. "The role of Jews in the economic life of Krakow and its surroundings in the autonomous period," funded by NCN, project number 2018/31/B/HS3/03657.

Within the framework of the project, we are researching Jewish entrepreneurship in Krakow and its surroundings in the Galician period (1866-1914). Our goal is to explore the little-known socio-economic history of the city and write well-documented micro-histories that break the traditional way of writing about Jews exclusively within cultural, political and religious studies and Holocaust research. We are making use of new sources that have only recently become available, such as the records of the chamber of commerce and industry or the commercial register, and to a greater extent press materials. We try to base our research not only on the literature, but also on little-known professional German-language publications from the second half of the 19th century. We put emphasis on contextualizing the personalities and processes described within the framework of macro-history and Jewish studies, e.g. taking into account economic changes, development of transportation (especially railroad) and customs policies of the monarchy, but also changes within Judaism, or the acculturation process.

We highlight the so-called "alternative path of industrialization" associated with the development of the Galician food industry and the construction sector, which differs from the focus on the development of heavy industry. Taking into account wide dispersion of sources, we chose an "individualistic" approach: we dealt with specific industrialists and factories located in the western periphery of Kraków, in the city center and in the neighboring Podgórze. This resulted in pioneering studies of industrialists, artisans and activists of the economic self-government: Dattner (timber and food industry), Hochstim (stonemasonry industry), Przeworski (coal industry), Baruch (milling and construction), Liban (construction and chemical industry), and an article on the development of the suburban municipality of Półwsie Zwierzynieckie. In addition, we analyzed aspects of commercial law, changes in legislation (including the Austrian Industrial Act of 1859), credit policy, association opportunities and marketing campaigns.

Entrepreneurs were active in politics at the local level, in city government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and had an established and sometimes dominant position in these institutions. They also sat on expert imperial collegiate bodies like the state railroad council. At the beginning of the 20th century, they willingly joined the emerging unions and organizations of factory industry and other bodies influencing industrial activity. The unresolved question remains whether, despite their relatively large capitals and economic importance, they influenced policy towards the region, and whether they were noticeable in this policy at all.

Our project is coming to its end, and we are planning a final publication. To facilitate its preparation, we plan to hold a mini-conference/online workshop 6-7. July 2023. In the first part, we would like to ask participants for short papers summarizing their research on Jewish entrepreneurship. In the second part, we would like to present our own theses, point out specific research problems, and ask for constructive criticism, suggestions and hints that could help us in editing the texts.

We would be grateful if interested researchers would send us a proposal for a lecture by March 30, 2023.

Przemysław Zarubin (project manager and conference organizer): przemyslaw.zarubin@uj.edu.pl
Hanna Kozińska-Witt: kozinska@web.de
Alicja Maslak-Maciejewska: alicja.maslak@uj.edu.pl