The Odessaer Zeitung was founded in the city of Odessa in 1861 and published until 1914. Each issue of the daily begins with international news, then national reports, then local news of the city of Odessa, followed by business news, reviews of books, and theatre notices. Illustrated advertisements of farm machinery and household goods adorn the rear pages. Of special interest to Mennonites was the Koloniales section devoted to news, views, and opinions of the German-speaking colonists that settled in New Russia (today Ukraine). The story goes that the Nazis looted the actual newspapers from Ukraine during the Second World War and then the Americans seized the collection and microfilmed all of them but for one year that was accidentally omitted. The entire print run was then destroyed. It is now only available via microfilm. Thanks to the partnership with the Plett Foundation and Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies, this paper is now available here!
View James Urry’s article on the paper here.