The languages of the Soviet Union from a special library in West Berlin
55 Primers in Soviet Minority Languages.
Various sizes, mostly ca. 215 x 165 mm. Mostly pictorial half-cloth, dimensions and pagination noted in description below. Many with fold-out charts at the back illustrating the alphabets they are written in.
€ 18.000,00
A unique collection of children's primers in Russian and 46 other languages spoken in the Soviet Union, from Armenian to Yiddish, from the library of the USSR's chief cultural propaganda outlet in West Berlin. The library of the Club für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft (DSF, Club for German-Soviet Friendship) offered a range of teaching materials originally designed for Soviet children whose mother-tongue was not Russian, which presented a rare opportunity for westerners wishing to learn many of the smaller languages spoken throughout the USSR.
These volumes are also treasure-troves of Soviet propaganda and its imagery: heroic portraits of Lenin, factories, fields and tractors, and happy children learning, camping, singing and dancing with red flags, with the earlier volumes in the collection especially steeped in Socialist Realism. The primers also promote the Soviet idea of Friendship of Peoples ( ), depicting children from the USSR's different ethnic groups working and playing together, and using typical imagery associated with each group.
The status of non-Russian languages in the USSR fluctuated throughout its history, and although in theory every people had a right to their own language, in practice Russian was first and not knowing it brought disadvantages. Aside from the Baltic languages, German, Armenian, Georgian and Yiddish, all languages which had historically been written in other scripts were written in Cyrillic: these primers thus represent a particularly good collection of Central Asian languages which have moved to using other scripts since the fall of Communism.
Most of these volumes represent the greater openness of the later period, although the earliest are from the 1950s. The majority come with typewritten leaflets from the Club DSF in German, naming and giving a brief introduction to each of the languages, where they are spoken and roughly how many speakers, at least in the case of those less familiar to a European audience.
The Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft (Society for German-Soviet Friendship) was founded after World War II to promote a more positive view of the Soviet Union. It was primarily active in East Germany, where membership was encouraged by the authorities, and sponsored cultural activities and made information from and about the USSR available to the public. This collection is from the library of one of its few locations in West Germany, where it was banned in many federal states: namely its western headquarters on Berlin's Kurfürstendamm. The collection thus represents part of the Soviet Union's propaganda initiatives in the divided city.
A piece of cold war history as well as a fascinating insight into education, propaganda and language policy in the USSR from the 1950s through the 1980s.
From the library of the Club DSF (Club für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft), Kurfürstendamm 72, West-Berlin.
Full list of volumes by language.
Indo-European Languages.
1) Armenian: - , (Yerevan, no year) (165 x 250 mm., 145 pp.).
2) Belarusian: . . , . (Minsk, 1957) (155 x 255 mm, 128 pp.).
3) Belarusian: . . , (Minsk, 1977) (163 x 215 mm., 112 pp.) (2 copies, 3a and 3b).
4) German: J. I. Wall, L. I. Sawatzkaja, Fibel (Moskau, 1986) (165 x 215 mm., 175 pp.).
5) Latvian: O. esterovs, J. Osmanis: bece. I. klasei. (Riga, 1982) (169 x 215 mm., 127 pp.).
6) Latvian: A. Karule, A. Kauce, bec te (Riga, 1985) (168 x 215 mm., 120 pp.).
7) Lithuanian: L. Jakubauskien , Vyturys 1 (Kaunas, 1973) (166 x 211 mm, 168 pp.).
8) Lithuanian: L. Jakubauskien , Draugas (Kaunas, 1981) (252 x 198 mm, 96 pp.).
9) Lithuanian: M. Gylien , Lietuvi Kalba (Kaunas, 1982) (160 x 210 mm., 104 pp.).
10) Moldavian: . . , . . , . . , (Chi in u, 1984) (163 x 240 mm., 112 pp.).
11) Ossetian: , (Ordzhonikidze, 1985) (164 x 215 mm., 120 pp.).
12) Russian: (Moscow, 1969) (153 x 216 mm., 112 pp.).
13) Russian: (Moscow, 1973) (154 x 230 mm, 112 pp.).
14) Russian: (Moscow, 1987) (150 x 214 mm., 129 pp., photocopy).
15) Tajik: , (Dushanbe, 1985) (167 x 217 mm., 96 pp.).
16) Ukrainian. . . , . . , (Kyiv, 1984) (164 x 240 mm., 112 pp.).
17) Yiddish. , , , , (Khabarovsk, 1982) (162 x 213 mm) (241 pp.).
Turkic Languages.
18) Altai: . . , (Gorno-Altaisk, 1984) (160 x 215 mm., 126 pp.).
19) Azerbaijani: . , (Baku, 1981) (160 x 215 mm., 248 pp.).
20) Azerbaijani: . . , (Baku, 1985) (167 x 215 mm.) (93 pp.).
21) Balkar: . . , (Nalchik, 1982) (170 x 215 mm., 160 pp.).
22) Bashkir: . . , (Ufa, 1984) (169 x 216 mm., 96 pp.).
23) Chuvash: . . , (Cheboksary, 1982) (163 x 215 mm., 128 pp.).
24) Kazakh: . , . , . , (Almaty, 1985) (167 x 215 mm., 96 pp.).
25) Khakas: . . , . . , (Abakan, 1983) (155 x 217 mm., 115 pp.).
26) Karachay: , , (Cherkessk, 1982) (155 x 213 mm., 120 pp.).
27) Kyrgyz: . , . , (Frunze, 1985) (153 x 212 mm, 96 pp.).
28) Nogai: . . , . . , (Cherkessk, 1982) (216 x 160 mm., 144 pp.).
29) Tatar, . . , . . , (Kazan, 1985) (164 x 215 mm., 96 pp.).
30) Turkmen: . , . v, . , (Ashgabat, 1981) (162 x 240 mm., 176 pp.).
31) Tuvan: . . - , . . , (Kyzyl, 1983) (157 x 216 mm., 152 pp.).
32) Uzbek: , (Tashkent, 1954) (256 x 162 mm, 96 pp.).
33) Yakut: . . , . . , (Yakuktsk, 1980) (154 x 215 mm., 96 pp.).
Uralic Languages.
34) Mansi: . . , . . , (Leningrad, 1985) (162 x 215 mm., 128 pp.).
35) Mari: . . , (Yoshkar-Ola, 1983) (154 x 214 mm, 128 pp.).
36) Mountain Mari: . . , . . , (Yoshkar-Ola, 1982) (158 x 215 mm, 128 pp.).
37) Komi: . . , . . , (Syktyvkar, 1985) (169 x 216 mm.) (120 pp.).
38) Komi-Permyak: . . , . . , (Kudymkar, 1979) (164 x 216 mm., 116 pp.).
39) Udmurt: . . , . . , (Ustinov, 1985) (157 x 215 mm., 128, pp.).
Caucasian Languages.
40) Abaza: , (Cherkessk, 1980) (158 x 215 mm., 176 pp.).
41) Adyghe: , (Myekuale, 1982) (150 x 215 mm., 192 pp.).
42) Chechen: . . , . . , (158 x 215 mm., 160 pp.).
43) Dargin: . . , (Makhachkala, 1982) (159 x 216 mm., 144 pp.).
44) Ingush: . . , (Grozny, 1984) (158 x 215 mm., 160 pp.).
45) Karbadian: , (Nalchik, 1984) (158 x 217 mm., 176 pp.).
46) Tabasaran: . . , (Makhachkala, 1982) (162 x 215 mm. 145 pp.).
Other Languages.
47) Buryat: . . , (Ulan-Ude 1984) (160 x 216 mm., 128 pp.).
48) "Eskimo" (Siberian Yupik): . . , . . , (Leningrad, 1985) (155 x 215 mm., 128 pp.).
49) Estonian: L. Eisen, Aabits (Tallinn, 1983) (166 x 215mm) (144 pp.).
50) Evenki: . . ì , . . , . . , (Leningrad, 1981) (165 x 216 mm., 128 pp.).
51) Finnish: N. Holm, I. Petrova, Lukukirja: Suomen kielen oppikirja II luokka (Petrozavodsk, 1973) (260 x 170 mm, 227 pp.).
52) Georgian: , (Tblisi, 1976)(163 x 215 mm., 80 pp.) (seemingly same book as 53 only earlier and original).
53) Georgian: , (Tblisi, 1979) (153 x 223 mm., 80 pp.) (Photocopy, seemingly a later reprint of 52).
54) Kalmyk: , (Elista, 1981) (158 x 217 mm., 144 pp.).
55) Nanai (Goldi): . . , . . , (Leningrad, 1983) (160 x 216 mm., 128 pp.).
All volumes have the stamp of the Club DSF inside. A few have cracked hinges, browning commensurate with age or light edgewear, particularly the larger volumes. Two volumes (noted in descrption) are home-bound black-and-white photocopies with laminated covers but serviceable. Overall in good condition, remarkably clean and show almost no signs of use.
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