''Wesoła Lwowska Fala'' (Polish for ''Lwów's Merry Wave'') was a weekly radio program of the
Polish Radio Lwow, broadcast every Sunday by the
Polish Radio. The broadcast, composed mostly of light music, sketches and humour, was among the most popular programmes of the Polish Radio in the period between the world wars. Started in 1933, it remained on the air until the
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 af ...
of 1939.
As the idea of an all-day-long programme prepared by one of the regional branches of the Polish Radio, rather than by the central editorial office, was a novelty, the initial broadcasts were prepared almost free of charge by amateur journalists and comedians. With time it became one of the most successful broadcasts of the Polish Radio, recognized countrywide.
The author of most of the sketches was Wiktor Budzyński. Among the best-known comedians associated with the Merry Wave were the
Szczepcio and
Tońcio duo, known for their dialogues in the
Lwów dialect. Other notable personalities were
Mieczysław Monderer and
Adolf Fleischen who parodied the local Jewish community, as well as
Włada Majewska,
Wilhelm Korabiowski and many more. After the outbreak of
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
most of the artists were mobilized into the
Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...
and successfully evacuated from Poland. They served as the ''Wesoła Lwowska Fala'' Theatre on various fronts of the war. After the war most of them remained in exile.
Sources
See also
* Radio stations in interwar Poland
External links
One of the most popular songs about prewar Lwow, sung by Kazimierz Wajda and Henryk VogelfängerWłóczęgi, a 1939 film, featuring most popular characters of the Merry Lwów Wave
Polish radio programs
Culture in Lviv
1933 radio programme debuts
1939 radio programme endings
Comedy radio programs
History of Lviv
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