This paper discusses the linguistic features of political propaganda in the Polish newspaper “Trybuna Radziecka”, which was published in Moscow in 1927–1938 and edited by Polish left-intelligentsia, living in USRR as political émigrés in the interwar period. “Trybuna Radziecka” as the other Polish newspapers published in Soviet Russia was a part of the Soviet press. It entirely depended on Soviet authorities. Its language reflected the Soviet Russian language and was an example of political jargon typical for all communist newspapers of the interwar period.

This article discusses the problem of orphan manuscripts and writings in the collection of documents deposited with the Jagiellonian University. The author mentions the difficulties in the access to this heritage, due to the unclear status of these works. In this context she analyzes and presents biographies and views of all Jewish philosophers who received Ph.D. degree at the Jagiellonian University in the years 1918 through 1939, many of whom probably did not survive World War II.

Many performing artists in the interwar period in Poland assumed stage names, which were considered a tool of promoting one’s image, but also served other functions, such as the concealment of identity. Over two hundred such pseudonyms — together with the respective artists’ birth names — have been collected and analysed in the article. Approximately in the case of half of them was the original given name retained, and only the surname underwent a change. The comparison of the assumed names with the real ones shows that many names were shortened, and/or made to sound foreign or exotic. Minority surnames — Jewish/German, Russian, Ukrainian — were frequently made to sound Polish, while the Polish ones were foreignised (to make them look English, Italian, French) or vaguely exoticised.

This article analyzes the editoral and thematic structure of Polish school ephemera on the basis of seventeen single-issue publications of this kind published in Poland’s eastern voivodships in the interwar period. The author traces the origin of the texts and the process of its composition (gathering and selection of materials, editorial revisions, technical issues), examines the themes and tries to assesses the participation of students and teachers as well as the cooperation of the local community in each project. Finally, she reassesses of the role and the objectives of such publications.

This is a profile of Ateneum Wileńskie, an annual published by the Society of the Friends of Science in Wilno in 1923–1939 with the financial support of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education. It featured articles on the history of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and played an important role in the popularization of research in the field of political history, law, culture, social and economic history and historical sources of Lithuania in the 16th–19th century. Ateneum Wileńskie was one of the leading academic periodicals in Poland, and most of the materials that were published by it have retained their value.

This article discusses the role of the illustrated women's magazine Bluszcz [Ivy] in shaping and stimulating its readers' social and political engagement throughout the interwar period, from its relaunch in 1921 until 1939. Addressed to educated, middle-class women, it strove to raise their awareness in the wake of the women's enfranchisement act of 1918 and inspire them to participate in public life, to energize the local community, and to organize and promote various forms of social work.

This article looks at the history and contents of the quarterly Dawna Sztuka [Old Art] published in Lwów in (1938–1939), dedicated to the history of art and archaeology. Founded by Professor Stanisław Jan Gąsiorowski, the periodical was intended, among others, as a platform for establishing ties with researchers from abroad and presenting the work of Polish archaeologists and art historians to the academic community and readers all over the world.

This article surveys the relations between the Polish Radio and the German Broadcasting Corporation (Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft) in the interwar period. In its early phase the relationship was overshadowed by disputes over programmes on Upper Silesia and the takeover by a German company of the radio station in the Free City of Gdańsk (Danzig). After Hitler became chancellor in 1933 there was a marked improve- ment in relations: the two parties even made an agreement to relay each other's programmes. However, in September 1939 the German radio network (RRG) actively aided the German army in its invasion of Poland.

This article confronts the text of A Literary Prize, a comedy by Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, with its contemporary reviews. Staged by the experimental theatre Reduta (directed by Zofia Modrzewska) in April 1937 at Teatr Nowy in Warsaw (under the directorship of Jerzy Leszczyński), it fell into complete oblivion which lasted until the recent discovery of the director’s copy buried at the Academy of Theatre Library in Warsaw.

While contemporary reviewers found A Literary Prize to be one of the weaker works of an outstanding poet, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska in her letters contrasted the ‘violent attacks’ of the critics with a fairly warm reception of the general audience. The play was performed to capacity audiences until 19 May, and revived for a single occasion a year later in Poznań.

A Literary Prize juxtaposes two plots. One, with elements of comedy of manners, follows the fortunes of a young girl, Taida Serebrzycka, who tries to navigate between two men with literary ambitions, Klemens Niedzicki and Albin Niekawski, while the other explores the challenges faced by prospective writers, especially the role of prize-winning competitions in the discovery of talent and the building of reputation. This article is focused primarily on the character of Taida, who makes the impression of being somewhat scatterbrained and snobbish, but is in fact a strong-minded, independent young woman conscious of her sexuality. She wants an honest, equal relationship, and is ready to fi ght hard for her happiness, which does include sexual satisfaction. The analysis of the reception of Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska’s play, and especially the characterization of Taida, the female protagonist, is complemented with an examination of the mechanisms of the critical discourse.

This article presents a profile of the satirical weekly Szopka (A Puppet Show) published in Warsaw between 1922 and 1925 under the auspices of the National Democracy (ND). Committed to a nationalist ideology, Szopka published cartoons and satirical texts lampooning the alleged enemies of Poland and the Poles. Its favoured technique was to caricature and ridicule its targets, both individuals and institutions. Among them were Józef Piłsudski, his policies and his political associates, the Bolsheviks, the Germans and the Jews. To propagate their nationalist worldview the editors made use of a broad range of persuasion techniques.

The ‘incriminated (suppressed) text’ and its removal remains the key object on the conceptual map of censorship studies. In this approach to censor ship the analysis focuses on demonstrable facts of official intervention in the media, the documentation of the process as well as the reconstruction of the effects of individual gagging orders for the author, the publisher and the editor in charge. An alternative, historical approach to censorship takes a much broader view of the subject. It looks at the institutions involved, their competences, procedures and aims (ranging from prevention to repression) as well as the tools at their disposal. The latter approach, systemic and comparative in scope, requires ‘digging up’ considerably more information than establishing the fact of a censor’s intervention.

This article examines the representations of Marshal Józef Piłsudski, his collaborators and political allies in two satirical magazines published in Wielkopolska in the interwar period. While the liberal Pręgierz Poznański [The Poznań Pillory] (1928–1929) took a moderately critical view of Piłsudski, the nationalist Pokrzywy [Nettles], which appeared in the 1930s nineteen thirties, brimmed with vitriol against the whole Piłsudski establishment (collectively dubbed 'The Sanation').