In these difficult times for Ukraine, it is important to remember the good, to be tolerant and support each other. Because we all are fighting for truth, justice, democracy and a better future for our country. On January 22, 2014, Mikhail Livinskiy a member of the leadership of the united opposition of Ukraine, made a proposal to Josef Zisels, Human rights defender and Head of VAAD, the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine. Mikhail Livinsky’s proposal was that Maidan’s self-defense forces organize a patrol and guards for the Kyiv synagogues. The synagogue defense program would be coordinated by a deputy of the Ukrainian parliament. Josef Zisels passed the proposal on to two Kyiv synagogues. He also passed it on to a Ukrainian Jewish organizations planning a commemorative ceremony at a third Kyiv synagogue. The ceremony was to be held on January 28, international Holocaust Memorial Day. One of the Oppostion leaders, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, made a statement to the Jewish community on Holocaust Remembrance Day. He said that “The Maidan does not accept ‘Black Hundred’ slogans. And those who attempted to use them were quickly removed.” The Black Hundreds refers to several groups comprising a far-right, Russian pro-monarchist movement […]
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Book Review: Sabotage by Karen Autio
Karen Autio’s new book Sabotage describes the experiences of Ukrainian and German prisoners in the internment camps during World War I. It is the third book in Autio’s trilogy about Finnish immigrants to Canada. In 1915 war is raging in Europe, and in Canada, there are rumours of espionage and sabotage. Paranoia against foreigners is increasing. John and Saara Maki are the children of Finnish immigrants in Port Arthur, Ontario. John wants to become a reporter. He delivers newspapers to make extra money for the family, and occasionally works with a local reporter to gather information. When he uncovers a plot to blow up the local bridge, paranoia against foreigners grows. John is very upset when his friend’s father is sent to an internment camp in Kapuskasing. His friend Fred is the son of Ukrainian immigrants, and the boys’ relationship reveals the suffering that the WWI internment operations inflicted on Ukrainian families. Meanwhile, John’s older sister Saara has just returned from caring for her ailing aunt’s family. Saara missed a lot of time at school and must make up her school work if she to become a teacher. During the summer, she befriends her new neighbor, Birgitta Schmidt. When Birgitta […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage – International Holocaust Remembrance Day
January 27th marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945. Fifty years later, in November of 2005, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed this date International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, or simply International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Holocaust was a defining moment in the history of humanity. During the Second World War, the Nazi regime and its collaborators murdered about six million Jewish men, women and children. It was a continent-wide programme intent on the total destruction of all Jewish communities. Driven by a fundamentally racist ideology, Nazi Germany also persecuted and killed millions of other people. These included Slavs, Roma, Sinti, the elderly, the disabled. Some the Nazis considered as “racially inferior.” Others were targeted for political, ideological or behavioural reasons. UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, believes that it is essential to learn about the history of the Holocaust. This knowledge will help us to better understand the causes of society’s descent into genocide. And it will also help to raise awareness of the need to nurture peace and human rights in order to prevent mass violence in […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage – Message to the Leaders of the Maidan
Vitaly Nachmanovych is a historian and ethnopolitologist specializing in Jewish Ukrainian history. His accomplishments are numerous. Among other things he is: a leading researcher at the Museum of History in Kyiv, with a special focus on the atrocity of Babyn Yar, the author of numerous articles and the editor of numerous publications dealing with the Holocaust, WWII, Judaism, and ethno-national problems in modern Ukraine, a Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a Lecturer on Judaica at the Kyiv-Mohyla National University, and a member of the working groups drafting Ukrainian legislation on ethnic policy. Recently Mr. Nachmanovych wrote an open letter … not to the leaders of the discredited and despised government of Victor Yanukhovych … but to the leaders of the Maidan, those who would lead a new and modern Ukrainian state. Volodya Valkov, of the Jewish Heritage Museum in Lviv, narrates his message. Transcript: Open Statement to the Leaders of Maidan One can expect from a human being only that which he or she is capable of. You were the leaders of the parliamentary opposition and each of you would, probably, make a better president than the scared creature that is today trying by all […]
Continue readingFalse accusations of anti-semitism in Ukraine
Volodymyr Valkov, of the Jewish Heritage Museum in Ukraine, discusses charges of anti-Semitism in response to a New Year’s skit on the Maidan in which Jewish persons were depicted in a derogatory manner. * Transcript: The pro-European protests in Ukraine that started on November 21 of last year have attracted international attention. The massive protests are seen as a sign of a growing civil society and democratic aspirations of the Ukrainian people. But some observers worry about the increasing popularity of the nationalist political party Svoboda, and anti-Semitic statements by radical members of the party. Does this mean that Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Ukraine? This is an important issue to consider. Ukraine once had a thriving and prosperous Jewish community, and for centuries it was an integral part of Ukrainian society. For most of recorded history, Jews have been the largest national minority on the territory of modern-day Ukraine. In 1765, the Jewish population numbered 300,000. By 1941, it had grown to 2,700,000. But within a few years, the Nazi Holocaust nearly wiped out Ukraine’s Jewish population. It also decimated a substantial percentage of Ukrainians and other Slavs inhabiting this resource-rich territory. By 1959, the Jewish population in Ukraine was […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Tu Bishvat
On January 16th, 2014 Jews in Ukraine and around the world will observe Tu Bishvat …traditionally known as the new year of the trees. According to the tradition of the Hasidim, on Tu Bishvat the Almighty decides the fate of trees and their fruits in the upcoming year’s harvest. As on all Jewish holidays and the weekly shabbat, Jews enjoy a celebratory meal called the seder. Some seders require following strict rituals. Others are more flexible, such as the Tu Bishvat seder. Some Jewish families like to eat meat on Tu Bishvat, others prefer a vegetarian lasagna or a noodle casserole called kugel. However there are some common elements in a Tu Bishvat Seder. These are drinking four different types of wine and eating four different types of fruit. In Ukraine Tu Bishvat is also a time to celebrate one the most famous Jewish sages – Rabbi Sholom Mordechai Shvadron, let the memory of him be blessed – also known as Maharsham of Berezhany. He was appointed Rabbi of the Berezhany district in 1882 and continued to serve in that position until his death in 1911. Physically he was short and skinny, but in everything else he was a giant […]
Continue readingInterview with Serhiy Hohlov of Ocean’s Red
On this week’s Nanaimo edition of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio (January 15, 2014) we get the eastern Ukrainian perspective of the Euromaidan. Kharkiv-based Serhiy Hohlov, bassist with the metal band Ocean’s Red spoke with Ryan and Tetiana about how the Euromaidan inspired the video for their song Riot. He also speaks about the ambivalence as well as support for the Maidan protests in his home town and other areas of eastern Ukraine, which is heavily populated by ethnic Russians loyal to Moscow. You can listen or download here. More interviews here.
Continue readingTimothy Snyder off the mark on post-WWII Ukraine
Ukrainian Jewish reaction to academic/author Timothy Snyder’s recent presentation in Geneva. Transcript: Добрий день! This is Renata Hanynets, at the Faina Petryakova Scientific Centre for Judaica and Jewish Arts, a branch of the Jewish Heritage Museum in Lviv, Ukraine. Recently, our executive assistant at the Jewish Heritage Museum, Volodymyr Valkov, travelled to Geneva to hear a world famous historian speak about the Holocaust. Volodymyr had hoped to enlist his cooperation in our work to deepen understanding of what happened in Eastern Europe, and particularly Ukraine, during the second world war. His hopes, unfortunately, were in vain. The speaker was Timothy Snyder, a Professor of History at Yale University and author of Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. Snyder delivered this year’s Pierre du Bois Annual Lecture organized in partnership with the Graduate Institute in Geneva. It was titled: The Holocaust as a Global History. Here is Volodymyr to share his experience. I was quite excited at the prospect of attending Professor Snyder’s presentation and hearing his analysis of Hitler’s global view of the world, including Ukraine. He did shed new light on the dictator’s ruthlessness… but he fell short of shedding any on the world in which Hitler’s victims lived. According […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Brody Cemetary
Brody is a city in western Ukraine, located in the the Lviv Oblast, or province, 90 kilometres northeast of Lviv. It is now the administrative center of the Brody Raion, or district, with a population of about 24 thousand. At one time, Brody was one of the greatest centers of commerce in Eastern Europe, outside of Lemberg … today, L’viv. Brody was in fact once considered the continental version of the prosperous Mediterranean port of Triest. Brody was also once known as the Galician Jerusalem. By the 19th century Brody had the highest concentration of Jews among Eastern European cities. Today Jews all over the world can trace their roots to Brody. Many, upon emigration to new lands, adopted last names derived from Brody … Brodsky, Brodowski, Brodovsky, Brodisch (meaning “from Brody”). Brody’s recorded history dates back to the era of Volodomyr Monomakh in the 11th century. In the centuries following, Brody remained under Polish and Austrian control. By the 17th century, Brody had become an important center of Jewish trade, known for its horse fairs and artisans … cordmakers, weavers, and metalsmiths. In 1648 Brody was captured briefly by Ukrainian Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Notably its Jewish population was […]
Continue readingUkrainian Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky – “Saviour of the Jews”
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is known as the `saviour of Jews` during World War II. Renata Hanynets explains why, in this week’s look at Ukraine’s Jewish Heritage. Transcript. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky is known as the `saviour of Jews` during World War II. In the words of Rabbi David Kahane: “When I call Andrey Sheptytskyi a saint, I am not exaggerating.” According to Rabbi Kahane, more than 240 Ukrainian priests and nuns risked their lives hiding 200 Jewish children. In his own residence, Metropolitan Sheptytsky sheltered 15 Jews. Among them was Rabbi Kahane, who later became the chief rabbi of the Israeli Air Force. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky was born Count Roman Alexander Maria Sheptytsky in 1865 in Prylbychi, a Ukrainian village near Lviv, then part of the Austrian Empire. His family was from an aristocratic Ruthenian line which had become Polonized. His maternal grandfather was the Polish writer Aleksander Fredro. One of his brothers, became a Studite monk, while another became a General in the Polish army. Among his ancestors, however, were two metropolitans of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church … in whose footsteps the young count decided to follow. Despite many obstacles created by his father, in 1891 he entered […]
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