{"id":37781,"date":"2026-06-18T07:42:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/?p=37781"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:42:47","slug":"public-discussion-ukrainian-jewish-cultural-interactions-during-the-great-war-held-in-kyiv-with-ujes-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/public-discussion-ukrainian-jewish-cultural-interactions-during-the-great-war-held-in-kyiv-with-ujes-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Public discussion \"Ukrainian-Jewish cultural interactions during the Great War\" held in Kyiv with UJE's support"},"content":{"rendered":"
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During the public discussion \"Ukrainian-Jewish Cultural Interactions During the Great War.\" 30 May 2026, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 30 May 2026, the public discussion \"Ukrainian-Jewish Cultural Interactions During the Great War,\" supported by UJE, was held as part of the Book Arsenal festival in Kyiv.<\/p>\n

The discussion was moderated by Vitaly Chernoivanenko, senior researcher at the Judaica Department of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine and president of the Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies. He welcomed the audience and started the discussion by stating that Ukrainian-Jewish relations are currently showing positive dynamics, though they are not always easy. He thanked UJE for systematically exploring and strengthening the Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue for many years and presented several books: an anthology of the Jewish world in Ukrainian prose from the 1880s through 1930s, edited by Khrystyna Semeryn and published by Dukh i Litera, which won UJE's 2025 Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize<\/a>, and Amos Oz's A Tale of Love and Darkness,<\/em> translated from Hebrew.<\/p>\n

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The event is moderated by Vitaly Chernoivanenko, senior researcher at the Judaica Department of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine and president of the Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies. 30 May 2026, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vladyslav Hrynevych, Jr., UJE's regional manager in Ukraine, made a presentation, \"Jews and Ukrainians during the Russo-Ukrainian War,\" showing that the war made it visible that Jews are full-fledged members of the Ukrainian political nation. After Russia's attack on Babyn Yar on 1 March 2022, the topic of the Holocaust entered the context of the current war. President Zelensky then said, \"You are killing Holocaust victims a second time.\" The Jewish background of the Ukrainian president, which had no political significance in peacetime, was a factor that negated Russian narratives about \"Nazi Ukraine\" in wartime. According to Hrynevych, the war has also strengthened the \"civic dimension\" of the Ukrainian Jewish identity: for many, being a Jew in Ukraine means simultaneously being Ukrainian. As far as Israel is concerned, although the government's official position often disappointed Ukraine, Israeli Jews of Ukrainian origin take this war personally. Hryvenych emphasized Russia's manipulations: the Kremlin uses anti-Nazi rhetoric and, at the same time, makes openly antisemitic statements, such as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's claim about Hitler's alleged Jewish origin. The conclusion is that the war has shaped a new type of Ukrainian-Jewish fellowship \u2014 civil, political, and moral.<\/p>\n

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During the presentation by Vladyslav Hrynevych, Jr., UJE's regional manager in Ukraine. 30 May 2026, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between presentations, Chernoivanenko shared his personal experience: after 24 February 2022, he often gave interviews to Jewish media outlets and universities. During one conversation for the Chicago Jewish Cafe<\/em>, he was asked a painful question: \"But Petliura was a pogromist.\" The moderator noted that this statement was indefensible from a historical viewpoint, as Jews fought side by side with Ukrainians in the UNR, UHA, and UPA and later served sentences alongside Ukrainian dissidents in Soviet camps.<\/p>\n

Leonid Finberg, editor-in-chief of Dukh i Litera and director of the Judaica Center at Kyiv Mohyla Academy, spoke about the evolution of Ukrainian-Jewish relations. During the Soviet era, three generations of both Ukrainians and Jews did not have access to truthful information about their shared history. Instead, the KGB spread falsifications; approximately 400 antisemitic books were published in the USSR. After Ukraine regained its independence, the situation gradually changed.<\/p>\n

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During the presentation by Leonid Finberg, a sociologist, editor-in-chief of Dukh i Litera, and director of the Judaica Center at Kyiv Mohyla Academy. 30 May 2026, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Finberg, the turning point was a 1991 conference organized by Ivan Dziuba<\/a> that brought together Ukrainian and Jewish intellectuals for the first time. He particularly highlighted the speech of Myroslav Marynovych, who said then, \"The only possibility for harmonious coexistence is a strong Ukraine, next to which the Jews will also become stronger.\"<\/p>\n

Dukh i Litera has published some 150 books on Jewish and Ukrainian-Jewish topics over the past 30 years, including the Ukrainian translation of the Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies<\/em> in two volumes and publications refuting Soviet myths, particularly about Petliura. (The pogroms were committed by various gangs and Denikin followers, while the Ukrainian authorities tried to counteract them.) The publishing house has also nurtured schools of translation from Yiddish and Hebrew and is preparing a book about the great Jewish poets: Bialik, Tchernichovsky, and Greenberg.<\/p>\n

The last presenter was Oksana Drach, a professor at Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University, who focused on a little-known topic: the role of Jewish girls in shaping female gymnasium education in Ukraine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This topic has been practically unexplored: popular and scholarly texts provide virtually no statistics on how Ukrainian and Jewish girls jointly contributed to the growth of gymnasium education. The archives of the Central State Historical Archive in Kyiv preserve unique documents and handwritten autobiographies of female Jewish gymnasium students. When a directive was received from St. Petersburg in 1898 to introduce quotas for Jews in female gymnasiums, it was blocked by the local officials, who argued that female gymnasium education in Ukraine would simply disappear without Jewish students and their parents' money. This illustrates the significance of the Jewish contribution to education in Ukraine. Drach emphasized the need to decolonize this topic and abandon stereotypes of the late imperial and Soviet times in favor of engaging with primary sources.<\/p>\n

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During the presentation by Oksana Drach, a professor at Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University. 30 May 2026, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The discussion, held within the framework of the Book Arsenal festival, has once again demonstrated that the Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue goes far beyond academia today. The participants outlined a broad range of joint activities still ahead. UJE continues this work, particularly by organizing public events, supporting printed publications, and participating in forums such as the Book Arsenal, where thinking, reading, and acting individuals meet.<\/p>\n

The full recording of the event can be viewed below (in Ukrainian).<\/p>\n

Ukrainian-Jewish Cultural Interactions During the Great War\", Book Arsenal, Kyiv, 30 May 2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n