Customs Officials Prevent Illegal Export of Historical Books
Officials from the Odesa customs service intercepted an attempt to export two historical books dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries without the necessary permits and declarations. This was reported by the Odesa customs press service.
The incident occurred at the «Reni-Jurjduleshti» border crossing. During the customs inspection of a bus heading to Bulgaria, customs officers found a complete collection of works by German poets Friedrich Schiller, printed in 1883 in Stuttgart, and Eduard Mörike, published in 1904 in Dresden, in the suitcase of a Ukrainian passenger.
The customs officials also noted that the stamps and markings suggest that both books were part of the collection of the Odesa Regional Universal Scientific Library named after M.S. Grushevsky.
«This library is one of the largest and oldest in Odesa, established in 1875. It continued to operate even during the occupation of Odesa in World War II, as indicated by a stamp in Romanian,» the statement reads.
The books were confiscated under a protocol for violating customs rules, and an examination will determine their status as cultural and historical assets.
