Press of the Polish-Lithuanian Tatars of the 1930s on the Relations between the Polish-Lithuanian Tatars and Tatar Emigre Communities in Interwar Poland

Abstract

The article deals with the relationship between the local Muslim community of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars and a small, but very active group of Tatar emigrants from Russia’s Idel-Ural (Volga-Ural region) in interwar Poland. These contacts are analyzed through the prism of the Muslim press, published in independent Poland in the 1930s and related to the local Tatar community. These are two journals (“Tatar Life” / “Zycie Tatarskie” and “Islamic Review” / “Przeglad Islamski”), as well as three issues of the Tatar Yearbook (“Rocznik Tatarski”), published during the 1930s in Warsaw and Vilnius (Wilno). The materials of this periodical are very important and are often used in the study of the history and culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Tatars. This is evidenced by numerous Polish studies. To a lesser extent, the Polish Tatar press was involved in studies on the history of Tatar emigre communities in Eastern Europe, as well as the personal biography of its representatives. However, information from the Polish-language press of Polish-Lithuanian Tatars is not only valuable for reconstructing the history of Turkic-Tatar emigre communities, but also allows us to analyze the specifics of the incorporation of Tatar emigrants into the local Muslim community.