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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Gwiazda Zachodu = Western Star (Omaha, Neb.) 19??-1945 Western star

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About Gwiazda Zachodu = Western Star (Omaha, Neb.) 19??-1945

Giving voice to the largest Polish community in the Great Plains region, the Gwiazda Zachodu, or “Western Star,” was an integral part of Omaha’s newspaper landscape from the opening decade of the twentieth century until the waning days of World War II. Founded in 1905, the paper published weekly on Fridays. The raison d’être of the Gwiazda Zachodu was clear from its beginning: passionate advocacy for the burgeoning Polish population of Omaha and the surrounding region.

Much of this passion can be attributed to early publisher Thomas Koziol. An immigrant from the south of Poland, Koziol came to America as a teenager and spent several years on farms in Nebraska before moving to Omaha and purchasing the Gwiazda Zachodu from founder W. J. Boruch. From 1908 to 1923 he leveraged the reach of his paper to advocate politically for his fellow Poles, before an accident at home resulted in his untimely death. In eulogizing him, the Gwiazda Zachodu boasted that Koziol’s influence among Omaha’s electorate was so strong that political candidates hostile to the Polish community could not be elected.

The early twentieth century saw a massive influx of Poles into Nebraska communities, and none more so than Omaha. By the 1930s the city featured a Polish community 10,000 strong centered around the South Omaha stockyards. The leadership of the Gwiazda Zachodu took it as its duty to educate readers about their new home, introducing a recurring Civic Catechism section in 1924 aimed at instructing Poles on the form and functions of the American system of government. As the initial waves of immigrants began raising families, attention was given to the education of the new generation of American-born Poles. 1931 saw the first “Little Twinkles” children’s section published, making use of comics, puzzles, and jokes printed in English. Though the format and content in this children’s section would vary widely over time, it accelerated the paper’s gradual shift towards English-language content to accommodate and generate interest among younger, more assimilated readers.

For older generations Gwiazda Zachodu remained a rock of Old-World Polish nationalism. In the period following World War I and the re-establishment of an independent Polish state, readers were frequently met with notices exhorting the immigrant community to invest in loans and bonds supporting the Polish government. The paper bore witness to the rise of the Nazi party in neighboring Germany with increasing alarm and derision, regularly mocking Adolf Hitler in its pages with satirical poems. Following the outbreak of war and fall of their homeland, the Gwiazda Zachodu managed to consistently print stories from occupied Poland detailing the atrocities of the occupying Nazis. Gwiazda Zachodu would continue in this manner for the duration of World War II, long enough to see the surrender of Germany before unexpectedly and permanently ceasing publication on June 29, 1945, with only a single notice stating, “Due to conditions beyond our control caused by the war the Western Star ceases publication with this issue until further notice.”

Provided By: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Gwiazda Zachodu = Western Star (Omaha, Neb.) 19??-1945

Other Title

  • Western star

Dates of Publication

  • 19??-1945

Created / Published

  • Omaha, Neb. : [Gwiazda Zachodu Pub. Co.], -1945.

Headings

  • -  Polish people--Nebraska--Newspapers
  • -  Polish Americans--Nebraska--Newspapers
  • -  Omaha (Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  Polish Americans
  • -  Polish people
  • -  Nebraska
  • -  Nebraska--Omaha
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Douglas--Omaha

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  -v. 40, no. 27 (29 go czerw., 1945).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  In Polish and English.
  • -  Description based on: Dec. 7, 1917.

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83045201

OCLC Number

  • 9357571

ISSN Number

  • 2997-9307

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Gwiazda Zachodu = Western Star Omaha, Neb. 19??. (Omaha, NE), 19??. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045201/.

APA citation style:

(19??) Gwiazda Zachodu = Western Star Omaha, Neb. 19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045201/.

MLA citation style:

Gwiazda Zachodu = Western Star Omaha, Neb. 19??. (Omaha, NE) 19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83045201/.