On July10, International forum “Those who return faith in a human: the Righteous among the Nations in the Dnipropetrovsk region”, organized by the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration together with “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies and Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” was held in Dnipro. The event gathered more than 60 guests from Dnipro and region – scientists, museum workers, public figures, and veterans of World War II.
Among the forum participants were:
- Myroslav Marynovych, vice-rector of Ukrainian Catholic University, former political prisoner (Lviv),
- Dr. Olena Prokopovych, associate professor, political sciences department at Nazareth College, program director of legal studies (Rochester, NY),
- Serhii Levchenko, the Righteous among the Nations relative (Novomoskovsk),
- Natalia Pershyna, director of the Culture, nationalities and tourism department of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration,
- Yuliia Pischanska, director of D. I. Yavornytskyi Dnipropetrovsk National Historical Museum,
- Kostiantyn Mieshko, director of Novomoskovsk Museum of History and Local History, and many others.
Iryna Hrytsay, deputy head of Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, Doctor of Law, associate professor and Raffael Heltzer, head of “Sohnut-Ukraine”, Dnipro office (Israel) opened the forum. They stressed the importance of preserving the memory of true Ukrainian heroes’ feat – the Righteous among the Nations.
A number of interesting events took place within the framework of the forum:
- Dr. Yehor Vradii, Myroslav Marynovych, Dr. Igor Shchupak made reports devoted to the Righteous among the Nations phenomenon. They talked about dilemmas of human moral choices during the Holocaust and World War II, motives for Jews rescue from death, risking their own lives and the lives of their families, about the Dnipropetrovsk region Righteous among the Nations fate. “In difficult times, when moral order collapses, people are mistakenly feeling threatened by gentiles and representatives of other nationalities. And, easily gives them an enemy label. Therefore, the examples of the reverse, when Ukrainians during World War II rescued the Jews from destruction, are very valuable. We should know and remember about such actions”, – stressed Myroslav Marynovych.
- Round table “Memory about the feat: from family memories and book pages”, during which thanks to Skype-connection all the participants had an opportunity to communicate with Shimon Redlich, honorary professor of Ben-Gurion University (Israel), who being a child was rescued from death during the Holocaust by the Ukrainians and Poles, residents of his hometown Berezhany. Moreover, within the frameworks of the round table, the participants could see a video-interview by Nelli Tsypina (Gordon) – she was rescued by Zubkov family from Dnipropetrovsk, who later got a title the Righteous among the Nations. And recently, one of the streets of our city was named in their honor.
- Round table “Nataliia Levchenko, the Righteous among the Nations: feat on the ordinary background”. About the tragic events of the Holocaust in Novomoskovsk and the family memory of the Jews rescue told Serhii Levchenko, her son, whose family still remembers the feat of this woman and her parents. Dr. Yehor Vradii and Dr. Igor Shchupak were the moderators of the event.
-Presentation of “Tkuma” Institute literature on World War II and the Holocaust history (held by Zoriana Bondar and Dr. Denys Shatalov). The main focus was paid to the book “Those who return faith in a human”, dedicated to the Dnipropetrovsk region Righteous among the Nations and published jointly with the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration. This edition, prepared by “Tkuma” Institute researchers, is based on unique archival documents, as well as on materials from Yad Vashem, the Israeli National Memorial of the Catastrophe and Heroism.
The forum ended with a visit to our Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine”. Valentyn Rybalka, researcher, conducted an excursion focusing the guests’ attention on the Holocaust history in Ukraine, the features of human behavior during the war, paying special attention to the Righteous among the Nations’ feat.