Summary

Przegląd Kulturalny was one of a few interesting Warsaw weeklies published in the time of People's Poland. Initially it was the organ of the Arts and Culture Council. Later, although it gained some independence, it was closely controlled by specialist departments of the Politburo which were responsible for culture and the press.
In the history of Przegląd Kulturalny two periods can be distinguished. The first - Stalinist - was associated with Jerzy Andrzejewski, and the other "liberal-revisionist" was personified by Gustaw Gottesman.
The first issues of Przegląd Kulturalny amounted to a dozen or so copies. However, the louder and more sincerely it spoke, the more readers were attracted. In the period of political "thaw" after the October events the magazine reached the peak of popularity, and publication increased to 75 thousand copies. In the years 1958-1959 the magazine suffered a distinct crisis which was mainly caused by the political and administrative pressure of the Politburo, the outcome of which was the deterioration of the attractiveness of the magazine and a decrease in the number of copies to 26 thousand copies in mid 1959. From 1960 G Gottesman made efforts to increase the attractiveness of the weekly. The effects were soon visible. In early 1963 the number of copies reached almost 50 thousand.
Przegląd Kulturalny was not a magazine for wide readership. It required a comprehensive humanistic background from its readers and a fair orientation in the meanders of the policy of the Polish United Workers' Party. For less knowledgeable Przegląd Kulturalny offered a reliable overview of the current developments in Polish culture.
Przegląd Kulturalny published mostly publicistic and reportage features as well as letters to the editor. The magazine contained much illustrative material. The predominance of publicistic articles was particularly visible in the 1960s, when the weekly became the object of a ruthless attack by the Party fraction, the so-called "Partisans".