TORONTO – The Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center (UCRDC), in partnership with the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter Initiative and the Judaica Institute in Kyiv Ukraine, is continuing work on an oral history project on World War II in Ukraine.
The goal of this project is to identify and recognize Ukrainians who took great personal risks in hiding or otherwise helping Jews to survive during the horrific years of World War II. Recognizing the actions of such individuals would make salient their personal heroism and will highlight the existence of positive interactions between Christian and Jewish Ukrainians, even during a period of deep crisis and pervasive violence.
Initiated in 2010 by Leonid Finberg of the Judaica Institute in Kyiv, the project is funded by the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter Initiative and builds on existing research and cases that have already been documented in Ukraine and at the Shoah Foundation in Los Angeles, but also conducts new research to identify cases not known or publicized to date.
The UCRDC will focus on identifying and documenting cases that have a Canadian connection. More than 10 previously unknown cases have already been identified, recorded and posted on the UCRDC website as a result of this project, and more leads to additional interviews are being followed.
The UCRDC has appealed to the community to provide any information that might be helpful in identifying new cases – in particular, suggestions regarding people who should be interviewed about their own experiences or that of a family member.
If readers can provide any information or would like more information about this project, they may contact Zoriana Kilyk, researcher, at: Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center, 620 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON, M5S 2H4; e-mail, [email protected] or [email protected]; telephone 416-996-1819 (office) or 647-456-5926 (cell).