Robotnik (1894–1939)

:"This article is about a newspaper of Polish Socialist Party. For other newspapers of this name, and other meaning of this word, see Robotnik."Infobox Newspaper
name = Robotnik


caption = Robotnik, front page of issue from 28 October, 1931.
type = varied, later daily newspaper
foundation = 1894
ceased publication = 1939
political = socialistic
language = Polish language

"Robotnik" ("The Worker") was the bibuła (underground) newspaper published by the Polish Socialist Party (PPS).

It was first published on 12 July 1894 in Vilna (Vilnius) by the Lithuanian branch of then-illegal PPS, led by the future dictator of the Second Polish Republic, Józef Piłsudski.Bohdan Urbankowski, "Józef Piłsudski: marzyciel i strateg" (Józef Piłsudski: A dreamer and a strategist), Wydawnictwo ALFA, Warszawa 1997, ISBN 83-7001-914-5, p.91-99] Among its other editors was Stanisław Wojciechowski, future president of Poland. [http://www.president.pl/x.node?id=469 Stanisław Wojciechowski] . Short biography. Last accessed on 16 October 2006.] In order to throw the ochrana secret police and regular Russian police off track, the newspaper was first distributed in Warsaw. Piłdsudski would become one of the chief editors and writers for the newspaper, and he often spent most of the day at the printing press. Its first issue, printed in 1200 numbers, was distributed in most major cities and towns in Poland. In 1900 the police managed to find the printing press, leading to the arrest, sentencing, and imprisonment of Józef Piłsudski and several other members of PPS (including his wife, Maria Piłsudska), although Piłsudski would soon escape by feigning mental illness.

In the following years "Robotnik" would be printed in various places by several groups of PPS, or related to it. From 1915 "Robotnik" was legalized; the first legal issue was printed in Dąbrowa Górnicza. From 1919 to 1939 it became a normal, legal newspaper in the Second Polish Republic. Among its editors were Feliks Perl (d.1927) and Mieczysław Niedziałkowski (1927–1939). Its notable contributors included Zygmunt Zaremba, Stanisław Posner, Karol Irzykowski, Cezary Jellenta and Jan Nepomucen Miller, and its circulation reached 10–20,000 issues. The last issue was released on 23 September 1939, in the fourth week of the Polish September Campaign.

After the May Coup (in 1926) of Piłsudski, who after the First World War distanced himself from PPS, "Robotnik" took an opposition stance towards his government; in return, some of its editions were subject to confiscations (only from 1926 to 1935 about 500 issues were confiscated).The journal was a strong supporter of PPS and socialism in general; among the notable policies opposed by the journal was that of anti-semitism.Robert Moses Shapiro, "Why Didn't the Press Shout?", KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2003, ISBN 0-88125-775-3, [http://books.google.com/books?id=I3lItIwOzCkC&vid=ISBN0881257753&dq=robotnik+socialist&pg=PA415&lpg=PA415&sig=xGUkxmvxtt_YEnZZOhCbqDFd_f0&q=robotnik Google Print, p.415] ]

After the war several newspapers of that name were printed in Poland and abroad; among the most notable was another underground paper published by the Solidarity movement from 1983–1990.Jan Kubik, "The Power of Symbols Against the Symbols of Power", Penn State Press, 1994, ISBN 0-271-01084-3, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0271010843&id=NDLn-G487rAC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&vq=robotnik&dq=robotnik+socialist&sig=58gfCaLKdRYWNHvQorhF3GPxbYU Google Print, p.160] , [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0271010843&id=NDLn-G487rAC&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&vq=robotnik&dq=robotnik+socialist&sig=Tn0bDmwCsMr-XEkCfyRhfRLDSJ8 p.161] ]

References

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External links

*pl icon [http://univ.gda.pl/~literat/bibula/0005.htm Tajne Drukarnie] (Secret Printing Presses) - in 'Bibuła', another underground newspaper, Piłsudski described in 1903 the origins of 'Robotnik'