Od politycznej koalicji do prasowej opozycji – „Nowiny i Kurier” w latach 1959–1961
From Political Coalition to Press Opposition - "Nowiny i Kurier" in the Years 1959-1961

Summary/Abstract: The article describes the establishment and organization of the Polish-language newspaper „Nowiny i Kurier”, published by two parties, Mapai and Progress Party, which both formed the ruling coalition. The agreement on the publication of „Nowiny i Kurier” was a political contract while the newspaper itself was a vessel for implementing partisan interests. Party papers, including foreign-language ones, were seen as an important political instrument. In the case of „Nowiny i Kurier” the paper was to serve no fewer than two parties. The editorial team was formed from previous separate journalist milieux of „Nowiny” (Progress Party) and „Kurier” (Mapai). „Nowiny” was launched by the Zionists, it employed veterans of Zionist movements, leaders of „Ichud,” which was active in Poland after World War II. The “Kurier” milieu were mostly people who had a record of involvement in the Communits movement. The writer Anda Amir-Pinkerfeld, who came from Poland, contributed in a large measure to rallying Polish Jews around Mapai. For journalists from „Kurier” the promise of launching a Polish-language paper spelled hope for carrying on their professional work in Israel; political connotations were less important to many of them. The article shows the circumstances of political absorption of Polish Jews and the distinct political culture of individual formations. The author presents the activity of Israeli parties vying for the future votes of those hailing from the Polish aliyah. In 1961 the so-called Lavon affair, the early election to Knesset and the establishment of the Liberal Party, of which the Progress Party became part, led to the severance of the bipartisan agreement and the new rules of publishing the paper, introduced through litigation, became the beginning of a new chapter in the history of „Nowiny i Kurier”.

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