''Nowy Kurier Warszawski'', initially ''Nowy Kurjer Warszawski'' ("New Courier of Warsaw") was a German

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

issued in the

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Its name was coined after a popular pre-war newspaper ''

Kurier Warszawski The ''Kurier Warszawski'' (or ''Warsaw Courier'') was a daily newspaper printed in Warsaw, Poland from 1821 to 1939, with two editions daily from 1873. It was selling 4,000 copies in 1868, and over 20,000 copies after 1883.Bolesław Klimaszewski, ' ...

'', with which it had nothing to do but the name. According to German sources the newspaper was issued in 200 000 copies daily, but it was commonly boycotted by the Poles (often defaced with the

Kotwica The ''Kotwica'' (; Polish language, Polish for "Anchor") was a World War II emblem of the Polish Underground State and ''Armia Krajowa'' (Home Army, or ''AK''). It was created in 1942 by members of the ''AK'' Wawer Minor sabotage unit, as an eas ...

) and the numbers seem to be much overestimated.

History

Following the Polish defeat against the joint Nazi German and Soviet

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

of 1939, on 6 October German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

, though Poland never formally surrendered. On 8 October, after an initial period of military administration, Germany directly annexed western Poland and the former

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

and placed the remaining block of territory under the administration of the newly established

General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...

. Within the General Government all Polish newspapers were immediately banned. In their stead, the German authorities established eight Polish language daily newspapers as part of their

machine aimed at subjugated nations. The largest of them was the Warsaw-based Nowy Kurier Warszawski with daily circulation of over 200,000 copies. By comparison, it is estimated that all German-published journals in occupied Poland had a circulation of 700,000 in 1941 and over 1 million in 1944. The new newspaper drew its name from pre-war "

", established in 1821 and highly popular in pre-war Warsaw. However, the "New Courier" had little to do with the original journal apart from the name and the printing press (in the former Dom Prasy building). The profile of the newspaper was akin to modern

tabloid journalism Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...

. Apart from front line news, propaganda and overly optimistic reports on constant successes of the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

, the newspaper featured a collection of sensational crime stories, astrology,

gossip column A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal li ...

s and such. As such, the newspaper was primarily a tool of

indoctrination Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies (see doctrine). Humans are a social animal species inescapably shaped by cultural context, and thus some degree o ...

, primarily of less-educated strata of Polish society. Because of that it was commonly referred to by a variety of derogatory names. The most popular name, ''gadzinówka'' (Polish for "Reptile ewspaper) became a generic term for any foreign propaganda publication in standard Polish language. Other popular nicknames include Kurwar (abbreviation of the title, but also a pun on the Polish word "kurwa" -

whore Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

) and "szmatławiec" (Rag-journal). Despite its clear propaganda flavour, the newspaper remained highly popular in Poland, as it included useful information on new regulations introduced by the Germans and actual info on monthly food rations as well as many

ads" \n\nads.txt (Authorized Digital Sellers) is an initiative from IAB Technology Laboratory. It specifies a text file that companies can host on their web servers, listing the other companies authorized to sell their products or services. This is des ...

and

obituaries An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

.portal.wsiz.rzeszow.pl/plik.aspx?id=7273 Wyższa Szkoła Informatyki i Zarządzania w Rzeszowie ''System prasowy Generalnego Gubernatorstwa'' In addition, it was cheap: each issue was priced at only 20 groszes (later 25), an average price for a newspaper in pre-war Poland, but very inexpensive in reality of rampant hyperinflation in war-torn Poland. Following the outbreak of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

of 1944, the headquarters of the newspaper was moved to

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

, where it continued to circulate until January 1945. After the war at least 15 former employees of the New Warsaw Courier had been tried and sentenced to prison for their

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with the Nazis during the war.

References

{{Reflist

History

References

See also