AC - Directories

2003

AC -- Directories

Presse im Transit: jiddische Zeitungen und Zeitschriften in Berlin von 1919 bis 1925 [Press in Transit: Yiddish Newspapers and Magazines in Berlin from 1919 to 1925]. Marion Neiss. Berlin: Metropol-Verlag, 2002. 240 p. ill. 24 cm. (Dokumente, Texte, Materialien / Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung der Technischen Universität Berlin, 44). [03-1-010]

In what was originally her 2000 dissertation, the author has chosen to examine six years and one city out of the vast unexplored history of the European Jewish press: Berlin, from 1919 to 1925, and out of that, only the Yiddish-language newspapers. Of course, many Jewish papers were in German or in the language of the country that had given the emigrant group refuge; this makes the title so appropriate. The Berlin of that period bore a remarkable resemblance to today’s Berlin, although the languages now heard almost exclusively in some neighborhoods are Russian and Turkish. What we know about the publishing output of minorities in the Germany of both then and now is hardly enough for a comprehensive study. This is only a beginning for the Yiddish newspapers and magazines.

The detective work required to put this list of periodicals together was considerable, as most of the papers no longer exist in German libraries. The best sources were in fact the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (New York) and the Central Zionist Archives (Jerusalem). Further challenges were posed by the fact that many titles were only published in a single issue; the longest any of them survived was 15 months. And with printing runs of rarely more than 500, the probability of them being saved anywhere is very small. This study introduces a number of titles with their editors, contributors, and history, and quotes extensively from what could be considered typical articles. Because very few readers can be expected to read Yiddish now, the quotations are given in German with the original Yiddish supplied in the footnotes, transliterated according to the rules set forth by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

Neiss divides her material into four categories: weekly newspapers, bulletins of auxiliary organizations, political periodicals, and finally, entertainment magazines and literary and artistic journals. The bibliographic data are compiled in tabular form for comparison purposes. Further chapters provide a view of German Jews from the Eastern Jewish perspective and an overview of Zionist groups. Of special interest to librarians is the appended list of Yiddish- and German-language periodicals (with holdings) and a two-part bibliography: (1) handbooks and encyclopedias, and (2) criticism. An index of personal names completes the volume. [wh/hh]

Mikrofilmarchiv der deutschsprachigen Presse e.V.: 11. Bestandsverzeichnis = Microfilm Archives of the German Language Press: 11th Catalogue. Ed. Manfred Pankratz. Berlin: Vistas-Verlag, 2003. xxv, 866 p. 21 cm. Catalogs 1–9 (1994) publ. by Mikrofilmarchiv der deutschsprachigen Presse, Dortmund. ISBN 3-89158-370-2: EUR 25 [03-1-011]

This second edition of the catalog of the Microfilm Archive of the German Language Press (MFA) identifies 8,164 newspapers. Subsequent title changes are listed under the oldest filmed title, and available microfilm holdings are indicated. This is a dramatic increase over the previous edition (see RREA 4:79) and is indicative of new filming, largely in the new federal states, thanks to support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the cooperative filming project of the MFA and the Deutsche Bibliothek. Supplements include a bibliography of MFA publications 1967–2003. Availability via the Internet, with periodic updates, is anticipated. This is an indispensable resource for those who produce or acquire newspaper microfilm, although the very small print makes it a challenge to read. [sh/ab]

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