The editorial offices of Haynt, the largest Yiddish daily newspaper of the Interwar period.

The first issue of the Zionist Haynt daily was published on 22nd January 1908, while the last issue came out on 22nd September 1939, shortly before the capitulation of Warsaw.

Around 300 issues were published annually from Sunday to Friday, both in Warsaw as well as in other local versions. All of them were edited for 31 years from the same place – the editorial office on Chłodna Street.

The creators of Haynt focused on their mass readership. In order to keep them reading, they not only offered fresh vividly-edited information, but the most famous names of the time. By 1911, the magazine had gained so much popularity that its circulation reached 100,000 copies.

Despite the economic and socio-political difficulties of the 1930s, the editorial office functioned until the capital was occupied by the Nazi Germans. The magazine’s archives were destroyed around that time and the printing equipment was confiscated and taken to Germany.

The building itself survived the war, although it was burnt down. It was demolished in 1947.

How to listen:

Unseen is available as a downloadable podcast, although it is best experienced through the Echoes geolocative storytelling app available for iOS and Android. After loading the app, search for soundwalks in Warsaw and you’ll find Unseen.

Further reading:

• 8 Remarkable Yiddish Books from Poland // on Culture.pl

• Lost World: Polish Jews – Photographs from 1918-1939 // book profile on Culture.pl

• The Most Unusual Jewish Publication of Interwar Poland // on Culture.pl 

• From ‘Last Sunday’ to ‘Last Shabbos’: Poland’s Legendary Jewish Tangos// on Culture.pl 

• The Lost World of Yiddish Films in Poland // on Culture.pl

• The Rise & Fall of Polish Song // on Culture.pl