Back in 2011 I had the pleasure of speaking with Oleg Atbashan, author of Shakedown Socialism: Unions, Pitchforks, Collective Greed, the Fallacy of Economic Equality, and other Optical Illusions of “Redistributive Justice”. He shared with me some startling personal recollections of life in Ukraine—and, by extension, anywhere in the former USSR before the spectacular collapse […]
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Ukrainian Jewish Heritage: Historian discusses how museums can tackle difficult issues of history
–Written and narrated by Peter Bejger. History, trauma, and the museum space. Museums can offer many faces to the world. From dusty collections of artefacts to dramatic arenas outlining—or avoiding—compelling national or cultural narratives. A recent lecture sponsored by the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe in Lviv looked at the role museums […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Odessa Review reflects on Ukrainian-Jewish relations past and present
–Written and narrated by Peter Bejger. Perhaps some listeners fall into the same serendipitous mood I do when reading a book, or any collection of texts. Perhaps you start from the end. Or the middle. After all, every story has a beginning, middle, and end. But it doesn’t have to be told in […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Poetry festival celebrates the historical memory and literary legacy of Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Poetry in a time of war. Such is the headline by the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, or FAZ, in its recent reporting on the dynamic annual poetry festival Meridian Czernowitz, held earlier in September in the western Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi. Why war? Because the newspaper picked up the subtle influences of […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Exploring the legacy of the Holocaust in Ukraine
– Written and narrated by Peter Bejger. Guilt, justice, and family ties. These dramatic themes are recalled today due to the recent publication of the Ukrainian-language edition of East-West Street by Phillip Sands, a book presented by the author at this year’s Lviv Book Forum. The Ukrainian publication of the critically acclaimed book by Sands […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Marla Raucher Osborn on her Rohatyn restoration project. Part 2
In the last episode of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage, we spoke with Marla Raucher Osborn, who discovered her Jewish roots a few years ago in the western Ukrainian city of Rohatyn. Shortly thereafter, she and her husband left their home in California and relocated to Lviv, in western Ukraine, where they now run an NGO called […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Marla Raucher Osborn talks about her Rohatyn restoration project. Part 1
A few years ago, Marla Raucher Osborn discovered her Jewish roots in the western Ukrainian city of Rohatyn. She and her husband have since left their home in California and relocated to Lviv, in western Ukraine, where they run an NGO called Rohatyn Jewish Heritage. This NGO, or non-government organization, is dedicated to […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Proposed Jewish Museum in Ukraine drawing inspiration from Poland
Written and narrated by Peter Bejger. How do you tell a story? Museums are essential places where stories about nations and cultures are told. But they are also places where the story may not fully told. Or the story may need to be retold. There has been a global boom in new museums. There are […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: New initiative will help Ukraine preserve its Jewish cemeteries and heritage for future generations
New initiative will help Ukraine preserve its Jewish cemeteries and heritage for future generations “As if they are trees falling in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night.” This haunting remark was made by Phil Carmel, the CEO of the European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative. The Initiative was launched to physically […]
Continue readingUkrainian Jewish Heritage: Russian Jewish author chronicles wartime horrors in Austrian-ruled Galicia
-Written and narrated by Peter Bejger. “I saw that that the windows of these ruined houses were stuffed with rags or boarded up. In these unheated kennels were human beings, whole families, starving, usually sick because all kinds of epidemics were raging….” One hundred years a bitter war was raging throughout Europe. One of the […]
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