{"id":6874,"date":"2017-03-28T22:45:06","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T22:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/?p=6874\/"},"modified":"2017-08-18T19:25:02","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T19:25:02","slug":"rohatyn-jewish-heritage-participates-lviv-roundtable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/rohatyn-jewish-heritage-participates-lviv-roundtable\/","title":{"rendered":"Rohatyn Jewish Heritage Participates in Lviv Roundtable"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6875\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6875\" style=\"width: 860px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6875 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-1-1024x442.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"860\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-1-1024x442.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-1-500x216.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 860px) 100vw, 860px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6875\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The signatories to the memorandum gather for a group picture. Photo \u00a9 2017 Lviv Volunteer Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6876\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6876\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6876 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-2-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6876\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The roundtable at the start of the discussion. Photo \u00a9 2017 David Lee Preston<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rohatyn Jewish Heritage began its public activities in the new year by participating in a roundtable discussion 11 February 2017 in Lviv on preserving Jewish cultural heritage in western Ukraine and adjacent areas. The stated purposes of the roundtable were to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>create a forum to draw attention to the importance of preserving the cultural heritage of the region;<\/li>\n<li>discuss existing and planned projects in individual towns;<\/li>\n<li>identify ways to facilitate cross-town collaboration and partnerships to better leverage\u00a0resources and promote common interests; and<\/li>\n<li>produce a joint memorandum establishing a working group dedicated to facilitating these objectives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6907\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6907\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6907 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-3A-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6907\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Organizers Vitaliy Nadashkevych and Alexander Nazar. Photo \u00a9 2017 Vadim Tader\u0422\u0430\u0434\u0435\u0440.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The working group (including the signatories to the memorandum and other regional heritage activists) will also provide a forum for sharing information and needs associated with heritage projects, and be a kind of clearinghouse for keeping track of projects, exchanging ideas, sharing information on available grants and other resources, and coordinating multi-town collaborative projects, especially education. Although the roundtable was convened to focus on surviving Jewish sites specifically in the Lviv Oblast, Rohatyn Jewish Heritage and several other organizations were invited to participate because of common interest and proximity to the Lviv region. Rohatyn Jewish Heritage has been actively managing projects in Rohatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast to <a href=\"http:\/\/rohatynjewishheritage.org\/en\/projects\/headstone-recovery\/\">recover Jewish headstones<\/a> and to <a href=\"http:\/\/rohatynjewishheritage.org\/en\/\">commemorate the prewar Jewish community<\/a> there, for six years now.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6878\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6878\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6878\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-4-500x236.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"236\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6878\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayors of Zolochiv, Staryi Sambir, and Dobromyl describe the progress and issues of Jewish cultural heritage efforts in their towns. Photo \u00a9 2017 Marla Raucher Osborn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The roundtable was held at the Lviv office of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.il-consul.com\/en\/\">Honorary Consulate of the State of Israel in Western Ukraine<\/a> at vul Hazova 36\/3, and sponsored by the JDC-supported Lviv branch of <a href=\"http:\/\/hesed.lviv.ua\/\">Hesed-Arieh \u2013 All-Ukrainian Jewish Charitable Foundation<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lvc.lviv.ua\/index.php\/en\/\">Lviv Volunteer Center<\/a>. Included were mayors and representatives from several towns in the Lviv Oblast which have surviving sites of Jewish built heritage, including Dobromyl, Staryi Sambir, and Zolochiv; several of these representatives presented ideas for new projects to preserve heritage (for example, the synagogue in Staryi Sambir) or commemorating Jewish individuals or sites of destruction (for example, mass graves in Zolochiv). Representatives from Lutsk, active in projects in the Volyn Oblast, participated as well.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6879\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6879\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6879\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-5-500x212.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-5-500x212.jpg 500w, https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-5-1024x434.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-5.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6879\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lviv Oblast administrators outline regional policies and plans for heritage preservation and management. Photo \u00a9 2017 Marla Raucher Osborn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Also participating were the Deputy of the Lviv Region State Administration, the regional administration\u2019s Department Director for Culture, Nationalities &amp; Religious Matters, the Deputy Mayor for Development of the <a href=\"http:\/\/city-adm.lviv.ua\/\">City of Lviv<\/a>, the Director of Lviv\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lvivcenter.org\/\">Center for Urban History of East Central Europe<\/a>, the Director of the Lviv branch of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.giz.de\/en\/html\/index.html\">GIZ GmbH<\/a> (a German organization active in physical rehabilitation of many of Lviv\u2019s historically significant buildings), plus local and national leaders of the Ukrainian Jewish religious community (including the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine of the <a href=\"http:\/\/reformkiev.com\/\">Progressive Jewish Congregation<\/a>), and representatives from the Embassies of Poland and Germany.\u00a0 Speaking on behalf of Jewish descendants living abroad was Dr. Aharon Weiss of Jerusalem, himself a Galitzianer, born in a small town near Boryslav.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6915\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6915\" style=\"width: 278px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6915 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-6b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"278\" height=\"371\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6915\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olga Blaga-Maletska attended from Rohatyn\u2019s regional museum \u201cOpillya\u201d. Photo \u00a9 2017 Jay Osborn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Among the many attendees listening to and participating in the discussion were historians, heritage specialists, and educators from Lviv and the region, including Olga Blaga-Maletska from Rohatyn\u2019s regional museum \u201cOpillya\u201d, scheduled to re-open in spring; we were very happy to finally meet her in person. Other visitors from beyond the region but with connections here included David Lee Preston, Assistant City Editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and his wife Ronda Goldfein, an attorney for the Aids Law Project, in town as part of a family heritage trip that also included a visit two days prior to Staryi Sambir\u2019s Jewish sites.\u00a0 The roundtable provided an opportunity for David and the Mayor of Staryi Sambir to meet, opening a communication path between the two for possible future cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>In total, about 60 people joined the roundtable, in addition to local media. Interpreters were provided to those who do not understand Ukrainian. Alexander (Sasha) Nazar of the Lviv Volunteer Center and Vitaliy (Vito) Nadashkevych of the National Academy of Scientific Development served as moderators; Adel Dianova, Director of Hesed-Arieh Lviv, was host of the day\u2019s event.<\/p>\n<p>Vito opened the day\u2019s discussion by noting that the vast majority of Jewish cemeteries in western Ukraine are neglected today, lacking nearby Jewish communities with family connections to those buried there. Because of post-War Soviet efforts to erase ethnic identity and physical culture, it is also not uncommon for foreign descendants of pre-war ethnic groups (Jewish, Polish, and others) who visit their ancestral towns in Ukraine to know more about the towns\u2019 multi-cultural history and heritage than the modern local population.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6881\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6881\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6881 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-7-500x259.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"259\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-7-500x259.jpg 500w, https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-7-1024x530.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-7.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6881\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Roundtable host Adel Dianova of Hesed-Arieh Lviv presents awards to activists of Dobromyl for their work preserving local Jewish heritage. Photo \u00a9 2017 Jay Osborn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There was then a discussion about the important work of the Lviv Volunteer Center, specifically highlighting last summer\u2019s projects in Dobromyl in cooperation with Ukrainian residents of the town. Although the project was begun in 2012, over time it expanded as more Jewish headstones were discovered, more volunteers came on board, and the project received the support of Jewish descendants living abroad, including Arthur Kurzweil (who also helped create a playground in town and subsequently launched a crowd-funding campaign to buy tools and supplies for the the local school).\u00a0 Sasha noted that by 2014, the local Dobromyl administration actively invited cooperation from local residents, and as was expressed by the Mayor Dobromyl (present at the roundtable) the City of Dobromyl is \u201ceager to support and work to preserve cultural heritage\u201d in the town because there is \u201cno future if there is no respect for the culture of others.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6901\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6901\" style=\"width: 279px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6901 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-8Ajpg-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"279\" height=\"431\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6901\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rabbi Faynerman of Lviv encourages immediate activism for the large number of Jewish heritage issues in the area. Photo \u00a9 2017 Jay Osborn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Vito and Sasha added that, based on the experiences of the Lviv Volunteer Center, there are five \u201cpillars\u201d for success (sustainability) of a Jewish heritage project, built on the involvement of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the Ukrainian Jewish community and their representatives<\/li>\n<li>the town administration<\/li>\n<li>activists and citizens of the local community<\/li>\n<li>Jewish descendants abroad, and<\/li>\n<li>those with practical experience, for consultation and advice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Jewish community of Staryi Sambir was established in the 16th century, grew to prominence, then was destroyed in the Shoah, leaving behind a number of surviving sites of Jewish built heritage including two synagogues and a cemetery, considered one of the largest in western Ukraine. The Lviv Volunteer Center is organizing a new project in cooperation with the city administration to restore one of the Staryi Sambir synagogues, and plans are underway for an investigative visit later this month so that both budgetary and architectural plans can be produced. The Mayor of Staryi Sambir described possible uses for the restored building, including as an education and cultural center, noting that the town\u2019s current small regional history museum might be expanded to the renovated synagogue space. The Mayor concluded his remarks expressing the City\u2019s openness for cooperation with others.\u00a0 The Lviv Volunteer Center plans to host a work camp clean-up at the Jewish cemetery and synagogue this summer, and some funding has already been identified to support this new project.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6883\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6883\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-6883\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-9-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-9-400x300.jpg 400w, https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-9-500x375.jpg 500w, https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-9-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-9.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6883\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marla presents the several preservation and education projects of Rohatyn Jewish Heritage. Photo \u00a9 2017 Jay Osborn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Rohatyn Jewish Heritage, newly-qualified as a Ukrainian NGO, made a presentation summarizing its heritage work over the last six years, plus projects underway and planned for 2017, including the <a href=\"http:\/\/rohatynjewishheritage.org\/en\/projects\/mass-grave-memorials\/\">non-invasive archeological survey of Holocaust-era Jewish mass grave sites<\/a> scheduled for spring. The NGO was represented by founders Marla Raucher Osborn and Jay Osborn, accompanied by Alex Denysenko of Lviv who has been a key interface and supporter of our heritage work in Rohatyn since 2011.<\/p>\n<p>The Mayor of Zolochiv reviewed the many historic sites of his town, including work that has been accomplished in the last few years to mark Jewish mass graves and assume protection of the Jewish cemetery. The town has been actively working to document its multi-ethnic history, and the Mayor specifically noted the resources they have been using from the Center For Urban History on Jewish and non-Jewish Zolochiv history and heritage sites.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6884\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6884\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6884 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-10-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6884\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Aharon Weiss emphasizes the importance of tolerance and education in cultural heritage work. Photo \u00a9 2017 Jay Osborn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Lviv City Deputy Mayor reaffirmed that the city is \u201cnot indifferent\u201d to the state of the two Jewish cemeteries in Lviv, and the Deputy of the Lviv Region State Administration expressed continued \u201csupport for all initiatives and openness for cooperation.\u201d The regional Director of the Department for Culture, Nationalities &amp; Religions added that \u201ccultural heritage (including Jewish heritage) is our main asset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several participants voiced their belief that education is one of the most important tools for recovering and protecting cultural heritage, and an essential starting point for most projects. Many ideas were exchanged for this component of the work, including both recent Lviv City school initiatives and the local history projects for school children in smaller towns through Hesed\u2019s Wheel of History program and a Russian program called \u201cComplex Memorial\u201d. Each of the administrative organizations and the NGOs presenting at the roundtable highlighted the educational facets of their projects and methods. Dr. Weiss emphasized his belief that the key point is to understand each other, between people of all ages, with special emphasis on the youngest. In this region, where Jewish culture developed and blossomed over centuries, there is now a great opportunity to enhance mutual understanding.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_6903\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6903\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6903 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/media\/Rohantyn-12a-400x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-6903\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Regional historians and professors participated freely, providing context and advice. Photo \u00a9 2017 Jay Osborn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Several participants raised themes of Jewish culture as shared Ukrainian culture, and as living culture in Ukraine both before and after World War II. Rabbi Dukhovny from Kyiv reminded attendees how the Shoah started \u2013 from a policy of division of people into we vs. they \u2013 and the importance of memory for building a future. Several speakers noted the importance of diversity in a united civil society and as a driving force in mixed-cultural Ukrainian heritage programs.<\/p>\n<p>Vito noted that many small towns and villages with heritage concerns look to Lviv, the largest city in the Oblast, for examples and as a model, but that sometimes it is the small towns and villages which on their own launch and successfully manage local heritage projects (Jewish and non-Jewish) even without significant supporting infrastructure, and that from these examples, Lviv can also learn.<\/p>\n<p>Before concluding the roundtable, participants were reminded that one of the tangible goals of the meeting was to produce a joint statement of cooperation \u2013 a formal memorandum \u2013 outlining principles and establishing a working group for regional cooperation and collaboration. To that end, participants were invited to return after lunch for a post-conference workshop. At that workshop, issues of regional scope, multi-cultural scope, practical incentives, and outward communication were discussed further.<\/p>\n<p>The memorandum was revised and completed, then circulated and signed by 15 organizations and individuals, who also posed for a group photo.<\/p>\n<p>Rohatyn Jewish Heritage gives special thanks to Natalia Tolok (\u041d\u0430\u0442\u0430 \u0422\u043e\u043b\u043e\u043a) for interpreting and translating for us throughout the day, and to Sasha Nazar and Vito Nadashkevych for the invitation to participate.\u00a0 Rohatyn Jewish Heritage, proud signatory to the memorandum, looks forward to continuing discussion with many of the roundtable participants and working toward establishing joint cooperative projects.<\/p>\n<p><em>Almost two hours of the roundtable discussion has been posted in video form to YouTube, in two parts. Click on the links here to see and hear the discussion in Ukrainian:\u00a0 <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=e8xNYbm928o\">Part 1<\/a><em> (the Rohatyn Jewish Heritage presentation begins at 35:05), and <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DrCQS_C1JW0\">Part 2<\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>by Marla Raucher Osborn <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is originally appeared in <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/rohatynjewishheritage.org\/2017\/02\/forum-educators-museums\/\"><em>Rohatyn Jewish Heritage<\/em><\/a><em> and is <a href=\"http:\/\/rohatynjewishheritage.org\/2017\/02\/lviv-roundtable\/\">reprinted<\/a> with permission by the author.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rohatyn Jewish Heritage began its public activities in the new year by participating in a roundtable discussion 11 February 2017 in Lviv on preserving Jewish cultural heritage in western Ukraine and adjacent areas. The stated...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jews-on-ukrainian-lands","category-history","primary-category-17","primary-category-history"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6874"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6916,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6874\/revisions\/6916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ukrainianjewishencounter.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}