abolished the Polish National Savings Union which had acted as an issuing bank. Its functions were taken over by the Bank of Poland. Stanisław Karpiński became the first president of the Bank of Poland. On 14 January, the organizing committee of the Bank of Poland was established, and, on 26 January, the sale of the bank's shares began. Payments could only be made in foreign currencies and in gold. On 15 April, during the first shareholders' meeting, the Bank of Poland Joint Stock Company was established. Grabski went further than just establishing the Bank of Poland and the currency. He built a network of state banks and founded the Bank for National Economy. He also initiated far-going changes in the structure of Polish exports and industrial output. He also established the Border Defence Corps. Nevertheless, criticism continued over aspects of Grabski's reforms. In 1925, Grabski himself commented that he was too optimistic about his economic reforms and that he should have realized that given the circumstances of depression and the recuperation from World War I, a complete recovery of the Polish economy was virtually impossible. There were enormous price discrepancies between agricultural and manufactured goods. The Bank of Poland was faced with both a commercial deficit and an increasing national debt. The government made numerous unfavorable investments and in 1925, the Sejm approved a proposal for an excessively high budget, despite frequent warnings from Grabski's cabinet. On 29 July 1925, the value of the Polish złoty declined significantly. A tariff war broke out between Poland and Germany. Grabski resigned his post from active politics in November of that year. He subsequently devoted himself to pedagogic and academic work at the Warsaw Agricultural University (SGGW). In 1926, he became its rector. In 1936 on his motion the Rural Sociology Institute was established, of which he remained the head until his death in 1938. Władysław Grabski died from cancer on 1 March 1938 in Warsaw. The Holy Mass was led by Cardinal Aleksander Kakowski in the Saint John's Cathedral. His body was interred in the family grave at the Powązki Cemetery. Perception among Polish Jews Between 1924 and 1926, mass emigration of Polish Jews to Palestine took place following the economic restrictions placed on Jews in Poland. This wave of Jewish migration became known as "Grabski's Aliyah" (Aliyah being the traditional Hebrew word for immigration to the Land of Israel) owing to