“Jews, Ukrainians, and the Euromaidan,” Lubomyr Y. Luciuk, editor. Kingston, Ontario: Kashtan Press in cooperation with the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto, 2014. ISBN 978-1-896354-13-2. Hard-cover, 258 pages. $45.
Prof. Lubomyr Luciuk of the Royal Military College of Canada is the editor of a volume titled “Jews, Ukrainians, and the Euromaidan” (hereafter “Euromaidan”) that is both fascinating and richly informative. What is more, in contrast to the writings of various academics, whose knowledge and understanding of Ukraine barely rises above the level of malpractice yet who don’t have the decency to keep quiet, Prof. Luciuk’s volume has the added attractions of being highly relevant, accurate in its comprehension of the state of relations between Ukraine’s gentile and Jewish citizens, and important in noting a kind of sea change in relations.
Perhaps nothing captures this sea change more than the picture found in the introductory section of the book on page xvi. The caption to that photo reads: “Right Sector activists pay their respects at burial of Alexander Scherbaniuk, a Ukrainian Jew killed on 20 February 2014 by a sniper on the Euromaidan.” A Jewish Ukrainian had laid down his life for a brighter Ukrainian future. And Ukrainian nationalists proudly participated in and paid their respects to their compatriot, a Ukrainian openly and proudly commemorated as a member of the Jewish community.
“Euromaidan” is a compilation of 42 articles, statements and reflections about, variously, Jewish and Ukrainian relations, perceptions and opinions in the context of the Euro-Maidan from its beginning in November 2013 to March 2014, at which time the materials for publication were assembled. The volume begins with a foreword penned by Serhiy Kvit, then the president of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and now the minister of education. Titled “The Euromaidan Revolution and the Struggle for Ukraine’s Place in Europe,” the foreword does an excellent job of providing a short historical and political analysis of the context in which the Euro-Maidan arose and of its extraordinarily inclusionary character once it evolved into a revolutionary movement intent upon changing the nature of contemporary Ukraine.
The 42 items included in the volume were penned by a wide variety of authors. They include Jewish Ukrainians such as the former Soviet dissident and prisoner of conscience Josef Zissels; Jewish Frenchmen such as the philosopher and public intellectual Bernard-Henri Levi, who has since the appearance of Prof. Luciuk’s volume written additional op-ed articles in defense of Ukraine; Jewish Americans such as Abraham Foxman, the director of the Anti-Defamation League in the United States; and the author of numerous books and a columnist for The Washington Post, Anne Applebaum.
Other authors include Mychailo Wynnyckyj, the always thoughtful Canadian Ukrainian sociologist who now teaches at Kyiv Mohyla Academy; Halyna Coynash, one of the leaders of the truly intrepid Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group; the Ukrainian American scholar Alexander J. Motyl, a premier analyst of contemporary events in Ukraine and a professor at Rutgers University, and many others.
The volume concludes with an afterword by Prof. Robert Paul Magocsi, the historian who holds the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. Although written almost a year ago, Prof. Magocsi’s last paragraph seems particularly apt today:
“The United States, Canada and the European Union should do what is their own best interest: support in whatever way possible the increasing number of Ukrainian citizens, regardless of their ethnic or religious background, who reject Putin’s ‘Little Russian’ scenario and who prefer to live in a pro-Western independent Ukraine.”
I have two tiny quibbles with the book. It would have been helpful to include short, one- or two-sentence biographical descriptions of the authors of the items included in “Euromaidan.” And, although it didn’t occur to me until after I had read “Euromaidan,” instead of naming the volume “Jews, Ukrainians, and the Euromaidan,” perhaps the title should have been something along the lines of “Gentile and Jewish Ukrainians, and the Euromaidan.”
Quibbles aside, “Euromaidan” contains innumerable gems. I will close this short review with the ending from Prof. Wynnyckyj’s “Philosophical Thoughts from Kyiv” dated March 20, 2014:
“Perhaps the ‘beacon on the hilltop’ of the future will be in Kyiv – a place that offers the world a new civilizational principle of ‘spravedlivist’ (natural justice) and ‘hidnist’ (individually realized/collectively recognized – dignity). Or maybe I’m being too optimistic…
“If only the Kremlin would allow us to find out!”
Prof. Luciuk has performed an invaluable service by gathering and publishing a really extraordinary collection of statements, opinions and photographs from and about the most recent events in Ukraine. “Euromaidan” was published jointly by the University of Toronto Chair of Ukrainian Studies and Kashtan Press. The book can be purchased directly from the Kashtan Press at 849 Wartman Ave., Kingston, ON, Canada, K7M 2Y6 at $45 a copy plus shipping and handling ($10 for U.S. orders). The publisher advises that there is a limited supply of the book.