Jan Ludwik Popławski was a Polish journalist, author, politician and one of the first chief activists and ideologues of the right-wing National Democracy political camp.
Released in 1882, Popławski returned to Warsaw and began to write in the newspaper Prawda under the pen nameWiat. From 1886, he worked for the weekly Głos. He was arrested in 1894 for participation in a protest commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Kościuszko Uprising in Warsaw. In 1895 he was bailed out and released from Warsaw Citadel. Popławski eventually moved to Lwów, where together with Roman Dmowski published political magazinePrzegląd Wszechpolski, in 1897–1901 he was the sole editor-in-chief. He later contributed to Wiek XX daily and Słowo Polskie. Popławski was one of the main organizers of National-Democratic Party in the Austrian partition. From 1896 he edited a monthly publication called Polak that was published in Kraków and aimed mainly at a peasant readership in the Russian partition. He later became one of the founders of the Galician weekly Ojczyzna. One of the main ideas of his works was the issue of returning the Western lands to Poland, in particular Pomerania with the widest possible access to the Baltic Sea. Although focusing mostly on Western lands under Prussian partition, Popławski eventually also favoured inclusion of some Eastern territories to future independent Poland. He summarized these goals in 1901: Popławski was also one of the most activesocial activists dealing with peasants' issues. Through his work and writings he elevated the awareness of poor village masses about their role in forming the modern Polish nation. Popławski understood that peasants were the backbone of national existence and the only basis for national regeneration. In Popławski's view the ethnic heritage had little to do with nationality: After riots in Polish lands in 1905–1906, following the revolution of 1905, Popławski returned to Warsaw and took part in leadership of National Democratic movement. He joined the editorial staff of Gazeta Polska daily. In 1907 he fell seriously ill and retreated from publishing. He was diagnosed with throat cancer. Jan Ludwik Popławski died on 12 March 1908 in Warsaw.
Views on Jews
Popławski considered Jews to be "estranged" from the Poles as a result of the "features of the Semitic race". Viewing the Jews as an alien body in the national Polish organism, Popławski wrote in his famous 1886 article that "Jewish apartness resists the melding of the Jews with the Poles into a unified national organism. The anti-Jewish movement in contemporary society is a pathology comparable to the way an organism fights against an alien body that has settled in it. This struggle ends either with the destruction of alien body, its repulsion, or the death of the organism".
