WIADOMOSCI CODZIENNE - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

WIADOMOSCI CODZIENNE (Polish Daily News) was founded in 1914 by S. A. Dangel and Paul Kurdziel. Cleveland's first Polish daily, it was an outgrowth of the weekly Narodowiec (Nationalist, 1909-14). Coming under the sole control of Kurdziel by 1921, it was edited by Thos. Siemiradski from 1918-37. Under the intellectual Siemiradski, the Wiadomosci advanced a moderately freethinking viewpoint against the pro-Catholic stance of a rival daily, MONITOR CLEVELANDSKI, which it finally absorbed in 1938. It also supported the socialist program of Poland's Joseph Pilsudski and early on denounced Germany's Hitler as a "madman and gangster." After the death of Kurdziel in 1940, the Wiadomosci was published by AUGUST J. KURDZIEL† and edited by Zygmunt Dybowski. Produced in its own plant at 1017 Fairfield Ave., the paper was sold primarily over the counters of stores in Polish neighborhoods. Despite a circulation of 23,183, the Wiadomosci Codzienne suspended publication on 15 Oct. 1966, leaving Ohio's Poles without a daily for the first time in over 50 years. Its demise was attributed to the difficulty of recruiting bilingual personnel, as well as to high costs.

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