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.
[4] 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.
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,[5] but, in fact, later founded the influential Toledo-based newspaper Ameryka-Echo, which survived until 1971.
[6] 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.
On page 5 of the February 22, 1894 edition of Katolik appeared an "Oda Perhamska" - a paean to the Polish people of Perham, Minnesota.
Apparently the change involved more than poetry: Dziennik Chicagoski for March 25, 1895 records a demonstration at Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish of Chicago against Katolik and another Polish-language paper referred to as Kropidlo.
A March 26, 1897 article from Narod Polski, the PRCUA's national newspaper, shows that he retained his power to offend:[14] It would be impossible for such as Jutrzenka, Glos Ludu, Wiarus, Nowe Zycie, Sztandarek and others to exist in Europe.
Constant exposure to the high-pressure polemic of America's Polish-language newspaper world and the pressures of providing for his family took its toll on his health.
[15] A complete set of bound volumes of Wiarus and Katolik was preserved by John C. Bambenek, the newspaper's last business manager and later, Winona County Treasurer.
By courtesy of the Bambenek family, these bound volumes were microfilmed by the Minnesota Historical Society and now reside at the Polish Cultural Institute and Museum in Winona.