In this edition of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage, we’ll be speaking again with Julia Korsunsky, the executive director of RememberUs.org, a nonprofit organization based in Massachusetts. We were first introduced to RememberUs.org when we learned about their project of planting metasequoia trees at mass grave sites of Holocaust victims. These include her own great-grandparents and many […]

The Felshtin Society is named after a Ukrainian shtetl called Felshtin, which today is the town of Hvardiiske. The Felshtin Society began as a benevolent society organized in 1905 in New York City and is still active today. In 1919 after 600 Jews perished in a brutal pogrom which took place in Felshtin, the society […]

The Felshtin Society is named after a Ukrainian shtetl called Felshtin, which today is the Ukrainian town of Hvardii’ske. The Felshtin Society began as a benevolent society organized in 1905 in New York City and it’s still active today. One of the most notable of its ongoing humanitarian efforts over the past 113 years is […]

    Ruth Ellen Gruber is an American journalist, author, editor and researcher. Her book, Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to Eastern Europe, was first published twenty-five years ago and is still considered the most complete Jewish travel guide to the region. We first learned about Ruth and a bit about her work last year […]

  -An interview with Pawlina, producer & host of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio Ruth Ellen Gruber is an American journalist, author, editor and researcher. She has published and lectured widely and has won several awards for her work on Jewish heritage and contemporary Jewish issues in Europe. Her book, Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide […]

The Jewish population of Ukraine before the Second World War was over 2.5 million. Now the current population is only around 100,000. A whole world with its very own culture, rules, and customs was decimated in the Holocaust. Decades later, descendants of survivors, along with friends and supporters, are working hard to piece together remnants […]

Hava Nagila. The words are Hebrew for Let Us Rejoice. They also comprise the title of one of the most recognizable and well-known songs in the world. And little did I know just how appropriate a theme song it would turn out to be for a radio series called Ukrainian Jewish Heritage! This Jewish folk song […]

Rohatyn is a city in western Ukraine with a centuries-old Jewish heritage that was almost completely destroyed by the Holocaust and its aftermath. Like many cities and towns across Ukraine, however, work is being done in Rohatyn to restore the historical memory of its once-vibrant Jewish community. Two people are central to this restoration effort. […]

Dave Tarras: The King of Klezmer by Yale Strom chronicles the life and work of a Ukrainian-born man who became known as “The Benny Goodman of Klezmer.” He was the individual most responsible for the development of a uniquely American style of Jewish klezmer music. From 1925 until his death in 1989, Dave Tarras set […]