The Nation of Joiners. The image of Ku Klux Klan in Polish press of 1920–1940’s.

Abstract

When discussing the perception of international events in the Polish pre-war press, it should be noted that these were frequently the subject matter in times of loss of independence such as partitioning of Poland and subsequent world wars. Some of the events happening in the history of the United States were of interest to local and national press. It applied even to one of the most violent and racist of American organizations — the infamous Ku Klux Klan. The purpose of this article is to acquaint readers with the image of the most powerful Klan of 1920’s in the Polish press. It is intriguing that the subject of Klan remains relatively unknown to Polish scientific literature. As of April 2020 there have been published only four monographies about the Invisible Empire written by Polish authors. This is puzzling because, as stated above, the subject matter of the Klan already existed in the Polish press at the time of its greatest power. Moreover, Polish-language readers during the partitions of Poland could familiarize themselves with current social and ethnic issues in the United States. One example would be a series of articles in Galician press on the William Cody’s Wild West Show which toured Polish lands in 1906. The story of William Cody’s Wild West visit to partitioned Poland was subject of recent academic research by Bartosz Hlebowicz. Details to be found in: Hlebowicz, Bartosz. "'They Stepped on Their Toes'. Reception of the Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World in Polish Press of Galicia, 1906." Acta Ethnographica Hungarica: An International Journal of Ethnography, vol. 64, no. 1, 2019, p. 153+. Gale Academic OneFile, Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.