August 21 as part of the Pinchuk Foundation project “The Open University” “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies research associates gave lectures to history teachers of Samarsky and Industrial districts of Dnipropetrovsk. 30 history teachers became participants of the first seminar of “The Open University”, which took place on August 19-21.
“The Open University” is a series of educational seminars for secondary school teachers of Dnipropetrovsk, conducted as part of education projects aimed at preserving and developing the intellectual potential of Ukraine.
The project is implemented in cooperation with Dnipropetrovsk district education department. It aims to create a system of charitable support of professional and personal development of the secondary school teachers, who are the best in their fields.


 

It has become a tradition to conduct the meeting of heads of district and municipal methodic unions of teachers of Dnipropetrovsk region. This year the 20th meeting was held in Dnipropetrovsk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education. Methodists were given advice and instructions how to work in the new academic year. The subject of the meeting was curriculum, preparing pupils for independent external testing, extracurricular activities, and etc.
“Tkuma” Institute has been cooperating with DRIPPE for quite a long time, thus on the base of “Tkuma” Institute seminars for teachers are conducted every month. So it is not surprise that “Tkuma” employees were invited to hold a lecture for the heads methodic unions of history, law and social sciences teachers.

During August session of the Sunday University lecturers continued to reveal the topic of relations between Jews and Cossacks. This time, the moderators were Dr. Oleksandra Leonova, Candidate of Historical Sciences, “Tkuma” Institute and Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” Research Associate and Dr. Oleh Repan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Social Studies, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of History of Ukraine Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University.

 

Lviv hosted Summer School on Jewish History, organized by Lviv Center for Urban History. Training for school listeners – the senior students of history and other humanities departments, graduate students and young scientists, lasted almost a month, from July 15 to August 9. Anna Medvedovskaya, “Tkuma” Institute and Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” Research Programs Coordinator, enriched her knowledge of Jewish history and culture with other participants.
Summer School aims to promote the growth of interest to the multicultural past of Ukraine, research Jewish studies and to form group of young Ukrainian researchers bound by common scientific interests. Through holding the summer schools Center seeks to encourage the younger generation to participate in such projects in Ukraine and abroad and thus facilitate their integration into the international academic community.
 

August 13, Consul General of Germany in Donetsk Klaus Zillikens visited Dnipropetrovsk. The purpose of the visit of the Consul General was the summing up of cooperation - the diplomatic mission of Mr. Zillikens in the eastern regions of Ukraine met the deadline and new General Counsel will soon be introduces to the public. Mr. Zillikens visited all five regions of jurisdiction with a farewell visit. However, the Consul General has special attitude to Dnipropetrovsk as among the foreign partners of Dnipropetrovsk the first place is occupied by Germany. Mr. Zillikens repeatedly visited Dnipropetrovsk and during his last visit expressed interest in continuing cooperation between Germany and Dnipropetrovsk.
 

In high summer, during the holidays and vacations, “Tkuma” Institute does not stop its educational activities among the younger generation. In early August, Dr. Ihor Shchupak, “Tkuma” Institute director and Lyudmyla Kozina, “Tkuma” Institute Head of Psychological and Educational Services, held classes for pupils of children's school camps “Rio”, which was located on the Black Sea coast, in the resort village Portovoye. Such cooperation of the organizers of the summer camp (JCC “Mazal Tov”) and “Tkuma” has been going on for years. Last summer, “Tkuma” Institute staff also conducted interactive sessions, workshops and seminars for the participants of the camp. This year, the second shift (the first was held in June-July) was devoted to tolerance. “Tkuma” Institute was given the important task to carry out thematic lessons, and on the base of these lessons to convey to children the ideas of mutual understanding.
Within the educational program, Dr. Ihor Shchupak held an interactive session for the youngest – “Miracle in History”, in which he told about World War II and the Holocaust, Righteous Among the Nations and wonderful stories of salvation.

Recently the monograph “Zaporizhzhya’s Charge to the Great Was. 1939 - 1945” by Zaporizhzhya historians went out of print. The authors are well-known historians of this region: V. Ì. Moroko,
V. V. Moroko, V. S. Orlyansky, F. G. Turchenko, O. F. Steinle and others. The monograph on the broad basis of previously unexplored archival material, memoirs, records, interviews of witnesses for the first time in the national historiography examines the events of the Second World War in the region. It also describe such events as undermining of the Dnieproges, humanitarian, economic and social policies of Nazis in 1941-1943, Hitler’s visit to Zaporizhzhya, reasons of catastrophic losses of Soviet troops during the battle on the Wotan line, and many other controversial points in the history of World War II.
 

July 25 Mag.Wolf Dietrich Heim, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Austria in Ukraine, visited Dnipropetrovsk. He took part in the “round table” on strengthening free trade between Dnipropetrovsk regions and regions of Austria.
According to the website 056.ua, Austria is interested in strengthening trade and economic ties with our region. Austrian partners also stand ready to assist Dnipropetrovsk authorities in implementation of projects aimed at the development of civil society.
During his visit to Dnipropetrovsk Mr. Heim visited Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community.

 

During the regular session of the Sunday University the audience was told about the relations between Jews and Ukrainian Cossacks. This time Dr. Oleh Repan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Social Studies, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of History of Ukraine Department, Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University, became the guest of the session. Dr. Ihor Shchupak, “Tkuma” Institute and the Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” Director, became the moderator of the session.
It is widely believed that Cossacks and the Jews never got along together, that Cossacks were always very cruel towards Jews and sought to kill all of them. Mass Jewish pogroms during the war of Bohdan Khmelnytsky (1647-1655) could be an example to this idea.

July 6-7, in the Volyn region, and in Sagryni village in Poland joint Polish-Ukrainian actions in memory of the victims of the Volyn tragedy in 1943 were organized with the participation of public and religious figures from Poland and Ukraine. Let us recall that 2013 is a symbolic date, the 70th anniversary of Volyn events, which became one of the most tragic pages in the history of Polish-Ukrainian relations. The memory of Volyn tragedy still causes heated debates among both peoples and is a stumbling block in relations between them.
The event was organized by Eastern European National University named after Lesya Ukrainka and Ukrainian Catholic University in cooperation with the Polish-Ukrainian forum, Jacek Kuron Educational Foundation, Sheptytsky Foundation, Southeastern Institute of Sciences in Przemysl, the Association of Ukrainians in Poland, “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies (Dnipropetrovsk).

Regular International Inter-religious Youth Seminar for Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish students “Ark 2013” was held in Bilshivtsi village (Ivano-Frankivsk region) on June 30 – July 7. The seminar was organized by: The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Lviv, The Federation of Polish organizations in Ukraine, “Tkuma” (“Revival”) Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies, Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Lviv City Palace of Culture named after Khotkevych. The project is implemented with the support of Foundation “Pomoc Polakom na Wschodzie”, The Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany “Claims Conference”, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee “Joint” and The Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund “Dutch Fund”.

The situation around the historical memory of the Volyn massacre is heating up more and more every year. And it seems like the critical moment to finally turn this tragic page of the Ukrainian-Polish history has come.
The tragic events that happened in the Volyn region and Eastern Galicia in 1943-1944 years are perceived differently in Ukraine and Poland. In Poland, there are ideas of the purposeful ethnic cleansing of Poles from the hands of the OUN and UPA. Instead, Ukraine insists on mutual nature of injustice and offers to consider the tragedy in the broader context of the Second World War and the impact of the third parties, in particular the Soviet and Nazi Germany. Polish sources speak of 100-130 thousand victims among the civilian population of the Poland and 5-15 million of Ukrainians. Meanwhile, Ukrainian sources state that about a few tens of thousands of Poles and more than 10 thousand Ukrainians were killed.

 

International Inter-religious Youth Seminar for Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish students “Ark 2013” will be held on June 30 –July 7, 2013 in Bilshivtsi village (Ivano-Frankivsk region). The seminar is organized by: The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Lviv, “Tkuma” (“Revival”) Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies, Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Lviv City Palace of Culture named after Khotkevych. The project is implemented with the support of Foundation «Pomoc Polakom na Wschodzie», The Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany “Claims Conference”, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee “Joint” and The Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund “Dutch Fund”.

June 23-30 the annual summer school, organized by the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), was conducted in Lviv. This year the theme of the program was “Social Ideas of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky: Place of Christian Values in Building Fair Lifestyle”. 25 people, including students of the humanities, social and political activists, and those who wish to deepen their knowledge of the Christian social teaching, became the participants of the school.
The organizers declared the task of the Summer School - “to deepen the knowledge of participants about the spiritual heritage and the work of Metropolitan Andrey, to continue to explore his social thoughts, and show the relevance of the social teachings of the Church”. The main focus of the current school was placed on building a society based on Christian morals and values in historical and contemporary context.
 

On June 20 in Toronto (Canada) and June 21, 2013 in Chicago (USA) significant event “Two Reports on Two Genocides” was held. Well-known Ukrainian historians – Dr. Ihor Shchupak, “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies and the Museum “Jewish memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” director, and Hennadiy Ivanuschenko, member of the Academic Council of the Center for the liberation movement, the director of the State Archives of Sumy region, who being experts in their fields, described examples of genocide in the twentieth century and their scientific studies in this field.
The organizers of the meetings in Toronto: The Conference of Ukrainian Organizations of Canada, the League of Ukrainian Canadians, the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, Ukrainian Youth Association in Canada, Society of Veterans of Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), “Ukrainian Echo». The organizers of the meetings in Chicago: Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Illinois Division and Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation-USA.
The report of Hennadiy Ivanuschenko was based on the research of the Holodomor in 1932-1933 in Sumy. During 2005-2010 archivists and historians had done a considerable work to search, organize, preserve and publish documents related to the Holodomor.

Inna and Michael Rogatchi awarded Yenike Scholarships to the best students of yeshiva and machon within the framework of the opening ceremony of the artistic photography exhibition “The Route. Family edition. 2013” on the base of the Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine”. It is annual award, which was established by Inna and Michael Rogatchi International Charity Fund in 2011. Initially the scholarship was named after Anna Buyanover, famous teacher, who during her 40-year career had brought up several generations of children in Dnipropetrovsk. Anna Buyanover (1932 - 2005) was a talented and very inventive, creative teacher.
This year the award was renamed into Yenike Scholarship, in memory of Inna and Michael Rogatchi daughter Julia-Yenike Rogatchi. Also this year, the scholarship fund was increased twice.
 

June 20 Kryvyi Rih hosted the opening of “Kryvyi Rih Tragedy” Memorial devoted to the Holocaust victims in Kryvyi Rih region. The event was coincided with the Honoring Day of the War victims in Ukraine. This day was established in the memory of the beginning of the war, which took tens of millions of lives.
There are several places of mass extermination of civilians during Nazi occupation in Kryvyi Rih region, such as: pit-hole of the Mine ¹5, where more than 10,000 residents, nearly 7,000 of whom were Jews, lost their lives; the slopes of the ravine, which became the last refuge for more than 2,000 children, women, old people of Inguletsky Jewish colony, they were killed during the first punitive action; and the territory of the Stalindorfsky Jewish National district where more than 4,000 people were killed in temporary ghettos during scheduled executions.

June 20, 2013 the Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” and “Tkuma” Institute hosted the opening ceremony of the artistic photography exhibition “The Route. Family edition. 2013”. Talented couple of Inna and Michael Rogatchi brought the collection from Finland to Dnipropetrovsk. She is a famous writer, president of the International Cultural and Charitable Foundation of Rogatchi family and author of the collection; he is an outstanding artist, who makes painting on the most diverse subjects, including, the paintings devoted to past and present life of the Jewish people.
The visits of Rogatchi family traditionally have become a holiday for Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine”. In October 2012 their family donated triptych “Faces of the Holocaust” (Michael Rogatchi) to the Museum. Inna Rogatchi also donated collection of art photos to the Museum. And all because of her special attitude to Dnipropetrovsk: her father, Isaac Buyanover, was born and lived in this city. The art exhibition is devoted to him, “In memory of my father, Dnipropetrovsk resident, famous inventor and a talented photographer, Isaac Buyanover”.
 

The world is changing and we are changing as well. “Tkuma Bulletin” will be published in a new, more compact and handy format. From now on bulletin will be issued on A4 paper. We have tried to make the bulletin not only more convenient but also improved the design making the bulletin visually more pleasing. Now you’ll learn about the news of our organization from improved, colored bulletin.
Please, have a look at the updated newspaper “Tkuma Bulletin” (¹ 117), read it: we are waiting for your feedback. We always listen to the advice of our readers. So read, discuss, write reviews, call, make comments - we are ready to change!
You can download the newspaper here:
http://tkuma.dp.ua/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_details/gid, 47/Itemid, 91/
You can also take a bulletin at the information center of the Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine”. Or write your address on e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will send you issue with mail.

Museum “Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine” was opened in October 2012 and continues its dynamic development today. This applies to all spheres of Museum activity. Firstly, the Museum actively develops cooperation with the world museum complexes and research centers. Secondly, the museum is a multidisciplinary institution, where scientific, cultural, artistic and other projects are implemented. And thirdly, the exposition itself is all the time complemented by new exhibits, multimedia programs and even whole sections. Each update is worthy, and therefore we start the rubric “Novelties in the Museum”.
We will tell the history of the new exhibits, represent the concept of collage, and so follow the life of the exposure.
First of all we will tell you about the updates of “Agro-Joint” section. This section in devoted to the creation of Jewish agricultural colonies in the territory of Russian Empire. During the Soviet era Jewish collective farms were established on the basis of many of them.