Zhytomyr Newspaper “The Voice of Volyn” in the German Information Space (October 1941-1943)

Abstract

This paper aims to consider the newspaper “Voice of Volyn”, published in Zhytomyr in 1941-1943, as part of the German information space during the Second World War. The methodology of the study incorporates general scientific and special historical methods alongside with the fundamental principles of historical research: historicism, scientificity, objectivity, and systematicity. The principles of historicism and scientificity have contributed to the complex representation of the history of the newspaper “Voice of Volyn” in interconnection and interrelation with the events of that period. The principle of objectivity has facilitated the analysis of the discussed issue considering the objective historical regularities based on a comprehensive analysis of the existing specialized literature and sources. The principle of systematicity has allowed to obtain a holistic picture of the Zhytomyr newspaper “Voice of Volyn" as a component of the German information space on the occupied territory of Ukraine. The scientific novelty of the paper is conditioned by the fact that it is the first research discussing the history of the newspaper “Voice of Volyn” in the context of the German information space in 1941-1943 on the basis of a comprehensive range of historical sources. The author concludes that the activities of the newspaper “Voice of Volyn” can be divided into two periods: from October to the second half of November 1941, and from the second half of November 1941 until the end of the Nazi occupation. At the first stage, under the German military administration, the newspaper was controlled by the representatives of the independence movement, who exploited the newspaper to promote their own ideas. In the second stage, after the establishment of the German civil authorities, the newspaper “Voice of Volyn” was deprived of the independence movement’s influence and turned into an important information and propaganda press organ of the occupation authorities. The newspaper “Voice of Volyn” represented three directions of German propaganda: anti-Soviet propaganda; anti-Jewish propaganda; and propaganda aimed at supporting the occupation economic activities.