Victor’s Vignettes … stories about life in soviet and post-soviet Ukraine. -by Victor Sergeyev Mikolayev, Ukraine My Baba said… Baba is what I called my granny on my father’s side … or sometimes just simply “Ba.” My Baba was an amazing woman. Her folk wisdom and wit still inspire me to this day … even […]
Continue reading
Ukrainian Jewish Heritage: A chat with opera star Pavlo Hunka
British-Ukrainian opera star Pavlo Hunka is the Director of a classical concert to be held on September 29, 2016 at the Opera House in Kyiv. The concert is part of the 75th Anniversary commemoration of the Babyn Yar tragedy, sponsored by the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter of Toronto. In 1941, the Nazis murdered some 150,000 people, including […]
Continue readingBook Review: 2016 Kobzar Award winner Detachment by Maurice Mierau
In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Maurice Mierau’s award-winning memoir, Detachment: An Adoption Memoir. Readers first meet an emotionally drained Maurice in 2009 in a psychologist’s office in Winnipeg. For three years, his wife Betsy has been urging him to get help. He tells the psychologist, “I have problems in my […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage – Babyn Yar Necropolis
Memory. Manipulation. Memorials. Babyn Yar, the ravine on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, is a multi-ethnic and multi-faith necropolis. A city of the dead. In September 1941, nearly thirty-four thousand Kyivan Jews were shot over two days in one of the largest single Nazi massacres during the Second World War. More massacres followed during the […]
Continue readingKnyzhka Corner Book Review: Red Notice by Bill Browder
Bill Browder’s fascinating new book Red Notice, is a roller-coaster ride through post-Soviet Russian history. Bill Browder was one of the architects of Russia’s growing economy during the privatization era. He saw an opportunity to make a great deal of money and created the Hermitage Capital investment fund based in Moscow. Browder became the largest […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Preparing for Babyn Yar 75th anniversary commemorations
Plans are underway to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy. The events are being organized by the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter and will take place in Kyiv this fall. Welcome to Ukrainian Jewish Heritage on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio. I’m Peter Bejger. Memory. Commemoration. Responsibility. The seventy-fifth anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: East-West Street book review
Phillipe Sand’s book, East West Street, details the origins of the terms “genocide” and “crimes against humanity.” Welcome to Ukrainian Jewish Heritage on Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio. I’m Peter Bejger. Details are important. In fact, details are crucial—whether for tracing a family tree or building a legal case. For example, a case for the […]
Continue readingKnyzhka Corner Book Review: Dance of the Banished by Marsha Skrypuch
In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s new novel, Dance of the Banished. Dance of the Banished explores the tragic history of Canadian internment camps and the Armenian genocide. It is a story of injustice, prejudice and violence. Skrypuch’s novel is loosely based on actual events, and it was […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Yevhen Aron Roytman
There is a classic expression that asserts “when cannons roar the muses fall silent.” In times of distress and upheaval, creativity and art may falter. However, there are always those artists who quietly and stubbornly continue their work no matter what the circumstances. The recent exhibition “Jewish Art in Ukraine: The Torah in the Paintings […]
Knyzhka Corner Book Review: Red Stone & Broken Stone by Gabrielle Goldstone
In this edition of Knyzhka Corner, we look at two books for middle grade readers by Manitoba author Gabriele Goldstone. Red Stone tells the story of Stalin’s cruel destruction of the kulak way of life during the 1930’s, through the eyes of eleven-year old Katya Halter. In the companion volume, Broken Stone, Goldstone picks up […]
Continue reading
