Wiarus Polski. A Polish newspaper from the Ruhr area

The “Wiarus Polski” as part of a political movement
 

The “Wiarus Polski”, as an effective and influential organiser of national Polish life in the Ruhr area in the late 19th and early 20th century, has already been the subject of academic research on various occasions.[1] It was not, however, made clear that the newspaper was part of a political concept arising from the Ruch Ludowy (people’s movement) milieu and what form this took. But it is essential to bear this milieu in mind when reading “Wiarus Polski”.

Ruch Ludowy arose in the second half of the 19th century as part of a new nationalist orientation among Poles in all three partition regions. Following the failed uprisings to re-establish a Polish state, this movement stressed the need to establish Polish economic, social, and educational organisations in order to develop a Polish infrastructure and national consciousness among the Polish-speaking population. Catholicism was an indispensable part of this. There was an awareness that only a relatively small proportion of Polish-speaking Catholics saw themselves as Poles in a national sense and were ready to act to bring about an independent Polish state. For this reason, it was necessary to convince above all the rural population and dependent employees in cities of the value of Polish national identity. Moreover, Ruch Ludowy, which was part of this evolving new orientation, rejected the traditional estates-based society. It called for equal rights for those groups that had to date been at the political margins, and for these people to have the same opportunities for development as had thus far been the case for the ruling classes. They would have to organise independently in order to effectively represent their interests. This position stood in contrast to the National Democrats, who had traditionally been aligned with the national elites, which included parts of the Catholic Church hierarchy, as well as the increasingly emergent Christian Democrats. 

From a religious Polish newspaper under Father Liss …
 

The “Wiarus Polski” was originally launched in 1890 by Father Liss from West Prussia, who was pastor for the Polish-speaking Catholics in the emerging Ruhr area. He wanted this Polish-language newspaper to offer religious support as well as social orientation to the people who did not feel at home in this new environment. To achieve this, Liss said in autumn 1892, it was necessary to give the people in the Ruhr area “a political newspaper – with some religion added on top. Otherwise a religious newspaper would not prevail.”[2] This statement, as well as the choice of name for the paper, emphasises the character that distinguished the “Wiarus Polski” from the start: On the one hand, it was a newspaper for the Polish-speaking Catholic workers, and it aimed to safeguard them against both religious and moral neglect as well as from the growing strength of the Social Democrats; on the other hand, it was conceived from the beginning as a newspaper focused on daily events in society. In addition, however, as the name clearly indicates, it was also the expression of a national “task”, which consisted of the revival of Poland. “Wiarus, which can be roughly translated as ‘long-serving, brave soldier, veteran, old warrior’, symbolises the paradigm of the Polish fighter which arose during Polish Romanticism, and who, following the partition of Poland (1772–1795), primarily in exile, fought tirelessly on numerous battlefields and as a warrior in various national armies for the rebirth of Poland.”[3]

The “Wiarus Polski” was aimed at the growing number of Polish-speaking Catholics that had come from various regions and places in East Prussia to work in the emerging Ruhr area. The vast majority identified with the places they had come from, such as Warmia, Upper Silesia, and Poznań, and felt quite alien in their new environment. The more self-confident among them therefore established, usually with support from local German priests, Polish-Catholic workers’ associations, which fulfilled similar social and cultural functions to the regional associations of the German immigrants. However, beyond the Polish language and Catholic faith, no comprehensive cultural-ethnic let alone national consciousness united the people from the various regions. If the aim was to transform the existing regional consciousness, which was comparable to that of German-speaking immigrants from areas such as Hesse, Saarland, Bavaria or Paderborn, into a sense of national consciousness, then it had to be superseded and replaced by the paradigm “I am Catholic and Polish!”.

Father Liss sought to overcome regionalism by maintaining and strengthening Catholicism and the Polish language as uniting characteristics among these people. This aim was expressed by the slogan “Pray and work!” (Módl się i pracuj!), which appeared under the name of the newspaper. Developing a national consciousness was initially of secondary importance, but was promoted by emphasising Polish national heroes and holidays, organising festive events in their honour, and by printing Polish literature. However, it was not yet a political slogan. This was made clear by the statement in the first edition of “Wiarus Polski” that a Pole in the West may only vote for the German “Centre Party” (Zentrum), as this would mean a vote for a Catholic party.[4] Nominating Polish candidates in order to develop the sense of nationhood, as happened after the turn of the century, was not yet up for debate.