ILLUSTRATED POLISH COURIER, 1942 [PROPAGANDA, ANTI-SEMITISM] [CONDITION]

ILUSTROWANY KURJER POLSKI, 1942 volume. The following issues are missing from the complete set: 1, 14, 52. Format: approx. 40x28 cm, old ownership stamps on some issues, occasional underlining, minor repairs, stains, notes in the text; the pieces are meticulously stitched with thin thread, which has ensured they remain in very good condition (see photos).

An almost complete, unbound 1942 volume of a German propaganda rag in nice condition.

The history of the German propaganda press began as early as October 1939, when the last legal titles of the prewar Polish press were completely shut down.

On October 31, 1939, at a conference in Łódź devoted almost entirely to cultural issues, Hans Frank, in the presence of Joseph Goebbels, the Third Reich’s Minister of Propaganda, expressed, among other things, the view that the entire Polish information system should be annihilated:

The entire news dissemination apparatus must be crushed. The Poles should not be allowed to keep radio sets or any press that expresses certain views, but only news-oriented newspapers [...]. It will be necessary to convey certain messages to the Poles using large loudspeakers [...]. In larger cities and at marketplaces, permanent loudspeakers will be set up, which at designated times will broadcast news about the situation and orders for the Poles.
[...]
The most important branch of propaganda was, of course, the press; by the end of 1939, eight daily newspapers were already being published in the General Government. In 1940, the *Ilustrowany Kurier Polski* began publication in Kraków (on February 25), initially as a biweekly (from February 25 to October 6, 1940), and subsequently as a weekly (until December 31, 1944). The paper was edited by German editors (Hans Apfel—until the end of 1942; Mirau—until 1944), with whom the Polish editor Piotr Paliwoda-Matiołański collaborated; a total of 237 issues were published. (Source: *Prasa polska 1939–1945*. Warsaw, 1980)

An excellent, concise analysis of the German occupation press was presented by the PPS (WRN) organ—“Kronika Okupacji”: Propaganda rags are an important weapon in the hands of the enemy, who is fighting fiercely against Polishness. The danger posed by this weapon is compounded by the fact that it uses the Polish language, which makes it easier to obscure the reader’s awareness of the publication’s fundamental premises and sources. Every word published in a propaganda rag is carefully counterbalanced by German propaganda, as it then becomes a tool for its deliberate and calculated campaign. We must therefore remember that these propaganda rags serve the enemy and are directed against Polish identity. The Germans resort to every means to sow discord in society, shatter its unity, and thereby weaken its resilience and faith in its own strength.