THE ACTIVITIES OF ODESA LIBRARIES DURING THE OCCUPATION OF 1941–1944

The article is dedicated to one of the insufficiently researched aspects of the history of librarianship in our country – the policy of the occupation authorities and representatives of the German military administration regarding the organization of library activities in the occupied territories of the Ukrainian SSR. For the first time, the article presents the history of Odesa libraries during the German-Romanian occupation of 1941–1944. Based on materials published in the occupation press and a number of archival documents, introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the authors trace the activities of libraries and their role in spreading occupation ideology and propaganda among the local population. The significant part of the article is dedicated to analyzing the involvement of libraries in implementing the cultural policy of the German-Romanian occupiers. Libraries were meant to play a manipulative role in spreading the new ideology among the local population through non-military methods. Moreover, libraries and library staff were actively used in direct propaganda work in the occupied zone. The article examines the fate of libraries in the context of the war. The main directions of the new authorities’ policy in introducing a new culture on the occupied territories and organizing the relocation and confiscation of valuable books from library collections are highlighted. Various aspects of the use of book collections during the occupation are explored. Information about book culture during the occupation period is presented based on publications in periodicals. The destructive policies of the occupation authorities toward libraries are analyzed. The article outlines the stages of the reorganization and reopening of libraries in the occupied zone, as well as the main directions and destructive outcomes of this activity. The principles of the local authorities’ policies regarding libraries, the factors that influenced them, and the overall results are examined. Brief biographical notes of the directors of Odesa’s leading libraries are also provided.