Rohatyn is a city located on the Hnyla Lypa River in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rohatyn Raion. It was first mentioned in historical documents in 1184 as a part of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia. Its name seems to be derived from Ruthenia, the name of the […]
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Ukrainian Jewish Heritage – Karaite Jews
Halych is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The town gave its name to the historic province and the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhyn, of which it was the capital until the early 14th century. Today Halych is a small city which preserves its former name. It also is the administrative center of […]
Continue readingFr. Omelian Kovch — “Pastor of Majdanek”
Omelian Kovch was born 20 August 1884 in the picturesque southern Galician village of Kosmach, in the Carpathian Mountains. The family was full of priests. His father was a parish priest and his mother was the daughter of a parish priest. After completing his studies in Lviv, he embarked on the road to priesthood. He […]
Continue readingBook Review: The Unmemntioble by Erin Moure
Erin Moure’s new book of poetry is a mixed media collection of verbal and image art. The title, The Unmemntioable, is not a spelling mistake. It is a conscious decision by the award-winning writer to intrigue and mystify her audience. This collection of poems deals with Moure’s exploration of her Ukrainian heritage after the tragic […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Passover in Ukraine
The festival of Passover commemorates the Exodus of Jews from Egypt over three thousand years ago. The timeless and universal message of this holiday is that slaves can go free, and that the future can be better than the present. Passover, or Pessach as it is called in Yiddish, begins in the middle of the […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Zolochiv
Zolochiv, a town located 60 kilometers east of Lviv, was at one time a thriving Polish-Jewish-Ukrainian town. Then, in just three years, its Jewish population perished in the Holocaust. The Jewish presence in Zolochiv dates back to 1565. For centuries, Zolochiv was home to numerous artisans, tradesmen and notable rabbis.They lived throughout the city and […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage – Purim
Purim is a holiday Jews observe in memory of an ancient victory recounted in the Book of Esther. This story had eerie parallels in Europe during the bloody 20th century. About twenty five hundred years ago, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. The Jewish people were banished from Israel […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Husiatyn
Husiatyn is a town in the Ternopil Oblast of Western Ukraine, located on the west bank of the Zbruch River. This river formed the old boundary between Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire in the nineteenth century, and the boundary between the Republic of Poland and the Soviet Union during the inter-war period of the […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Jews on Maidan
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 […]
Continue readingBook 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 […]
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