{"id":37365,"date":"2026-05-18T16:51:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/?p=37365"},"modified":"2026-05-18T16:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:51:26","slug":"centuries-of-presence-compiled-by-khrystyna-semeryn-understanding-your-jewish-neighbors-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/centuries-of-presence-compiled-by-khrystyna-semeryn-understanding-your-jewish-neighbors-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"\"Centuries of Presence\" compiled by Khrystyna Semeryn: Understanding your Jewish neighbor's pain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Khrystyna Semeryn is a researcher, independent journalist, essayist, and gender expert. She is a member of the Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies. Before her current position at Aalto University in Finland, she had done research at Augsburg University in Germany, the Center for Oriental Studies in Poland, Indiana University Bloomington, and many other institutions.<\/p>\n

One of Semeryn's greatest interests is Jewish culture, so it is no coincidence that in the fall of 2025, she won<\/a> Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize as the compiler of the anthology Centuries of Presence<\/em><\/a>. This book contains almost 50 Ukrainian short stories on Jewish themes. Written over half a century, from the 1880s to the 1930s, they cover several literary generations, a wide geographical region, and a range of historical events.<\/p>\n

Chytomo has invited Khrystyna Semeryn to discuss the Jewish theme in Ukrainian literature, the mechanisms of stereotype formation, her research, and the future of Ukrainian-Jewish relations.<\/p>\n

Chytomo: How did you come to study Jewish literature in Ukraine? Philologists with such a special field of interest are few and far between.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khrystyna Semeryn:<\/strong> There is no simple answer to this question. I think that my interest emerged in my first year of university. I studied at the Ostroh Academy, and Ostroh<\/a> once had a large Jewish community, whose traces were hardly noticeable at that time. I was friends with history students, and I remember how Arkadii, a fifth-year student who now serves in the army, and I went to the Jewish cemetery and the ruins of the synagogue and later shared our impressions.<\/p>\n

I remember that Arkadii lent me Gustav Mayrink's Golem<\/em>. I still love this novel. It plays on the Jewish myth of the clay man, the Golem, and depicts Jewish Prague, though not in the most sympathetic light.<\/p>\n

My interest in Jewish studies began with such scattered impressions and minimal contacts. In Ostroh, I studied Hebrew a little with the famous professor Dmytro Tsolin. Through his efforts, the town hosted the International Summer School of Semitic Philology.<\/p>\n

In general, I am interested in different cultures; I research and write about them. The topic of my thesis was the depiction of Jews in short prose. I studied how Ukrainian literature portrays the Jewish world as a whole, a separate universe. I tried to describe it through my own concepts, literary and aesthetic categories.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In parallel, I wrote, for example, a report on the Ostroh Synagogue and Hryhorii Arshynov, an activist in the Jewish community, a restorer, local businessman, and city councilor who was engaged in restoring Jewish heritage across the entire region. That is, I worked with the Jewish theme in a broad perspective. I am now writing a book, which will include, among other things, the stories of our female sculptors of Jewish origin. So, my research is always about the cultural encounters and exchanges.<\/p>\n

Chytomo: You have worked a lot with foreign universities and research institutions. How were you perceived there as a researcher from Ukraine? We know that there are many different stereotypes in the world about Ukrainian-Jewish relations, and we can assume that there are cases when this affects work and interaction with colleagues.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khrystyna Semeryn:<\/strong> I belong to the younger generation of researchers, and my cooperation with foreign institutions intensified in 2021 and then in 2022. The full-scale war caused a shift in the perception of Ukraine worldwide and, in particular, the understanding of Ukrainian-Jewish relations. Nonetheless, stereotypes exist, and it is important to study, discuss, and debunk them because they affect thinking patterns and, through them, all aspects of life, including academia.<\/p>\n

I have yet to encounter any negative situations or misunderstandings related to perceptions of Ukrainian-Jewish relations and the Ukrainian context. I have always tried to be an ambassador, trying to talk about the real state of affairs, our common historical heritage, real interactions, etc.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think there was a lot of interest among colleagues to learn more, which opened up opportunities to convey something new to people and to show the established picture in a new light. I consider this my mission \u2014 communicating, spreading knowledge, and showing the complexity of Ukraine's cultural heritage.<\/p>\n

Chytomo: Your anthology, which won UJE's award, is largely dedicated to refuting stereotypes. It is a collection of texts by Ukrainian writers who addressed Jewish themes, and this alone indicates that we had this space for cultural exchange. What was the impetus for its creation, and what was your guiding principle in selecting the texts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khrystyna Semeryn:<\/strong> The anthology was produced at the suggestion and with the great support of Leonid Finberg, the editor-in-chief of the Dukh i Litera Publishers. It is a separate initiative, but my vision and experience working with the Jewish theme in literature naturally informed the anthology's structure.<\/p>\n

In my dissertation, I explored a broad context and sought to cover as many texts as possible, whereas the anthology offers a cross-section. It was not about the \"most outstanding\" texts, but rather about building a panoramic view of Jewish life through Ukrainian literature. The aim was to create a mosaic of different perspectives that might be unexpected, little-known, and interesting to a wide range of readers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The anthology covers half a century, from the 1880s to the 1930s. This is a long time, during which numerous social, political, and cultural changes took place. The book shows old-world Jewish life at the turn of the 20th century, invaded and destroyed by the reality of the new time with pogroms, revolutions, and violence.<\/p>\n

The texts in the anthology cover a variety of topics and present different perspectives. The 20th century caused Jews a lot of suffering, and you can see how Ukrainian authors reacted, highlighting the most significant aspects that could go unnoticed, such as, for instance, the humiliating gymnasium entrance quotas in tsarist Russia.<\/p>\n

Chytomo: Ukrainian-Jewish relations were obviously unstable, changing in response to various circumstances, as we have already mentioned. To what extent can this dynamic be traced through the literary works of Ukrainian authors?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khrystyna Semeryn:<\/strong> In fact, this is precisely my idea, which I wanted to highlight in the anthology. It showed how Ukrainian authors changed their approach to depicting Jews from a more stereotypical to a more realistic one. For example, there was a widespread theme involving Jewish taverns and Jewish innkeepers exploiting poor Ukrainian peasants, etc. This is all actually a large corpus of folklore and literature. However, this was gradually replaced in the literary process by something else \u2014 first, by a search, an attempt to empathetically draw attention to how Jews suffered from the pogroms. It was a big leap, because Jews were shown as possessing the same emotional depth as Ukrainian protagonists.<\/p>\n

For example, in Tymotei Borduliak's \"Poor Jew Ratytsia\" (1895), we find this sympathy manifested as the text depicts Jewish troubles. This is still a stereotypical image, but a change is already taking place; it's a movement toward showing the Jewish as equal to the Ukrainian, someone valuable, rather than alien and requiring confrontation or distancing.<\/p>\n

Chytomo: Speaking about the stereotypical image of Jews in the earlier period of Ukrainian literature, where exactly do the roots of this stereotype come from? Were some elements of historical memory from Cossack times reactualized through romanticism? The experience of everyday interaction or something else? What is the key here?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khrystyna Semeryn:<\/strong> Of course, we cannot deny that these things were at play, but it's actually a very complex process resulting from a large number of factors. Among other things, in the context of the mid-19th century and onward, it was significant that Jews lived as a closed community, which influenced their perception by Christians and other religious groups. This religious boundary was significant for the Ukrainian village, as it drew a line between friends and strangers.<\/p>\n

Jews were also actually a separate social class. They were actively involved in economic processes, kept taverns, etc., which naturally influenced Ukrainians' perception of them, giving rise to various stereotypes.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Russian Empire<\/a> had a high level of antisemitism at the level of the empire itself, so we see this whole story of Jewish pogroms. The anthology includes many texts that discuss various aspects of Jewish life under the empire. Literature also exists in a socio-political context, developing together with other spheres. In general, 19th-century humanitarian thought and philosophy concern the emergence of nationalisms and ideas about us and others, so we see this in literature.<\/p>\n

A range of influences may have been at work, but all this requires research, and our understanding of the processes and the situation gradually improves.<\/p>\n

Chytomo: We often think about the history of Judaism and Jewish culture precisely through the prism of catastrophe. This also applies to relations with Ukrainians. Traumatic experiences undoubtedly greatly affect collective memory and culture in general and must be remembered, but this is not the full picture. There is much more to it: everyday life, social interaction in a common space, cultural exchange, common interests, and so on. To what extent were Ukrainian authors \u2014 those included in the anthology \u2014 interested in these topics?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khrystyna Semeryn:<\/strong> You have made a valid point. Indeed, when an active public discussion began about the Jewish heritage in Ukraine, it was precisely the topic of suffering that rose to the surface due to the Holocaust, as it is a great catastrophe that cannot be ignored. This also applies to literature. Looking at the 19th century, we also see the topic of pogroms, but not only that. Even the texts in the anthology that focus on suffering are very different and encompass many everyday moments, cooperation, communication, and other forms of interaction with Ukrainians. Here we can mention Natalia Kobrynska's short story \"The Jewish Child.\" It's a vivid and engaging text about an 11-year-old Jewish girl seeking fulfillment in the adult world. She is talented and tries to integrate into a society beyond the Jewish microcosm. The Ukrainian writer paints a very interesting picture and shows that Jewish life exists outside their closed communities.<\/p>\n

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Igor Shchupak, Ukrainian Jewish Encounter Board Member, presents the 2025 Encounter prize to Khrystyna Semeryn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Regarding the levels of interaction between Jews and Ukrainians, it is worth mentioning Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky<\/a>'s short story \"In a Train Car.\" I am impressed by the fact that Kotsiubynsky, an aesthete who, with a kind of admiration, depicts different types of Jews through the eyes of his protagonist, offers a panorama of Ukrainians' perception of them. That is, stereotypes no longer work because Jews here are different, like any other people.<\/p>\n

In general, I tried to show different texts, and it just so happened that many writers addressed the topic of different types of suffering, because it was obviously of great importance. Nevertheless, these are, first of all, highly artistic works that deserve a place in such an anthology.<\/p>\n

Chytomo: After World War II, it was difficult to speak openly about Jewish topics in the USSR. The Holocaust, like the Holodomor, is not a welcome topic for public discussion. On the one hand, the fight against cosmopolitanism was often a fa\u00e7ade for antisemitism, while on the other, Ukrainian culture was marginalized and turned into folklore entertainment for home consumption. It would seem that these experiences had to bring us all closer together. I'm not talking about the present time, when the word war<\/em> has become all too commonplace for both peoples. Do you think that the movement toward further rapprochement is really happening now, or did it freeze at some point?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khrystyna Semeryn:<\/strong> We are in a world in which the process of mutual understanding is ongoing. This is always a dialogue that must be supported. Actually, this is what I see in my line of work, and if we are talking about the future, finding this understanding is essential for me. It is important to support, explain, debunk some prejudices, and so on. We need to work in this vein, and that's what I try to do, so I look at the future with hope.<\/p>\n

The future is a very abstract category, while we live in the present, and I already see more understanding, more mutual familiarity, and more openness to each other's experiences. Today, Ukrainians and Jews know much more about each other than in the totalitarian period, when we all went through violent experiences.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Everything that was forbidden, repressed, and hidden, all this information and knowledge are returning to us, and this boosts our mutual awareness. We see that the world is very unstable now, with many complex processes underway, even too complex for us to predict anything or think ahead. However, it seems to me that the only possible reaction to this instability and the only strategy is to do our job as best we can in our places. We must do our utmost for mutual understanding at our own level to bring cultures closer together in the broadest context.<\/p>\n

\"\"Oleksandr Mymruk
\n<\/strong>Journalist, editor, writer, head of the Chytomo NGO, and member of the Ukrainian PEN. Author of the poetry collections Tsukrovyk<\/em> (Smoloskyp Publishers, 2017), A River with a Bird's Name <\/em>(Old Lion Publishers, 2024), as well as a book of journalism Oleh Sentsov<\/em> (Folio Publishers, 2017). Winner of the Smoloskyp literary prize and the Best Poetic Debut 2018 prize from the Ukrainian Writers' Union. His works have been translated into Polish, Hebrew, German, and English.<\/p>\n

Originally appeared in Ukrainian @Chytomo<\/a><\/p>\n

Translated from the Ukrainian by Vasyl Starko.<\/em><\/p>\n

This material is part of a special project supported by Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize. The prize is sponsored by the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE), a Canadian charitable non-profit organization, with the support of the NGO \"Publishers Forum.\" UJE was founded in 2008 to strengthen and deepen relations between Ukrainians and Jews.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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