Poland and the Holocaust in the Polish-American Press, 1926–1945

Kubow's book constitutes an interesting example of how the ethnic press may become not only an important source of information for its immigrant readers but also a unique tool for shaping immigrants’ transnational identity. Settled in a new land, Polish immigrants, utilizing a wide range of survival mechanisms, strove to navigate an often hostile and unknown society. Thanks to the Polish-language press, they were able to strengthen their national consciousness and, at the same time, find their way within the dominant culture by cementing their ethnic ties. Devoting her book to the years 1926–1945, Kubow argues that during this complex period, “the perspective of North American Poles, as expressed and interpreted by the Polish-language press, was quite different from that of mainstream society” (p. 1). Writing about various international issues, Polish immigrants in America “were uniquely placed to comment freely” on such events as the emergence of the new Polish Republic, Polish-Jewish relations, the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust since they knew and “understood what was developing in their native country” and Europe as well (pp. 1, 6).Kubow's work deals with select Polish American newspapers, mostly Republika-Górnik (rural Pennsylvania), but also, to some extent, Dziennik Związkowy (Chicago-based) and Związkowiec (Toronto). She starts showing how the Polish American press developed both in the United States and Canada during the time when the gradual arrival of several waves of Polish immigrants to North America was taking place. On the one hand, she argues that the ethnic press helped the newcomers adjust to new circumstances and argues that it is understandable that domestic aspects of the new country, especially at the beginning, were close to Polish immigrants’ hearts. On the other hand, however, Kubow skillfully points out that Poles in America “did not feel isolated from international issues and their reactions to what was happening in the world were at the forefront of shaping how they viewed their place in their country” (p. 16). They followed the news from Europe, particularly concerning the contemporary situation in Poland and Germany placed within a wider international context.Presented in chronological order, the author illustrates how the Polish American press interpreted complex political and social issues during the different periods, starting from the mid-1920s, through the rise of fascism, until World War II. During the mid-1920s, according to Kubow, there were two important themes in the Polish North American press: the emergence of the new Polish Second Republic; and tensions within Polish-Jewish relations. The first aspect was looked upon through the prism of the geopolitical position of Poland as a country situated between its two archenemies, Germany and the Soviet Union. Polish American journalists were quickly able to grasp the danger of such this unfavorable geographical location determined by historical circumstances, and understood that, in this regard, “issues that seemed domestic had global implications and that genuine peaceful relations were far from becoming reality” (p. 20). The press presented Józef Piłsudski as a politician under whose leadership Poland could maintain its independent postwar political status and who could also prevent domestic revolution within Poland's borders.As far as Polish-Jewish relations were concerned, the Polish American press was aware of the long history of a difficult Polish-Jewish coexistence and realized this could present an obstacle to building a strong new Polish Republic. In the mid-1920s, Republika-Górnik, for example, analyzed the writings of the Belgian professor Charles Sarolea, for whom the assimilation of four million Jews living in Poland seemed to be Poland's significant internal problem. Such issues as Jewish assimilation, Polish antisemitism, differing loyalties or peaceful correlations between Poles and Jews were very often addressed in the Polish American press. As Kubow argues, Polish American newspapers and the “Republika-Górnik particularly, did not view Jews as their enemy; the paper, like most Poles, viewed tensions as disloyal and dangerous but saw external aggressors as the real enemy” (pp. 36–37).During the 1930s, Polish American journalists became preoccupied with a different theme as the Nazi Party paved its way through Germany, and German foreign policy ceased to rely on peaceful diplomacy. As early as 1928, Dziennik Związkowy's article “Germany at Every Turn Violates the Versailles Treaty” unmercifully deciphered Germany's imperial intentions. Also, Hitler's rise to power was quickly recognized by North American Poles as an imminent threat to Poland and his Mein Kampf “as an outline of Hitler's political agenda for territorial conquest, and second as an expression of deep hatred that would have consequences for those not in favor, the untermensch (subhuman)” (p. 44). When Hitler declared himself the Führer of the Third Reich in 1934, Związkowiec, for example, was prophesying the rapid collapse of the German democratic institutions. The close future proved that Polish American journalists were right.Finally, Kubow moves on to demonstrate how the Polish-language press in Canada and the United States approached and covered Hitler's brutal occupation of Poland and the Holocaust. All three newspapers, including Republika-Górnik, Dziennik Związkowy, and Związkowiec, were constantly and unceasingly alerting the public “that from the beginning of war, Poles, regardless of faith, were subject to genocide in every sense of the word” (p. 132). What is also important to note is that their articles touched upon a wide range of Nazi crimes, detailing persecutions of Poles and Jews, deportations, labor and concentration camps, Nazi mass killings or sexual violence, mass rape, and forced sterilization. Such sources as The Black Book of Poland, a collection of various documents recording German atrocities in Poland issued by the Polish government in-exile, was printed by the Polish-language press in America in 1940. Republika-Górnik, in its article entitled “Germans Abduct Polish Women for Public Houses,” emphasized the brutal treatment of Polish women; and Związkowiec's publication “Documents of German Crimes in Poland” dealt with similar themes. Finally, Kubow stresses the fact that the Polish press in America was able to quickly recognize the horror of the Holocaust as it “interpreted the genocide as a shared experience between Poles and Jews even while acknowledging that there was a shift in Hitler's hierarchy of targets with Jews being the primary victims at that time” (p. 127).Undoubtedly, Kubow's book is an insightful piece of a scholarly work demonstrating a broad scope of academic inquiry. She managed to reach interesting and innovative conclusions and emphasized the importance of conducting academic research on the ethnic press and its role not only among Polish Americans but immigrants in general. The author utilized a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including newspapers, survivor testimonies, and an impressive amount of academic literature. The book also contains extended notes, a bibliography, and interesting newspaper pictures. Kubow's work may be of use to scholars and students interested in the role and function of ethnic press.

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