Zaraza u bram Nowego Jorku: reakcja amerykańskiej opinii publicznej na epidemię tyfusu w Polsce po I wojnie światowej.

Zaraza u bram Nowego Jorku: reakcja amerykańskiej opinii publicznej na epidemię tyfusu w Polsce po I wojnie światowej.

A pestilence at the gates of the New York City: the reaction of the American public opinion to the epidemic of typhus in post-World War I Poland

Sylwia Kuźma Markowska

The article presents and analyzes the reaction of American daily newspapers to the epidemic of typhus in Poland after World War I. In the years 1919-1922 American press delved into the issue of the “pestilence” in Eastern Europe, focusing on its unprecedented scope, unsanitary conditions that supposedly caused the epidemic, inability of Polish authorities to fight against the diseases, and the correlation between the plague and the war against Soviet Russia. The greatest concern for the American public opinion was however the threat that the typhus might be brought to the United States by immigrants coming from Eastern Europe, Poland in particular. The immigration station Ellis Island and the nearby New York City were, according to the press articles, in the most imminent danger of epidemic. American newspapers, especially the dailies published in the New York City, diligently reported anti-epidemic and anti-immigration decisions and activities undertaken by local authorities. All in all, the press inflated the issue of typhus and sustained a close association between the disease and Eastern European Polish and Jewish immigrants.

Prace analityczne

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