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Michał Kruszka or Michael Kruszka (September 28, 1860 – December 2, 1918) was a Polish-American politician and journalist.^[1]

Contents [hide] 1 Biography 2 Family 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit]Biography

Michał Kruszka was born in Słabomierz, Posen (which was then part of the Kingdom of Prussia) on September 28, 1860.

Arrested by the Kaiser’s police for pro-Polish agitation and protests against Germanization in his native Poznan at a very early age, Kruszka left Prussia following his release. He arrived in United States in 1880. After arriving in the USA, Kruszka learned to speak English. In 1883, he came toMilwaukee, Wisconsin as an insurance salesman. But his real passions were politics and journalism and he began attempts to publish a Polish language newspaper in 1885. After some setbacks, in June 1888, Kruszka founded a successful Polish language daily called Kuryer Polski. It would be the first successful Polish-language daily in America^{[citation needed]}.

Kruszka entered the realm of politics, eventually winning a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1890 as a Democrat. Two years later he became the first Polish state senator in the United States having been elected to the Wisconsin State Senate.^[2]

In his editorial line, Kruszka demanded respect for Polish Americans by promoting their representation and fair treatment in the churches, politics, fraternal organizations and other facets of society. Devoutly Catholic and nationalistic, Kruszka also took a strong stand on the labor issues of the day. Criticized by some for his strong views, he replied:

“When I sound a delicate piano string, I use a soft little mallet. But when I have to straighten a crooked rail, I use fire and a sledgehammer.”

On June 27, 1908 the Kuryer Polski celebrated its 20th anniversary by printing the largest newspaper edition ever made in Milwaukee. It featured 66 pages and a greeting (in Polish and English) thanking their readership of 70,000 Polish people in Milwaukee and 4 million Polish people in America. In 1909, Kruszka expanded his newspaper empire by purchasing Dziennik Narodowy (National Daily News) in Chicago.

Kruszka used this forum to campaign for the appointment of a Polish bishop in the American Catholic Church as well as to call for reforms in the Milwaukee archdiocese. There had been considerable strife between the local Polish parishes and the Archdiocese, which was run by Germanand Irish clergy. Kruszka continued his passionate agitation for Polish representation in the church hierarchy, which caused considerable conflict with the Milwaukee diocese and criticism from Archbishop Sebastian Gebhard Messmer.^[3] The Archbishop of Milwaukee supported the launch of a second Polish language newspaper, Nowiny Polskie, to counter the influence of the Kuryer. Finally on February 12, 1912 the Milwaukee archdiocese took