The Jewish population, who arrived in Poland in the 11th century, constituted one tenth
of the population in the Second Polish Republic. They had the constitutionally guaranteed
right to freely profess the Mosaic religion, including ritual baths. Water, understood
as a symbol of spiritual purification, is present in all the main religions of the world.
However, it occupies a special place in Judaism. The mikvah, a ritual bath, is required in
many cases of spiritual and physical uncleanness. In Poland, reborn after the partitions,
Jewish mikvahs constituted more than half of all bathing establishments – public baths.
Pursuant to the regulations governing the functioning of Jewish communities, introduced
in 1919, their duty was to maintain ritual baths. Subsequent regulations defined
this activity only in terms of the competence of the religious community. Commercial
mikvahs were taxed like ordinary businesses. In the interwar period, sanitary regulations
concerning mikvahs were included in two ordinances – in 1921 and in 1936. The latter
regulation was in force until 2002, i.e. in three different forms of Polish statehood.
Pursuant to the 1997 Act on the State’s Relationship to Jewish Religious Communities
in the Republic of Poland, Jewish communities still care for ritual baths.