Kurier Wileński Information

Roots of modern „Kurier Wileński” hail back to 1953, when Polish daily „Czerwony Sztandar” („Red Banner”) was established as means of ideological shaping of the community of Polish people in Lithuanian Soviet Republic. Before Perestroyka, its circulation reached 60.000 and the paper was widely read by Poles throughout the Soviet Union. Although officially “red”, daily was regarded by it's readers as means of retaining their national identity and language. At the time of Lithuanian regaining of independence in 1990, the newspaper was renamed to „Kurier Wileński” (Courier of Wilno) as means of taking upon the traditions of pre-WW II (first founded in 1796 as „Kurier Litewski„ in Grodno, later renamed to„ Kurier Wileński„ in 1840 — the original daily was being closed on several occasions by tsarist, soviet and Lithuanian authorities) daily of the same name.