NOWY DZIENNIK

NOWY DZIENNIK ("The New Daily"), first Zionist Polish-language journal. It appeared daily in Cracow from the end of 1918. The paper was representative of the climate of linguistic assimilation current in certain nationalist Zionist circles in the region. Its founding was to some extent the result of the murder of a Jew: since, to the dismay of the Jewish community, the incident was glossed over by the Polish press, a need was felt for some independent means of expression. For technical reasons and because of censorship, the early editions of Nowy Dziennik were published in Moravska-Ostrava. However, by the beginning of 1919, the paper had its own building and presses in Cracow. Dr. Wilhelm Berkelhammer, who served as editor for many years, not only set an example of polished newspaper style but fought numerous and continuous battles against antisemitism. Other noted editors were Isaac Ignacy Schwarzbart, Elijah Tisch, and David Lazar, the last serving until the paper's demise during the Holocaust. Among the regular contributors were Osias (Joshua) *Thon, who set the tone of the paper and gave it its political direction, and Moses Kanfer, literary and artistic critic, who was particularly devoted to the Yiddish theater. Other such well-known personalities as Isaac *Deutscher, Hersch *Lauterpacht, and Ezriel *Carlebach also contributed to the paper. Particularly noted for his essays on antisemitism was Matthias *Mieses. One important role played by the journal was its publication from time to time of a list compiled by the community leaders of Jews who had converted to Christianity but who sought to keep this secret from the Jewish community. Despite governmental interference and the bombing of its building by Polish nationalist extremists in 1923, the paper prospered. Carefully organized and efficiently run by Sigmund Hochwald, it grew from its initial four to a format of 32 pages. While ideologically the journal served as an organ of the Zionist Movement, its scope was quite wide, serving the general Cracow community as well as the region of western Galicia and Silesia.

bibliography:

I. Schwarzbart, Tvishn beyde Velt Milkhomes (1958), 128–42. add. bibliography: J. Gothelf (ed.), Ha-Ittonut ha-Yehudit she-Hayeta (1973), 270–80.

[Moshe Landau]