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M . J . Rosman The Jews as Latifundium Residents Background : Jews in Poland The roots of the Jewish community in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Poland go back to the twelfth century , when the first signs of organized , albeit small and not very financially secure , communities appear . The indications are that the nuclei for the Jewish settlements were wealthy Jews from Ashkenaz who worked for the Polish kings as minters , bankers , or commercial agents . Such rich individuals probably attracted a complement of petty servants , tradesmen , merchants , and religious functionaries who formed the early communities . Poland's atmosphere of religious toleration made it an attractive land of settlement for Jews aiming to avoid religiously inspired persecution in Western Europe . These Jews typified a general trend in Poland during the twelfth , thirteenth , and fourteenth centuries — the so-called foreign colonization . Advances in agricultural technology and the integration of peasan...
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