Przekrój is one of the oldest Polish weekly news magazines, where cultural and social issues are discussed from multiple perspectives. Its role in learning the idea of the Polish nation and the history of the country cannot be ignored because it contains several stories, both subjective and objective. Katarzyna Borejko is the author of the article “Anglo-Saxon Culture in “Przekrój”: Its Role in the Breaking of Cultural Barriers Between East and West in the Years 1949-1959” for Polish Anglosaxon Studies. The background for writing this article was reading the essay “Western Teachers and East European Students” by Wojciech Liporiski. The place of Polish journals was frequently discussed by many researchers. The evaluation of issues from 1945 to 1968 helped identify the decade from 1949 to 1959 as a significant episode of the press development, especially when Przekrój was founded (Borejko, 2000). The author focused on the two periods: the first five years were based on the leadership of Joseph Stalin, and the last five years covered political liberation after the leader’s death (Borejko, 2000). A new reality was created, and the relationships between East and West were dramatically changed.
Cultural barriers between the representatives of the Eastern and Western worlds turned out to be one of the common topics for Przekrój writers. To complete their goals and achieve the desired outcomes, the staff published the works by Hemingway and Steinbeck, who described the controversies of the Soviet regime and shed some light on the main political and social events. In addition, Borejko (2000) wanted to strengthen her findings by cooperating with the current and former Przekrój publishers and editors and using available chronicles of the magazine.
An understanding of the political factors in Przekrój’s creation has an important impact. Borejko (2000) admitted the agreement at the Yalta Conference as a crucial step in the history of Poland that promoted Soviet domination in the country. The working class became the main social group because of the outcomes of the war. Scholars and educated people had to move or were cruelly killed in concentration camps like Auschwitz, Sobibor, and Belzec. As a result, using its powers and victory benefits, the Soviet Union was able to separate Poland from the Western world and restricted its radio, television, and press opportunities. The citizens of Poland could not travel abroad and tell their stories but silently observed the progress of other cultures.
However, in Krakow, a group of intellectuals did not want to accept the restrictions and Soviet dictatorship. They created Przekrój and used it as a nationwide attempt to cover the situation in the country (Borejko, 2000). Although certain restrictions and censorship defined the quality of writing and the context, the editorial staff demonstrated how opposition to the Stalinist regime in a postwar era could look.
It seemed that the growth of Przekrój as a rebellion organization with some amount of autonomy was supported by several factors. First, Krakow was far from the capital city, and it was hard for Poland leaders to control the activities in all the cities. Second, the phone line was not stable, and it was technically effective in checking the publications. Finally, Krakow remained a center of intellectual traditions where people were free to demonstrate their preferences and interests. The first editorial team included 15 members such as Marian Eile, Janina Ipohorska, and Ludwik Jerzy Kern. Their contributions to Przekrój varied because of their occupations and roles in the magazine. However, all of them showed how to catch the reader’s attention and advocate the ideas that did matter for the nation.
Reference
Borejko, K. (2000). Anglo-Saxon culture in “Przekrój”: Its role in the breaking of cultural barriers between East and West in the years 1949-1959. Polish Anglosaxon Studies, 8(9), 173-197.