Book Reviews

Reviews Ortsumbenennungen und -neugriindungen im europiiischen Teil der Sowjet-Union.By Wolfgang Meckelein.(Ost-Europa-Institut an der Freien lJniversitat Berlin.Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Veroffentlichungen, herausgegeben von I(arl C. 'fhalheim.Band 2. Berlin, 1955.In Kommission hei Dunckel' & Humblot, Berlin.134 p. with a map.)The change of place names on a larger scale seems to be one of the characteristics of totalitarian way of life.In the Soviet Union, the change of geographical names has been practiced since 1917.Not only the names of big cities were substituted by new ones, e. g.Petrograd -Leningrad, Caricyn -Stalingrad, but also the small settlements or newly founded ones received "patriotic" names, e. g.SCJisloch -Oktyabr (BSSR), Kulcarka -SOCJetsk (Kirov oblasti), BozhedaroCJka -Shchors (USSR) a. o.To date, there had been no reference work in any western language where all such changes could be found and elucidated.The book under review fills a gap in this field.Meckelein lists 1363 names of the European part of the Soviet l.fnion-according to their original form in 1910 and changes as recorded in 1938, 1951, and 1953.lIis work is based on official Soviet publications, maps and other sources.All names have been presented in an international Slavistic transliteration of the H.ussian alphabet.A map illustrating the location and the historical data of the respective name has been added.A valuable bibliography supplements the book.Meckelein did not publish his work for the onomatologist but for the general user.It is merely practical in purpose.The revie,ver has checked its contents with his materials regarding the changes of place names in Ukraine.A number of names are not included in Meckelein's book, e. g.ZhoCJkCJa (-NesteroCJ), DrohoCJyzhe, Jezupol, and others.Some very important works have been omitted in the bibliography, e. g.OrtsnamenCJerzeichnis der Ukraine, Berlin 1943.Crimea and the Transcarpathian territory (Carpatho-lJkraine) have not been treated in the book.Despite some shortcomings Ortsumbenennnngen will serve as a point of departure for all future studies of the subject so far as the European part of USSR is concerned.UniCJersityof llfanitoba J. B. Rudnyckyj

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