ABSTRACT
Public lectures were an important part of Odessa's intellectual life. They were also, of course, one of the many vehicles for the ubiquitous political indoctrination of the population. There was a chronic book hunger in Odessa, Not a single informant was satisfied with the availability in the few local bookstores of legally published books and periodicals, including, one student emphasized, those bearing the imprint of Odessa's own publishing house, Mayak. The libraries in Odessa, like the city's bookstores, were victims of government pressure to purchase huge amounts of political books for which there was little demand and, moreover, to demonstrate that reading of these books was being actively "encouraged." An interesting case of Soviet censorship of broadcasting from a "fraternal" socialist country was reported by a television announcer: Television in Odessa had to contend with some real competition from abroad.
