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 […]
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False 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 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 readingBook Review: Brovko’s Amazing Journey & Andrei and the Snow Walker by Larry Warwaruk
BROVKO’S AMAZING JOURNEY Warwaruk, Larry Coteau Books, 2013. 159 p. ISBN 1-55050-555-9 ANDREI AND THE SNOW WALKER Warwaruk, Larry Coteau Books, 2002. 195 p. ISBN 1-55050-213-1 Reviewed by Myra Junyk Transcript: On this edition of Knyzhka Corner, we look at two books by Saskatchewan author Larry Warwaruk. Brovko’s Amazing Journey traces the incredible journey of a sheep dog named Brovko from his home in Ukraine all the way to Saskatchewan. In this companion volume to Andrei and the Snow Walker, Warwaruk once again explores the life of Ukrainian-Canadian pioneers at the beginning of the 20th century. This time, he tells his story from the perspective of a dog! In Andrei and the Snow Walker (2002), Warwaruk’s hero is 12-year old Andrei Bayda. As the novel begins: “It is the first day of April, 1900, and Andrei’s family is leaving their home in the Ukrainian village of Zabokruky in Horodenka province.” (p. 1) Before leaving, Dido Danylo receives a mysterious gift from the holy man Skomar. It is a Scythian cup … a relic of the people of ancient Ukraine, and its magic gives Andrei visions. The family’s journey takes them to a homestead near Batoche, Saskatchewan. Andrei works hard […]
Continue readingOpen Statement to the International Democratic Community from Ukraine
Kyiv: Dec.12, 2013 In the middle of the night, from 10 to 11 December 2013, Ukrainian special forces troops started another brutal attack on the peaceful demonstrators in Kyiv. Aside from the regular police, militia men were also widely involved, having been brought from the depressed cities of eastern Ukraine. Some of them were deployed to cause provocations, as it had been done during the scripted assault on the interior troops at the building of President’s Administration on December 1. This time the Government and their local and Russian political technologists started to conduct “Nazi-like” activities amongst the protesters. More than a dozen young individuals wearing helmets with swastika and armed with armature rods were trying to break through to Maidan and stir up a fight with the police. Fortunately, the protesters prevented them just in time. This incident could have been dismissed if there had been no ongoing campaign conducted for years by Moscow-financed agents in Ukraine, Russia and the West to discredit Ukraine, the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian nationalist movement, and the modern Ukrainian democratic opposition. The campaign’s aim is to undermine national aspirations to Ukrainian independence and sovereignty, in order to recapture Ukraine and incorporate it into […]
Continue readingEuromaidan coverage on Nash Holos
Dec. 4th – Nash Holos Nanaimo – special 2.5 hour live broadcast with long-distance guests: • Mirko Petriw (Vancouver) – local commentator and author of spy thrillers Yaroslaw’s Treasure and Yaroslaw’s Revenge. Mirko provides an overview of events in Ukraine. • Volodymyr Valkov (Lviv) – Executive Assistant at the Jewish Heritage Museum in Lviv and Project Manager of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage on Nash Holos gives his experience as a citizen of Ukraine during this troubled time. • Mychailo Wynnyckyj – Director of PhD programs at Kyiv Mohyla Business School. Follow his coverage and analysis of Euromaidan here. • Yevhen Hlibovytsky – former news anchor at 1+1 TV Channel and at Kanal 5, and co-founder of Ukraine’s newly launched public broadcasting channel Hromadskе TV . Dec. 1st – Nash Holos Vancouver – one-hour live broadcast. • In-studio guest: Mirko Petriw Mirko provides an overview of events in Ukraine and a backdrop to them, and discusses the Vancouver rally in support of protests at Euromaidan and across Ukraine. Mirko is a local political commentator and author of spy thrillers Yaroslaw’s Treasure and Yaroslaw’s Revenge. Follow his blog here. To hear or download podcast audio files just click on radio station logos on the […]
Continue readingCanadian students explore Ukrainian contribution to Parliament and multiculturalism
Canada’s Parliament Education Forum is a unique educational leadership event for high school and university age students from across Canada. Students participate in an exciting five day exploration of the Ukrainian contribution to Canada’s Parliament and to our Canadian Policy and Legislation on Multiculturalism. It gives young leaders the opportunity to learn how our government touches the lives of Ukrainian Canadians, and how our Ukrainian community has helped build the Canadian nation and Canada’s multicultural society. The second annual forum took place from November 20-24, 2013 in Ottawa. It was hosted by the Paul Yuzyk Institute For Youth Leadership, in collaboration with the UNF Ottawa-Gatineau branch. Borys Gengalo explained the program to Nash Holos listeners prior to the event, and provided a brief report by email: The Paul Yuzyk Youth Institute program at parliament was a success this year, with our optimum number, 10, participating. It was a great success. MP Ted Opitz and Senator Reynell Andreychuk hosted the group to a long lunch and discussion in the parliamentary restaurant, with MP Malcolm Allen dropping by to join in. Peggy Nash, Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition, spoke with the group in the conference room attached to the Leader of […]
Continue readingLive performance of Holodomor: Murder by Starvation in Victoria online
Thanks to CHLY Radio Malaspina in Nanaimo for recording the live performance of Holodomor: Murder by Starvation by Father Edward Danylo Evanko. It took place in Victoria on Saturday, November 16. The recording is available in two parts: Part 1 (17:52) Part 2 (59:21) Father Edward’s series of performances of the play this year are part of the 80th anniversary commemorations of the Holodomor – the famine-genocide in which 7-10 million Ukrainians were deliberately starved to death by Stalin’s communist regime in 1932-33. (Holodomor in Ukrainian translates literally as “death by starvation.”) The western media, in particular, the New York Times, helped Stalin to cover it up … while it was happening, and for decades after. The NYT in fact awarded the Pulitzer Prize to the journalist who deliberately lied about in print, yet admitted the truth “off the record.” The NYT refuses to revoke the award, and to this day many journalists, as well as academics and politicians, still refuse to acknowledge the Holodomor, or dispute the facts about it. Thanks to the good folks at CHLY for being better than that, and providing a venue for the truth to be broadcast. Father Edward is currently on tour across Canada […]
Continue readingHolodomor – genocide by famine in Ukraine 1932-33
In the early 1930s, in a region considered to be Europe’s breadbasket, Stalin’s Communist regime committed a horrendous act of genocide against the Ukrainian people. An ancient nation of agriculturists was subjected to starvation, one of the most ruthless forms of torture and death. The Soviet government imposed exorbitant grain quotas, in some cases confiscating supplies down to the last seed. In many villages special troops were brought in to gather any and all food that could be found, including meagre supplies that hungry families managed to save or scavenge. Armed units isolated the territory of Soviet Ukraine and the predominantly Ukrainian-populated Kuban region of Soviet Russia, to stop the starving from going to neighbouring Soviet regions in search of food. The result was the Ukrainian genocide of 1932-33, known in Ukrainian as the Holodomor, or extermination by famine. An estimated 10 million Ukrainian men, women and children perished. (Source: www.ucc.ca) For decades, the Soviet regime kept this atrocity a secret, threatening any survivors who dared to mention it. The western media, in particular the New York Times, was also complicit in the cover up. I first learned about the Holodomor in 1982, while studying Russian and Ukrainian history at […]
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