BOOK NOTES

Volume spotlights Jabotinsky's views on the Ukrainian question

"From Nationalism to Universalism: Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky and the Ukrainian Question" by Israel Kleiner. Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 2000, 199pp., $34.95 (cloth); $19.95 (paper).

"From Nationalism to Universalism" focuses on the political actions and insights of Vladimir Jabotinsky, a leader of the Zionist movement during the first half of the 20th century. Jabotinsky was born in 1880 in Odesa, where he witnessed firsthand the destructive effects of the Soviet Union's policy of Russification. Though his primary goal was the creation of a Jewish state, Jabotinsky remained an ally of the Ukrainian struggle for freedom and national identity.

At a time when the Jewish community in Ukraine was actively supporting the dominant Russian political powers, Jabotinsky urged his people to rethink their existing allegiances and to break their ties with Russia. He sought increased cooperation between Jewish and Ukrainian partisans, realizing that the people of Ukraine were strong enough collectively to decide the fate of Soviet tyranny, through either revolt or acquiescence. In the event of a Ukrainian popular uprising and eventual Ukrainian independence, Jabotinsky feared the animosity of a Ukrainian society embittered by years of Russian-Jewish collaboration.

When such animosity surfaced in the form of anti-Jewish violence in Ukraine, Jabotinsky forged the Jabotinsky-Slavinsky agreement of 1921, creating a Jewish militia for purposes of self-defense. Despite the presence of such violence aimed at Jews, Jabotinsky never retracted his support for Ukrainian nationalism, instead demonstrating a keen insight into the consequences of the events around him.

When a Jewish assassin took the life of Symon Petliura in retribution for past atrocities against the Jewish community, Jabotinsky denounced the act, recognizing that only Soviet interests would be served by such vigilante justice.

The Jewish leader harbored a genuine sympathy for the Ukrainian cause. He understood that the Ukrainian language and culture were distinct from those of Russia and that the Ukrainian people deserved their independence. Never swayed by anger or revenge, Jabotinsky left his mark on Ukrainian history by championing Jewish-Ukrainian cordiality at a time when the tide of public sentiment and internal politics pulled many in the opposite direction.

"From Nationalism to Universalism" provides a compelling account of this unique leader and his legacy of Jewish-Ukrainian cooperation.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, September 10, 2000, No. 37, Vol. LXVIII

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