We should be talking not so much about Vilnius itself as about the region of Vilnius, the south-eastern part of Lithuania together with the city of Vilnius. After WWI, this territory went from one occupying power to another: when Lithuania declared its independence on 16 February 1918, Vilnius once again became the capital of Lithuania, although it was under the rule of the Germans almost until the end of the year. Soon after the Germans retreated (around the same time the Government moved to Kaunas as well), in early 1919 Vilnius was occupied by the Poles, and later by the Bolsheviks, who only in July 1920 recognised that Vilnius belonged to Lithuania. The international community quickly did as well. However, after the 1920 coup, the Vilnius region was incorporated into Poland. It stayed there until 1939. So, what money was circulating in Poland-occupied Vilnius?
Polish mark, 1920–1923
At that time, the marks issued by the Polish domestic loan fund, which had been issued in Poland since 1917, were circulating here. They were equated with and pegged to German marks (at the exchange rate of 1:1). A similar situation occurred a little later in Lithuania, when the local money introduced by the Germans, and pegged to the German mark (ostroubles and ostmarks) was still in force after the declaration of independence. However, if in Lithuania it was essentially money issued by the occupying powers, with their symbols and texts, in Poland, despite being issued under German supervision, the money had Polish texts and Polish symbolism. Early banknotes depict Polish eagles and symbolic figures as well as Polish writing. Banknotes issued after 1919 also depicted important Polish persons who were also closely related to Lithuania. The 1, 20, and 500 marks depicted the Queen of Poland, Jadvyga, wife of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Jogaila, the King of Poland and cousin of Vytautas the Great, while Tadas Kosciuška, the world-famous military engineer, general of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, organiser of the uprising against the Russian Empire, was depicted on the 1/2, 5, 10, 100, and 1,000 denomination marks. It is interesting that in 1920, when the 5,000-mark banknote was issued, both of these individuals were on it.
Thus, this money was also circulating in Vilnius when it was connected to Poland. This was the case before the 1924 Polish monetary reform, which had to be carried out as a result of the rapid fall in the exchange rate of the German mark (and thus the Polish mark). In 1919, 60 Polish marks were equated to one US dollar, and at the end of 1923, USD 1 was equal to 5,000,000 marks.
Polish zlotys 1924–1939
A monetary reform was carried out in April 1924. Zloty and grosz — 1/100 of the zloty — issued by the Bank of Poland and backed with gold, appeared in circulation. Marks were exchanged for zlotys at a very high rate — one zloty was paid for 1,800,000 marks. It was the second issue of zlotys after the end of the Kingdom of Poland in the 19th century (zlotys were issued during the uprisings against the Russian empire). In the past, the zloty was equated with 30 grosz, but now the situation had changed and the zloty was equated with 100 grosz (groats).
Several issues were issued. On the banknotes, we could also see personalities related to Lithuania: the aforementioned Queen Jadvyga, and another woman appeared on different issues and denominations — a noblewoman born in Vilnius, famous participant of the 1831 uprising, Emilija Pliaterytė.
Salaries and prices in the interwar period in Vilnius
Of course, there should be more research and a broader article on this topic, since the interwar period lasted almost 20 years, and during this time the situation changed due to inflation, shifting lifestyles, and other factors. However, we will still mention a few features.
Vilnius was a city on the outskirts of Poland, so the standard of living there was lower (prices and salaries were lower than in the Greater Poland). In the 1930s, wages were roughly as follows: an unskilled worker earned about 3 zlotys per day, qualified carpenters or locksmiths — about 5 zlotys, and a work manager — 7. A baker received about 8 zlotys, while a mechanic — 11 zlotys.
The ranks of civil servants varied, so salaries ranged from 8 zlotys (lowest) to 50 zlotys (heads of divisions) per day.
It has been estimated that the average monthly costs for a family in Vilnius amounted to 140 zloty, with almost half spent on food, about 20% — on clothes, about 10% — on housing maintenance, and about 5% — on fuel (firewood, kerosene).
Prices, of course, also fluctuated greatly. At the end of the 1930s, a kilogram of wheat flour could cost up to 50 groats, potatoes — 10 groats, a kilogram of pork or fifteen eggs — 1.5 zlotys, etc.
Money in World War II
The German attack on Poland on 1 September 1939 led to the outbreak of World War II. The Soviet Union took over the Polish-occupied city and region of Vilnius. Under the Treaty of Lithuania and the Soviet Union, our historic lands were returned to Lithuania. The state had the difficult task of reforming the economy of Vilnius, its financial and credit system. First of all, it was necessary to provide the country’s inhabitants with food and to carry out a monetary reform — to replace the zlotys circulating in the country with litas. The Bank of Lithuania established branches in Vilnius, Trakai, and Švenčionys. In Vilnius, branches were also opened by Lithuanian commercial banks, while Polish bank branches were closed. The zlotys were withdrawn from circulation in two stages. In the first stage, it was allowed to exchange up to 100 zlotys per person, paying half a litas for one zloty. In the second stage, up to 300 zlotys were exchanged at the same rate, while for larger amounts, 40 cents were paid for one zloty. The exchange ratio was very favourable, because on the Amsterdam exchange only 1 litas was paid for 100 zlotys. From 1 December, Polish money stopped circulating in the Vilnius Region. Instead, the Lithuanian litas and centas spread.
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