Wiarus

Wiarus (Veteran Defender) was the name of a Polish-language newspaper published in Winona, Minnesota from 1886 to 1893 and 1895 to 1919; in 1893 it was renamed Katolik, but reverted to its original name in 1895. Wiarus also provided printing services for Winona's Kashubian Polish community. From 1886 to 1902, Wiarus was edited by the famed Kashubian-born poet and journalist Hieronim Derdowski. In its heyday, Wiarus was said to be the most widely circulated Polish-language newspaper in the United States.

The first edition of Wiarus is dated February 11, 1886, but at least one authoritative contemporary source gives Wiarus a starting date of 1885. The date of 1885 must certainly refer to the discussions culminating in the foundation of Wiarus. Led by the pastor, Reverend Jan Romuald Byzewski, Kashubian Poles from Winona's Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish pooled their resources to start a newspaper which would represent the interests of Winona's Kashubian Poles, at both the local and national levels. Two Winona Polish papers, Przyjaciel Ludu (People's Friend) and Kurjer Winonski (Winona Courier) had already failed. The Winona Daily Republican for February 18, 1886 states that officers of the Wiarus stock company were: Reverend Jan Byzewski, president; John B. Bambenek, vice-president; V.A. Lorbiecki, secretary; Frank Drazkowski, treasurer. The founders selected the title Wiarus to reflect the paper's values, as expressed below:

Our slogan is 'God Save Polonia.' Under this slogan we wish to unify our forces so as to be firm against our adversities, to preserve our holy faith in its purest form, to save our ethnic traditions, to educate our youth, and to secure for ourselves a respectable position in the United States in political and ethnic fields.

The first three issues of Wiarus were edited by Frank Drazkowski, the fourth through the tenth by Antoni Paryski (also called Parisso or Parek). Paryski is regarded by Winona historians to have been some kind of a Russian spy, but, in fact, later founded the influential Toledo-based newspaper Ameryka-Echo, which survived until 1971. Heated allegations such as this were typical of that day's Polish-language press, as editors competed for influence and subscribers among a Polish American community just beginning to recognize its own strength. The third and most famous editor of Wiarus, Hieronim Derdowski, was no stranger to controversy either. Better known (then and now) as an influential Kashubian and Polish poet, Derdowski emigrated to the United States in 1885 and had already worn out his welcome at two Detroit newspapers: the socialist Gazeta Narodowa and the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America-supported Pielgrzym Polski. Evidently, he had not been the first choice of Wiarus's editorial board, even though he had expressed interest and his fellow-Kashubian Father Byzewski must have known about him at least by reputation. But with the eleventh issue of Wiarus, a new era began.

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