Supplements to the „Berlin Journal” for children and youth in 1925–1939

Abstract

The article attempts to present the history and contents of the children supplements to the „Berlin Journal”, issued in Berlin in 1897-1939. The „Berlin Journal”, started in as early as the German Empire, fighting for existence in the Weimar Republic and harassed in the fascist Reich, played an important role in keeping the Polish character and organization of life of the Poles living in Berlin. After the end of World War I there were about 5 thousand children in the school age living in Berlin. Just like other Polish newspapers in Germany, the „Berlin Journal” contributed to keeping the Polish heritage among Poles in Berlin. Issuing the children supplements, it reached the young Polish readers in this city and helped familiarizing and fixing the Polish language. Throughout the years 1925-1939, the „Berlin Journal” was issuing four supplements for children and youth. Two of them - „Bell” and „Youth” were separate inserts, which after the appropriate folding of the pages become a makeshift newspaper. The remaining two - „Children Corner” and „Historical Diary”, were more or less graphically and spatially separated columns of the Berlin periodical. The „Berlin Journal” enabled the young readers in Berlin access to the Polish vocabulary, thanks to these children supplements and the involvement of the youth press editors. The inserts and columns for the young Berlin citizens had to very often compensate for the lack of the Polish coursebook or history book and thus became a popular and likeable reading material.