Kattowitzer Volkswille
Kattowitzer Volkswille ('Kattowitz/Katowice People's Will'), generally called just Volkswille, was a
Kattowitz (today Katowice). The newspaper was founded in 1916 by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) politician Otto Braun. Initially, the newspaper carried the devise 'Upper Silesian Free Press - Organ of the Upper Silesia Agitation District of the Social Democratic Party of Germany'.[1]
As Kattowitz/Katowice was transferred to
SDAPÖ branches in areas that were now within the Polish republic. As Upper Silesia was divided between Germany and Poland, a new SPD organ (Oberschlesisches Volksblatt) was founded in the parts of Upper Silesia that remained in Germany.[1]
When the DSPP merged into the
German Socialist Labour Party in Poland (DSAP), Lodzer Volkszeitung became the new central party organ of the unified party. Volkswille continued to published though, being the DSAP organ in Katowice.[2] In January 1931 the Bielsko DSAP organ Volksstimme was, due to lack of funds, merged into Volkswille.[1]
In 1933, Volkswille was converted from a daily to a weekly newspaper. The cause was rather simple, the German
Editors
Karl Okonsky became editor of Volkswille on December 12, 1918. Between 1922 and 1924 the editor was Dr. Wilhelm Wolf, chairman of
AfA-Bund. From 1924 to 1935 the DSPP chairman Johann Kowoll served as the Volkswille editor.[1]
Edition
In January 1928 Volkswille was estimated to have a daily circulation of about 1,800-1,900. By 1932, the daily circulation had risen to around 4,000-5,000. But soon thereafter, circulation shrunk. In August 1933, the now-weekly newspaper had around 1,200 subscribers. Around 800 of them lived in the Katowice area and 400 in Bielsko.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra. Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918-1939. Schriften des Bundesarchivs, 49. Düsseldorf: Droste, 1997. p. 39
- ^ Lakeberg, Beata. Das Judenbild in den Presseorganen der deutschen Sozialisten in der Zweiten Polnischen Republik[permanent dead link]
- ^ Blachetta-Madajczyk, Petra. Klassenkampf oder Nation?: deutsche Sozialdemokratie in Polen 1918-1939. Schriften des Bundesarchivs, 49. Düsseldorf: Droste, 1997. pp. 40
- ^ Kowalski, Werner. Geschichte der sozialistischen Arbeiter-Internationale: 1923 - 19. Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften, 1985. p. 319