He was arrested many times, notably when he took part in the Revolution of 1905. During this period, he edited the paper of the Socialist Party. He finished a doctorate in Lwów (today Lviv, Ukraine) with an ethnographic dissertation. Before World War I he lived in great hardship, but when the war broke out he was back in the front line of social activity, taking part in various workers and trade union organizations even though his relations with the Socialist Party had cooled.