Insurgent Troops

The official journal of the Supreme People's Council in Poznań

Marek Rezler

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‘Tygodnik Urzędowy Naczelnej Rady Ludowej’ was the official journal of the Supreme People's Council in Poznań, published from 16 January till 31 December 1919. From issue No. 11 of 20 March 1919, its name was changed to ‘Tygodnik Urzędowy’. It contained basic normative acts as well as information and the orders of the central Polish authorities in the areas which were under the control of the Greater Poland insurgents.

Altogether 82 issues of Tygodnik Urzędowy were published, with the page headers and page numbering running continuously from the beginning after the change of name –rather than every issue individually; in total, both Tygodnik Urzędowy Naczelnej Rady Ludowej (TUNRL)/Tygodnik Urzędowy (TU) covered 52+450 pages, format 30 x 22.5 cm on the then available newsprint. Until the change in name, the name of the editor Jan Szmańda was also mentioned. The editorial office and administration of Tygodnik Urzędowy were located at 10 Pawła Street (currently A. Fredry Street), in the building of the Settlement Commission. Before the change in its name, Tygodnik Urzędowy was issued every Thursday, then irregularly depending on the need, sometimes this was even every day. A principle was established in Tygodnik Urzędowy, issue No. 32 of 31 July 1919, that it would be issued on every Saturday, irrespective of any possible extraordinary supplements. This was later repeated several times in separate announcements. In reality, however, the rule was at times subject to change – it could not be maintained like this all the time until the end of 1919 when the publication of Tygodnik Urzędowy Naczelnej Rady Ludowej was terminated. The logotype of Tygodnik Urzędowy changed from issue No. 1 with the addition of the Polish Eagle and a list of regulations included in the given issue of the journal in double-column print, if necessary, in the parallel column, a German translation of selected regulations was provided.

Throughout the period of the journal, its typesetting and printing took place in the St. Adalbert Printing House and Bookshop in Poznań – an institution managed by Priest Stanisław Adamski. This allowed for the application of a more or less uniform graphic layout, typesetting and font. From issue No. 48 (16 September 1919.), the regulations of the Minister of the former Prussian Partition were published. Starting from 12 January 1920, the journal came out under the name “Dziennik Urzędowy Ministerstwa Byłej Dzielnicy Pruskiej” [Official Journal of the former Prussian Partition], including specification of the place of issue: Warszawa-Poznań. The text was formatted in a single column at that time. The Official Journal of the former Prussian Partition was printed in an independent printing house. The regency building, provincial department, post office, customs office, railway authorities, police headquarters, all county offices, starosties, district police stations, municipal councils and the chambers of: agriculture, commerce and craft were all obliged to subscribe to TUNRL/TU. Subscription to TUNRL was also obligatory for Central Command and the staff of larger army units. The journal was delivered free-of-charge to members of the Supreme People’s Council and poviat’s people’s councils, whose task was to distribute the publication among the members of local people’s councils, public libraries and editorial offices of the local press. Sometimes, the circulation of the journal turned out to be insufficient, therefore efforts were made to use the existing copies rationally. Currently more or less complete lists of TUNRL/TU would, in general, be preserved in library and archival resources, as a remnant of the documentation of the respective Polish authorities and institutions from the year 1919.

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