Index to the Deaths Found in The New Yorker Volks-Zeitung 1878-1920; Compiled by Thomas Reimer; Originally published in 2000; reprinted 2011; 5½x8½; paper; alphabetical; 720 pp.; ISBN: 0788416847; Item #: HBR1684

The New Yorker Volks-Zeitung was a German-language daily (1878–1932), then a weekly (1932–1949) with a minor title change to Neue Volks-Zeitung. It was the voice of the local German socialists, centered then in the Lower East Side and in Yorkville. This Index contains approximately 27,000 abstracted obituaries, death notices, reported deaths and other biographical material. Entries include the deaths of workers—mainly ethnic Germans (but not exclusively) from the Greater New York area, associates of the German labor community, and socialist militants from the entire U.S. and the world. Local murder victims, without regard to their background; executions in the Northeast, or nationwide if a German-American was involved; and Southern lynchings, which this paper consistently condemned, are also covered. Not all local people whose deaths were recorded by the paper were members of the labor movement, some were simply people known to the neighborhood—including a few mobsters and ladies of the night!

Occasionally, the NYVZ noted the deaths of militants from Europe, especially from the German and Austrian labor movement, with which the paper’s editors and readers retained close ties. The NYVZ also reported the deaths of public figures in the United States and abroad, like any other daily, although these obituaries often had a distinctive slant. The New Yorker Volks-Zeitung abstracts will be useful not only for genealogists researching German-Americans from the New York City area, and New York City local historians, but also for labor historians generally. The Index is arranged alphabetically by surname, and gives full name, place of residence/death, date and page/column of the notice, and if given, date of death and of the funeral. It also notes occupation, union membership, maiden name and city/area of birth.