Polish-language Zionist daily published in Warsaw. Nasz Przegląd (Our Review) published a total of 8,962 issues between March 1923 and September 1939, with circulation estimates varying from 20,000 to 50,000. The paper’s key executives included Saul Wagman, Daniel Rosencwajg, Jakub Appenszlak, and Samuel Hirschhorn.
Nasz Przegląd strove to represent Jewish national opinion undivided by political differences, and aimed to “strengthen the national feeling” among its readers, as Appenszlak expressed its goals in the programmatic article “Na posterunku” (On Duty), which appeared in the paper’s first issue. Nasz Przegląd monitored political, social, and economic issues and supported the development of Jewish culture in Poland based on constitutional guarantees and the rights of minorities. In his article Appenszlak declared, “We believe the most important guarantee of Poland’s strength lies in upholding the constitutional principles, fostering democracy, peace, lawfulness, productive work and, most importantly, the unrestricted autonomy of national minorities. Not representing any party, we will always oppose backwardness, all forms of egoism and fight for the common good.”
Warning against the “dangers of assimilation,” Nasz Przegląd condemned antisemitism and voiced support for rebuilding Jewish life in Palestine. It invited Jewish politicians from all ideological quarters to contribute. Among those who accepted this invitation were Zionists Yitsḥak Grünbaum and Vladimir Jabotinsky, as well as Folkists Samuel Hirschhorn and Samuel Wołkowicz. Other contributors included Majer Bałaban, Jakub Bleiberg, Wilhelm Fallek, Janusz Korczak, Matthias Mieses, Mojżesz Schorr, and Bernard Singer.
“What Do Our Four Sons Say about Hebrew University?” Der afikoymen (The Afikomen), Warsaw, April 1925. In this parody of the Four Sons of the Passover Haggadah from an example of a yontef-bletl, each of four Warsaw Jewish dailies (from right to left, Haynt, Folks-tsaytung, Moment, and Nasz Przegląd) expresses its opinion of the newly founded Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Haynt: “Nu, who remains the wise one? Me or them?” Folks-tsaytung: “University, shmuniversity! We care about it as much as our left earlock. Comrades! Come to a meeting on the Sabbath!” Moment: “Be my guest. There should be a Hebrew University, too.” Nasz Przegląd: “All right! Let’s do university! There will be photos of it in our illustrated supplement.” (YIVO)
The paper engaged in polemics with the Polish press, which often quoted Nasz Przegląd as a representative voice of Jewish public opinion. Nasz Przegląd reprinted items from Yiddish publications, and thus also served as a bridge between the Yiddish and Polish presses. It interacted with the Polish environment by organizing surveys, including one in 1925 titled “Writers and Scholars on the Jewish Question.”
Among Nasz Przegląd’s most important sections were its overviews of national, international, and economic issues. It also ran regular columns devoted to Jewish, Polish, and European culture, including articles on literature, music, the fine arts, and theater and film reviews. Polish Jewish literati who wrote for Nasz Przegląd included Appenszlak, Wagman, Maurycy Szymel, and Mieczysław Braun. Among the writers translated from Hebrew and Yiddish literature were Mendele Moykher-Sforim, Sholem Aleichem, Y. L. Peretz, David Frishman, Sholem Asch, I. J. Singer, and Uri Tsevi Grinberg.
Nasz Przegląd also gave attention to local news. Warsaw’s events were summarized in the “Jewish Chronicle” section, while “News from Łódź” was published separately. For less discerning readers, the daily ran a chronicle of accidents, sensational news, and court reports. Several supplements were published weekly, including the children’s Mały Przegląd, edited by Korczak; Nasz Przegląd Sportowy; and Nasz Przegląd Ilustrowany. Furthermore, Nasz Przegląd provided a link between readers and community organizations: it organized fund-raising drives for charitable activities, and supported such causes as aiding the victims of skirmishes in Palestine in 1929, the orphanage on Krochmalna Street, the children’s hospital on Śliska Street, the Medem Sanatorium in Międzeszyn, YIVO, and pogrom victims in Przytyk in 1936.
Jakub Appenszlak, “Piętnastolecie Naszego przeglądu,” Nasz Przegląd 263 (1938): 9; Marian Fuks, Prasa żydowska w Warszawie, 1823–1939 (Warsaw, 1979); Michael Steinlauf, “The Polish-Jewish Daily Press,” Polin 2 (1987): 219–245.
Translated from Polish by Christina Manetti; revised by Magda Opalski