''Tydzień Polski'' is the successor title to the ''Dziennik Polski i Dziennik Żołnierza'' (English: "The Polish Daily and Soldier's Daily"), commonly known as ''Dziennik Polski'', ''The Polish Daily'', which was the first

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

Daily 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 poli ...

continuously published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 12 July 1940 to July 2015. On 17 July 2015, it became a weekly publication, ''Tydzień Polski'', ''The Polish Week''. After 75 years, the Polish Daily becomes a weekly Publication began within three weeks of the arrival in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

of the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile (), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent Occupation ...

and the paper was considered the official organ of the legal Polish authorities, recognised by

HM Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

and the

Allies of World War II The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international Coalition#Military, military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers. Its principal members were the "Four Policeme ...

. From 1959, in addition to the Monday to Friday issues, a weekend edition came out on Saturdays, under the title, ''Tydzień Polski'', ''The Polish Week''. The editorial offices were for many years in Charleville Road in London's

West Kensington West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, includ ...

History

Between 1940 and December 1943 the paper appeared as "Dziennik Polski", (the Polish Daily). On 1 January 1944 it merged with "Dziennik Żołnierza" (the Soldier's Daily) which had been the house journal of the I Polish Corps published in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

between 1940 and 1943. Until 1945 the combined title became the mouthpiece of the Polish government in exile. It published news of events as the war unfolded, ministerial communiqués and publicised tragic discoveries such as the

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre was a series of mass killings under Communist regimes, mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish people, Polish military officer, military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by t ...

, the death of General Sikorski or the

Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of the Allies of World War II, held between Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943. It was the first of the Allied World Wa ...

preparatory to the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (), held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three sta ...

. There were reports from

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

and other theatres of war. It also carried information aimed at assisting the daily life of a population that had not yet sufficiently mastered English. Although the now shadow Polish government remained in London until a Polish government was freely elected in Poland in 1990, it had ensured the paper's future by a one-off financial settlement under a board of independent trustees which continued until 1968. From then the exiled '' Polska Fundacja Kulturalna'' (Polish Cultural Foundation) in London became its publisher.

Post-war

In the immediate aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, two seismic events affected the paper. The first was the transfer of British government recognition to the Communist authorities in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

which had immediate financial repercussions. The second was the arrival in Great Britain of over 150,000 Polish allied troops and thousands of

displaced persons Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR defines 'forced displaceme ...

emerging from camps in Western Europe. The Polish Resettlement Act 1947 did however grant permanent settlement rights to the Polish population which came mainly from the

Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...

region of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and whose right of return to their homeland was permanently barred under the Yalta provisions. Accordingly, one third of Poland's territory had been ceded to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, including the two most important Polish centres of culture outside Warsaw and

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, that were the cities of

Lwow Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

and

Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. It was as a consequence of this, that historically many original contributors to the paper were Kresovians, as were their readers. Logo Dziennik Polski

As Poles in the United Kingdom became increasingly assimilated and the older generation passed on, Polish cultural structures came under severe financial pressure. The Polish Daily was no exception as it struggled with a dwindling circulation and falling advertising revenue so that combined with poor management in 2005 it came close to ceasing publication altogether. It was temporarily rescued by the appointment of new trustees and a generous donation from the Polish Combatants' Association. It was also somewhat aided by the influx of a new wave of Polish migrants. However, its format and competition from newer media meant a radical reorientation became inevitable.

Current weekly publication

With profound demographic changes in the readership over seven decades, and the appearance of free Polish language print publications after 2004 and offers online, the paper's strategy has had to adapt. The content includes British and Polish and world news, comments, readers' letters, features and obituaries as well as advertising of services pertinent to Polish migrants and older residents in a tabloid newspaper. The forty page edition comes out on Fridays. The paper has subscribers and is also sold through 2,500 outlets across the British Isles. It has an estimated readership of 30,000.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tydzien Polski London newspapers Polish-British culture Polish diaspora organizations Polish-language newspapers Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom Newspapers established in 1940 Publications disestablished in 2015 Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom 1940 establishments in the United Kingdom 2015 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Weekly newspapers published in the United Kingdom Newspapers established in 2015

History

Post-war

Current weekly publication

See also

References

Further reading

External links