''Robotnik'' (; ''The Worker'') was the ''

bibuła Polish underground press, devoted to prohibited materials ( sl. pl, bibuła, lit. semitransparent blotting paper or, alternatively, pl, drugi obieg, lit. second circulation), has a long history of combatting censorship of oppressive regimes in ...

'' (underground)

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 p ...

published by the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...

(PPS), and distributed in most major cities and towns in

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 populou ...

during the Partitions. ''Robotnik'' was first published on 12 July 1894 in Lipniszki near

Wilno Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

in the amount of 1,200 copies, by the local branch of the then-illegal PPS, led by the future

Chief of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of the Second Polish Republic,

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

. Among its other editors was

Stanisław Wojciechowski Stanisław Wojciechowski (; 15 March 1869 – 9 April 1953) was a Polish politician and scholar who served as President of Poland between 1922 and 1926, during the Second Polish Republic. He was elected president in 1922, following the assassi ...

, future

president of Poland The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Pola ...

. In order to throw the

ochrana The Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order (russian: Отделение по охранению общественной безопасности и порядка), usually called Guard Department ( rus, Охранное отд ...

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

and regular

Russian police The Police of Russia () is the national law-enforcement agency in Russia, operating under the Ministry of Internal Affairs from . It was established by decree from Peter the Great and in 2011, replacing the Militsiya, the former police service. ...

off track, the newspaper was first distributed in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. 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. In 1900 the police managed to find the

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

, leading to the arrest, sentencing, and imprisonment of Józef Piłsudski and several other members of PPS (including his wife,

Maria Piłsudska Maria Piłsudska (née Koplewska; 1865 – 17 August 1921), was the first wife of Poland's Marshal Józef Piłsudski and ostensibly the first lady of Poland during most of his service as Poland's Chief of State. Life She was born in 1865 in ...

), 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 Dąbrowa Górnicza is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, southern Poland, near Katowice and Sosnowiec. It is located in eastern part of the Silesian Voivodeship, on the Czarna Przemsza and Biała Przemsza rivers (tributaries of the Vistula River, ...

. From 1919 to 1939 it became a normal, legal newspaper in the Second Polish Republic. Among its editors were Feliks Perl (died 1927) and

Mieczysław Niedziałkowski Mieczysław Niedziałkowski (September 19, 1893 in Vilnius - June 21, 1940 in Palmiry) was a Polish politician and writer. He was an activist in the Polish Socialist Party, editor in chief of Robotnik, and one of the primary activists and cofo ...

(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 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 af ...

. After the May Coup (in 1926) of Piłsudski, who after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

in general; among the notable policies opposed by the journal was that of

anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. 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. The current Polish Socialist Party (refounded in 1989) published the ''Nowy Robotnik'' ("The New Worker") from 2003 to 2006.

References

External links

Scans
(1st issue, Jozef Pilsudski Institute of America) {{DEFAULTSORT:Robotnik (1894-1939) Defunct newspapers published in Poland Defunct newspapers published in Russia Newspapers published in the Russian Empire Polish Socialist Party Polish-language newspapers Publications established in 1894 Publications disestablished in 1939 Socialist newspapers