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In the first week of October 2025, “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies together with partners organized and held several important educational and outreach events in Lviv. It is worth noting that at this time, the city already for the 32nd time welcomed guests of the already traditional Publishers Forum - the largest book forum in Ukraine, which unites hundreds of publishing houses and publishers from all over Ukraine and other countries, as well as tens of thousands of connoisseurs of the printed word. “Tkuma” Institute, which for many years has been a leading scientific and publishing center specializing in the publication of academic, educational and memoir literature dedicated to the history of the Holocaust, the period of World War II, the history of genocides, etc., is a permanent participant in the Publishers Forum. But about everything in turn.

The first anniversary of the “Encounter” literary award

On October 3, as part of the Publishers Forum program, a solemn ceremony to honor the laureates of the “Encounter” literary award took place – an event that has been an integral part of the Forum program since 2020. The “Meeting” award is designed to draw on the centuries-old common experience of Ukrainians and Jews, which has found expression in fiction and nonfiction. The award will be awarded annually for the most influential work of fiction and documentary literature (alternating) that contributes to Ukrainian-Jewish understanding, helping to strengthen Ukraine’s position as a multi-ethnic society and embodying the motto “Our histories are incomplete without each other.”

The idea of ​​the award, as well as its long-term support, is the merit of the public initiative Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE) (Canada), which has long supported hundreds of important humanitarian and cultural projects in Ukraine aimed at deepening understanding of the breadth, complexity, and diversity of Ukrainian-Jewish relations over the centuries with a view to the future.

In previous years, the laureates of the Prize included famous scientists and writers – Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, Vasyl Makhno, Sofia Andrukhovych, Yurii Skyra.

The director of “Tkuma” Institute, member of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (Canada) public initiative, Dr. Igor Shchupak, had the honor of congratulating the authors and publishers who were included in the “Short List” of the Prize. He emphasized the important role that fiction, and therefore the creative work of writers and publishers, plays in bringing the two people closer together.

This year, the main award of the “Encounter” Prize went to the book “A Century of Presence. The Jewish World in Ukrainian Short Prose 1880s–1930s” edited by Khrystyna Semeryn. The book itself was published by one of the leading publishing houses in the country – “Dukh i Litera” (Kyiv).

We sincerely congratulate the winners with well-deserved honors!

Presentation of new publications on Judaica and the Holocaust history

On October 4, as part of the Publishers Forum program, a joint presentation of three leading publishing centers took place – the publishing house “Dukh i Litera” (Kyiv), the publishing house “21” (Chernivtsi), as well as “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies, which was represented by Dr. Igor Shchupak, as well as the deputy director for scientific work Dr. Yehor Vradii. The presentation was moderated by historian, translator, publicist and public figure Andriy Pavlyshyn.

These are publishing houses that pay significant attention to the printing of books on the history and culture of the Jews of Ukraine, as well as the translation of works by Jewish writers into Ukrainian. The publishing vector of the Tkuma Institute is aimed at preparing books dedicated to various aspects of the history of the Holocaust, as well as the history of interaction between the Jews of Ukraine and other ethnic and religious groups of our country. Within the framework of the publishing series “Ukrainian Library of the Holocaust”, dozens of books have been published that play an important role in the study of the Holocaust of the Jewish people in Ukraine, as well as the process of education about the Nazi genocide, its prerequisites and consequences, etc.

This year, “Tkuma” Institute presented several publications, among which we can highlight the book of memoirs by Jakub Littner “My Journey Through the Night”, which was first published in Ukrainian. A major role in the appearance of this book, the idea of ​​which appeared back in 2022, was played by historian, local historian and publicist Tetyana Fedoriv from the city of Zbarazh, Ternopil region, as well as a research associate of “Tkuma” Institute, co-editor of this publication Maryna Strilchuk.

During the presentation, the latest issue of “Tkuma” Institute's professional scientific journal, the 16th, was also presented – “Holocaust Studies: A Ukrainian Focus”. It is worth noting that the pages of the yearbook contain not only scientific research texts, but also historical source texts, reviews of recently published books and even cinematic works dedicated to the Holocaust.

Those who attended the presentation were able to receive publications from the Tkuma Institute, and we would like to remind you that electronic versions of our publications can be downloaded from our website.

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