Yiddish term (also balagole, pl. balegules) for "carriage driver,” derived from the Hebrew baʿal agalah (wagon owner, coachman). The occupation of wagoner was common among Jews in Eastern Europe as part of their significant presence in transportation. Today the wagoner is known as a literary figure in Jewish life in the shtetl.

In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1791), Jews already worked as wagoners or coachmen, carrying travellers, merchants and their goods, as well as mail. In Poland in the second half of the 18th century, two to four…