The Holocaust Survivors’ Anthem – ORT Odessa

 

In the lead up to the UN Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January 2018 a series of recordings of The Partisan Song, Zog Nit Keynmol, sung and recited by ORT and other schools will remind us of the importance of remembering and commemorating The Holocaust.

Here is a new video of a student of ORT Odessa, reciting The Holocaust Survivors’ Anthem in Russian.

RUSSIAN
Не считай, что ты достиг конца пути
Не считай, что ты достиг конца пути,
Если тучами затянута заря,
Долгожданный час не сможет не прийти,
Шаг за шагом мы идем к нему не зря.
Из страны зеленых пальм в страну снегов
Принесли мы нашу боль и нашу скорбь,
Но решимостью и твердостью шагов
Обернулась нами пролитая кровь.
Солнце встанет, смоет светом ночи тьму.
В прах бессильный наших обратит врагов,
Но если встать не будет суждено ему,
Эта песня новых призовет бойцов.
Общей кровью песни писаны слова —
Не беспечной птичьей трелью рождены,
Их слагали мы с оружием в руках
Средь развалин нескончаемой войны.
Так не считай, что ты достиг конца пути,
Если тучами затянута заря,
Долгожданный час не сможет не прийти,
Шаг за шагом мы идем к нему не зря.
—-

As part of World ORT‘s attempts to introduce the song to new generations, students at ORT schools around the world are this year making videos of the poem and the song.

ORT Jabotinski School # 94, Odessa

A specialized ORT school was first set up in Odessa in 1882, with the purpose of teaching vocational professions to Jewish students. The school existed until 1922 when ORT ceased its activity in the USSR because of political difficulties.  With the declaration of Ukrainian independence 70 years later, it was possible once again to re-establish a dedicated Jewish school. The “Tali” Jewish Sunday school was established in Odessa in 1993, and this was used as the basis for the creation of Jewish state school # 94 in 1995.  ORT renewed its operations in Odessa in 1997 and since then the history of ORT and Odessa’s Jewish school have been inextricably linked. In 2002, an ORT Technology Centre was set up at the school.

#WeRemember: WJC reaching out to millions on social media in campaign to raise awareness of Holocaust

#WeRemember: WJC reaching out to millions on social media in campaign to raise awareness of Holocaust

Join the World Jewish Congress in an unprecedented campaign: Take a photo of yourself holding up a sheet of paper with the words “We Remember” and post it to social media with the hashtag #WeRemember.

Source: www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/weremember-wjc-reaching-out-to-millions-on-social-media-in-honor-of-international-holocaust-remembrance-day-1-1-2017

 

Updated Zog Nit Keynmol

Hi All

I have added new items to my Jewish Partisan Song portal.

Click on the link –  Zog Nit Keynmol below

I have additional resources thanks to the numerous people who wrote to me after I posted messages on JewishGen. Thanks so much.

Have a look at Other Resources as well as Our Vision for this project.

Please share this site with your contacts. You are welcome to subscribe to elirab.me.

Regards

Eli

Workshop at the Holocaust & Genocide Centre

On 15 February I gave a couple of workshops at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre.

One session was for survivors and the other for staff and members.

(L-R). Eli Rabinowitz & Don Krausz

This was the first time I had presented specifically to a group of survivors, although I had filmed several survivors’ testimonies in the past.

I showed photos from my trips to the Baltics & Eastern Europe as well as some videos from my Zog Nit Keynmol project for King David & Herzlia Schools.

The most noticeable outcome was the positive reaction to my initiative to get our youth learning and singing Zog Nit Keynmol, the Partisan Song.

(L-R). Eli, Veronica Phillips, Barbara Berman

For more details on Zog Nit Keynmol, please visit:

http://elirab.me

The two key videos to watch are:

the Phillip Maisel Interview

Herzlia’s Vocal Ensemble Sings:

Below is a video of Freidi Mrocki reciting the poem in English. Freidi is the teacher at Sholem Aleichem College in Melbourne, who recorded the interview with Phillip Maisel in 2015.

IMG_5500.MOV

(L-R). Shirley Sapire, Betty Slowatek, Eli, Margaret Hoffman

Slideshow:

The Legacy of the Partisan Song

Zog Nit Keynmol – the partisan song

A simple request from King David High School in Johannesburg has now snowballed into an international project involving schools in South Africa, Australia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Moldova.

This is an amazing opportunity for this beautiful and inspiring song to be heard. Sung by young students, it rekindles hope for their and future generations.

Please contact me at eli@elirab.com to find out how your school or organisation can become involved.

Click on the link below and read more details about this anthem and how this project developed.

Zog Nit Keynmol

King David Linksfield

King David Linksfield

King David Victory Park

My radio interview on ChaiFM on 7 February.

Audio Player

Click here  Zog Nit Keynmol for more details on the project and videos used in the presentation.

ORT Solomo Aleichemo, Vilnius, Lithuania

On 11 January 2017, I was asked by Rabbi Craig Kacev, head of Jewish Studies at King David Schools, Johannesburg, South Africa, whether I could make a presentation to the students at the Linksfield…

Click here to continue with more details: elirab.me/zog-nit-keynmol/

Talks in South Africa

In Johannesburg

RCHCC
RABBI CYRIL HARRIS COMMUNITY CENTRE

Sunday 5 February at 7.30pm

Please join us for a presentation by

ELI RABINOWITZ

Traces and Memories of Jewish Life
Connecting to our Litvak Shtetls

Eli Rabinowitz’s presentation has been compiled from six visits to Litvak lands.
His collection of photos and stories showcases:
– the shtetl, where most South Africans originated
– the people on the ground memorialising the shtetl
– the Tolerance Education Centres in schools
– the use of online resources to advance your own heritage research

“How will our children know who they are, if they don’t know where they came from?” —John Steinbeck

Eli Rabinowitz (ex- South Africa) is involved in Jewish community activities, filming events, photographing, researching, lecturing internationally and blogging on Jewish life and heritage. He presented at the IAJGS 2015 conference in Jerusalem. He manages 76 KehilaLinks websites for JewishGen. He led the first JewishGen Virtual Heritage Tour of Europe. Eli lives in Perth, Australia.

WHEN: Sunday 5 February at 7.30pm
DONATION: R90.00 (including refreshments)
VENUE: Clive M Beck Auditorium
               Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre (RCHCC)
               cnr Glenhove Rd & 4th Street Houghton, East of the M1 
BOOKING: Hazel or René (011 728 8088/8378) After Hours (011 728 8378)
email: rchcc@telkomsa.net or rene.s@telkomsa.net
www.greatpark.co.za

Bank details:
Nedbank Norwood      Code: 191905
Account name: RCHCC
Account number: 1920 116 699

Please put your name as reference

In Cape Town

Traces and Memories of Jewish Life

Connecting to our Litvak shtetls

Eli Rabinowitz’s presentation has been compiled from six visits to Litvak lands

His collection of photos and stories showcases:

– the shtetl, where most South Africans originated 

– the people on the ground memorialising the shtetl

– the Tolerance Education Centres in schools 

– the use of online resources to advance your own heritage research

Gardens Synagogue – Nelson Mandela Auditorium

 8 February 2017 at 7:30 pm

My Upcoming Talks at the Great Park & Gardens Shuls

 Traces and Memories of Jewish Life  Connecting to our Litvak shtetls The Great Park Synagogue RCHCC, Johannesburg 5 February 2017 at 7:30pm and The Nelson Mandela Auditorium at the Gardens Shul, C…

Source: elirab.me/my-upcoming-talk-at-the-great-park/

Building Bridges with the TECs in Lithuania

IMG_6816

Here is my update on the TECs – Tolerance Education Centres in Lithuania and how we can help build bridges.

If you know the name of your shtetl, please contact me and I will help you to connect with those who are working with TECs and Lithuanian school students and their teachers. Travelling to the region and meeting with local students has been the most rewarding of my experiences in the past six years.

There are growing numbers of Lithuanians, Poles and those within other communities in the FSU who now learn about their history and about the rich Jewish life that once existed in these towns, which are now devoid of Jews. The internet now offers the best opportunity ever for them to engage with Jewish people from abroad.

There is a further benefit: we can educate our children and grandchildren here in the Litvak diaspora. So little seems to be availble within the school curriculum, even though private Jewish Day School fees are so high.  “Too hard” or “we are covering it” is what I hear! And then there is also the no response…… and another year passes!

It is a real shame that our cultural heritage is in danger of fading away and dying!

Educating about our Jewish cultural history remains my passion and I hope and that there are enough of us out there to make a difference!

 

There are now 119 Tolerance Education Centres in Lithuania.

Here is the list:

Here is an example of three of these projects and how visitors to Lithuania can engage teachers and students involved in these projects.

 

 

Lviv Ukraine 2

DSC_8709

Beis Aharon V’Yisrael Synagogue

Beis Aharon V’Yisrael Synagogue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tsori Gilod Synagogue
Sinagogalvov1.jpg
Basic information
Location UkraineLvivUkraine
Affiliation Orthodox Judaism
Status Active
Architectural description
Architect(s) Albert Kornbluth
Architectural style Baroque style
Completed 1925

The Beis Aharon V’Yisrael Synagogue, also known as Tsori Gilead Synagogue, is the only functioning Jewish Orthodox synagogue in LvivUkraine.

History

The Tsori Gilod Synagogue in Lviv

The Tsori Gilod Synagogue is one of only two Jewish temples in Lviv to have survived World War II. There were nearly fifty before the Nazi occupation.

Originally built in 1925, the synagogue was designed by Albert Kornbluth in the Baroque style. The construction was financed by Jewish charity “Tsori Gilod”, and was designed to accommodate 384 worshipers.

The building managed to survive the war as the Nazis used it as a horse stable. After 1945, under the Soviet regime, the synagogue was used as a warehouse. In 1989, the building was returned to the Jewish community. It was renovated from 1995 to 1997, and again from 1999 to 2000. In 2004-5, under the initiative of HGSS Friends of Lviv (a charity associated with Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue in London), and with substantial funding from the Rohr family of New York and Miami, it underwent a major interior renovation under the direction of architect Aron Ostreicher. At the same time the magnificent artwork on the walls and ceilings was restored.

Today, Tsori Gilod synagogue is the only functioning synagogue in Lviv. Services are conducted by the Chief Rabbi of Lviv and West Ukraine, Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Bald, a Karlin-Stolin hasid from Borough Park, Brooklyn, so the religious community became known as “Beis Aharon V’Israel”, as many institutions of Karlin.

Lviv Tourist Information Centre  click to download pdf 

Self Guided Jewish Tour

Screen Shot 2016-07-20 at 9.42.38 PM

More icons of past Jewish life in Lviv

Monument to the Lviv Ghetto

Memorial plaque at Klepariv Train Station

Other views of Lviv

Videos

On the coach to Lublin, Poland

 

 

Lviv Ukraine 1

DSC_7957

Arriving by overnight train from Kyiv

Lviv

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lviv
Львів
Lwów
City of regional significance
Flag of Lviv
Flag
Coat of arms of Lviv
Coat of arms
Official logo of Lviv
Logo
Motto: Semper fidelis
Coordinates: 49°51′N 24°01′ECoordinates49°51′N 24°01′E
Country  Ukraine
Oblast Lviv Oblast
Municipality Lviv
Founded 1240–1247
Magdeburg law 1356

Lviv (UkrainianЛьвівĽvivIPA: [lʲwiu̯]PolishLwówIPA: [lvuf];[1]RussianЛьвовLvovIPA: [lʲvof]LatinLeopolis, “the city of the lion”), the largest city in western Ukraine and the seventh largest city in the country overall, is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine. Named in honor of the Leo – eldest son of Rus’ King Daniel of Galicia. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia (also called Kingdom of Rus`)[2] from 1272 to 1349 when was conquered by King Casimir III the Great who then became known as the King of Poland and Rus`. From 1434 becoming the regional capital of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the Kingdom of Poland, then renamed Lembergin 1772 as the capital of the Habsburg Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. In 1918 in a short time was the capital of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic. Between the wars, the city was known as Lwówand was the centre of the Lwów Voivodeship in the Second Polish Republic. After the Second World War, it became part of the Soviet Union (Ukrainian SSR) and in 1991 of independent Ukraine. Administratively, Lviv serves as the administrative center of Lviv Oblast and has the status of city of oblast significance. Its population is 729,429 (2015 est.)[3].

Lviv was the centre of the historical region of Galicia. The historical heart of the city, with its old buildings and cobblestone streets, survived Soviet and German occupations during the Second World War largely unscathed. The city has many industries and institutions of higher education such as Lviv University and Lviv Polytechnic. Lviv is also a home to many world-class cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra and the famous Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Lviv celebrated its 750th anniversary with a son et lumière in the city centre in September 2006.

Jews

The first known Jewish settlers in Lviv date back to 1256 and became an important part of this city cultural life, making significant contributions in trade, science and culture.[84] Apart from the Rabbinate Jews there were many Karaites who had settled in the city after coming from the East and from Byzantium. After Casimir III conquered Lviv in 1349 the Jewish citizens received many privileges equal to that of other citizens of Poland. Lviv had two separate Jewish quarters, one within the city walls and one outside on the outskirts of the city. Each had its separate synagogue, although they shared a cemetery, which was also used by the Crimean Karaite community. Before 1939 there were 97 synagogues.

Before the Holocaust about one third of the city’s population was made up of Jews (more than 140,000 on the eve of World War II). This number swelled to about 240,000 by the end of 1940 as tens of thousands of Jews fled from the Nazi-occupied parts of Poland into the relative (and temporary) sanctuary of Soviet-occupied Poland (including Lviv) following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact that divided Poland into Nazi and Soviet zones in 1939. Almost all these Jews were killed in the Holocaust. After the war, a new Jewish population was formed from among the hundreds of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians that migrated to the city, then called Lvov. The post-war Jewish population peaked at 30,000 in the 1970s. Currently the Jewish population has shrunk considerably as a result of emigration (mainly to Israel and the United States) and, to a lesser degree, assimilation, and is estimated at 1,100. A number of organizations continue to be active.

The Sholem Aleichem Jewish Culture Society in Lviv initiated the construction of a monument to the victims of the ghetto in 1988. On 23 August 1992, the memorial complex to the victims of the Lwów ghetto (1941–1943) was officially opened.[85] During 2011–2012, some anti-Semitic acts against the memorial took place. On 20 March 2011, it was reported that the slogan “death to the Jews” with a Swastika was sprayed on the monument.[86] On 21 March 2012, the memorial was vandalized by unknown individuals, in what seemed to be an anti-Semitic act.[87]

Judaism

Lviv historically had a large and active Jewish community and until 1941 at least 45 synagogues and prayer houses existed. Even in the 16th century, two separate communities existed. One lived in today’s old town with the other in the Krakowskie Przedmieście. The Golden Rose Synagogue was built in Lviv in 1582. In the 19th century, a more differentiated community started to spread out. Liberal Jews sought more cultural assimilation and spoke German and Polish. On the other hand, Orthodox and Hasidic Jews tried to retain the old traditions. Between 1941 and 1944, the Germans in effect completely destroyed the centuries-old Jewish tradition of Lviv. Most synagogues were destroyed and the Jewish population forced first into a ghetto before being forcibly transported to concentration camps where they were murdered.[90]

Under the Soviet Union, synagogues remained closed and were used as warehouses or cinemas. Only since the fall of the Iron Curtain, has the remainder of the Jewish community experienced a faint revival.

Currently, the only functioning Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Lviv is the Beis Aharon V’Yisrael Synagogue.

Lviv Tourist Information Centre  click to download pdf

Self Guided Jewish Tour

Screen Shot 2016-07-20 at 9.42.38 PM

The Coffee Factory

The Space of Synagogues

Space of Synagogues download pdf

Space-of-Synagogues

Signs of previous Jewish life

Memorials

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The Jacob Glanzer Shul

Jakob Glanzer Shul

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jakob Glanzer Shul
Синагога на Угольной Львов.jpg
Basic information
Location LvivUkraine
Status Active
Architectural description
Architectural style Baroque style
Completed 1844

The Jakob Glanzer Shul, or the former Chasidim Synagogue, was a synagogue at the Ugol’naya street Nr.3 in LvivUkraine.

History

The synagogue was built from 1841 to 1844 in a Baroque style. Its construction was financed by Lvov merchant Jacob Glazner, and in his honor named the “Jacob Glazner Shul”. In 1844 Jacob Glanzer’s synagogue was the second-largest synagogue, after the Big city synagogue. The synagogue has been constructed in a complex with two stores. There was a prayer hall and two tiers of galleries for women were attached. And two tiers of balconies over the west side of the Shul which was destroyed by the Soviets in the years 1959/60 (Noted by Rabbi B.Vernik) It was also the location (only*) of a mikveh. Noted rabbi David Kahane, author of a memoir about the Holocaust, worked in the synagogue. During the Soviet period, ( after 1960 ) it was used as a gym.

On the end of year 1958 a few months before we left Lvov my parents donated our own bath tub from our home on the Kalinina Street -(today Zamarstunivska Street) *helping to build a mikveh, at this time there wasn’t a mikveh on the premises, – ( The mikveh was on Pidval’na Street ) right afterwards the Soviets closedown the Shul! ( Noted by Rabbi B. Vernik ).

After the Second World War in this Synagogue served as a Rabbi Yaakov Gur-Aryeh which was the main spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Lvov. After the death of Rabbi Yaakov Gur-Aryeh Soviets closed the synagogue took literally everything and removed all the Sifrei Torah. that was considered to be in the hundreds and were in the synagogue, not only in the Aron Kodesh but also in the cabinets below each window of the synagogue were these all Sifrei Torah were accommodate. ( Torah Scrolls ) from all destroyed synagogues of the city and they have moved them directly to Moscow and the premises handed over to an Institute. The main prayer hall was converted to a Sports Hall, the western two tiers of galleries for women were dismantled, the beautiful murals on the walls and ceiling were over painted, the Aron Kodesh ( Torah Ark ) dismantled. Wall cabinets and all the nice furniture of the synagogue was dismantled. (( Amended by Rabbi B. Vernik who lived, grew up and studied in 58, then in 19 schools in Lviv after the war, until the day of the opening of the TV station on the High Castle Mount in the end of year 1958. )) The Synagogue was the main concourse despite of all this horror of Stalin’s and after Stalin’s dark days – a lot of people disappeared send to Siberia and have been killed.

The Prayers in this Shul were very, very warm with a lot of hope for much better times ! On the High Jewish holidays in the synagogue were thousands of people, but on Yom Kippur, it was just impossible to move, not only in the synagogue, as well as in the hallway and even a lot more of this, the Street of the Shul on afternoon so many people arrived and congregate, mainly students, who stood and talked quietly among themselves and waited for the Blow of the Shoifor, listening to the sound of the Shoifor which symbolized the end of Yom Kippur. In the great Hall of the synagogue could be heard “the thundering ” wonderful voice of the 85 years old a famous **Cantor Boruch Leib Shulman. In the small Hall across the corridor were praying the Talmidej Chahomim and many Chasidim of different backgrounds and mostly were without a beard. On Saturdays there were three praying groups (Minian), one early morning at five o’clock in the morning, because they have to go to work early, a second group at seven o’clock in the morning, and the third group the talmidej chachomim and a lot of the Hasidim on nine o’clock Minian. On the weekdays there were every day Minianim. On the Shul back yard were working two Shochatim for chicken. On the Succoth holiday there were a Suka – this all was happened in a horrible Stalin’s and after Stalin’s days between the years of 1946 -1958 – ( this is my testimony and a witness from my very young age. )

  • Chazan Boruch Leib Shulman was a Professional Cantor (1870-1963 in 1946, lived in Lviv,and was the Cantor of this synagogue until its closure in 1961 Boruh Leib Shulman (1870, Township of Kalinkovichi, Minsk guberniya, 1963), Cantor, singer (tenor).

By Rabbi B. Vernik.

Since 1989 it has been used as a center of Jewish culture, the “Sholom Aleichem Jewish Culture Society”. External walls of a building were repaired in 1990. (The window immured on the left side is the external indicator of the location of the Holy Ark.)

External links

 

The Yanivske Cemetery

Other views of Lviv

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Kiev: From Maidan To Lavra

IMG_7822

The walk through the park to the Military Museum, Lavra, and and back to Arsenal

Map-Walk-Kiev

The Military Museum

Inside The Museum

Museum of The History of Ukraine in World War II

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates50.426634°N 30.5636°E

Museum of the history of Ukraine in World War II
Комплекс Українського державного музею Великої Вітчизняної війни 12.jpg
Established May 9th, 1981
Location Ivan Mazepa Str. 44, KievUkraine
Director Oleksandr Serhiyovych Artyomov
Website www.warmuseum.kiev.ua

The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II (UkrainianМузей історії України у Другій світовій війніRussianМузей истории Украины во Второй мировой войне) is a memorial complex commemorating the German-Soviet War located in the southern outskirts of the Pechersk district of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, on the picturesque hills on the right-bank of the Dnieper River.[1]

The museum was moved twice before ending up in the current location where it was ceremonially opened on May 9 (the Victory Day), 1981, by the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. On June 21, 1996, the museum was accorded its current status of the National Museum by the special decree signed by Leonid Kuchma, then the President of Ukraine.

It is one of the largest museums in Ukraine (over 300 thousand exhibits) centered on the now famous 62-meter tall Motherland statue, which has become one of the best recognized landmarks of Kiev. The museum has been attended by over 21 million visitors.

Memorial complex

The memorial complex covers the area of 10 hectares (approximately 24.7 acres) on the hill, overlooking the Dnieper River. It contains the giant bowl “The Flame of Glory”, a site with World War II military equipment, and the “Alley of the Hero Cities“. One of the museums also displays the armaments used by the Soviet army post World War II. The sculptures in the alley depict the courageous defence of the Soviet border from the 1941 German invasion, terrors of the Nazi occupation, partisan struggle, devoted work on the home front, and the 1943 Battle of the Dnieper.

Name change

Until July 2015 the official name of the museum was Museum of the Great Patriotic War.[2] In April 2015, the parliament of Ukraine outlawed references to the term “Great Patriotic war” as well as Communist symbols, street names and monuments, in a decommunization attempt.[3] On 16 May 2015 Minister of Culture Vyacheslav Kyrylenko stated the museum will change its name.[4] Two months later the museum officially changed its name.[2]

The Motherland Monument

Mother Motherland, Kiev

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Motherland Monument
Location KievUkraine
Coordinates 50.426521°N 30.563187°ECoordinates50.426521°N 30.563187°E
Built 9 May 1981
Architect Yevgeny VuchetichVasyl Borodai

The Motherland Monument (UkrainianБатьківщина-МатиRussianРодина-мать) is a monumental statue in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The sculpture is a part of the Museum of The History of Ukraine in World War II, Kiev.[1] The stainless steel statue stands 62 m (203 ft) tall upon the museum building with the overall structure measuring 102 m (335 ft) and weighing 560 tons. The sword in the statue’s right hand is 16 m (52 ft) long weighing 9 tons, with the left hand holding up a 13 by 8 m (43 by 26 ft) shield with the State Emblem of the Soviet Union. The Memorial hall of the Museum displays marble plaques with carved names of more than 11,600 soldiers and over 200 workers of the home-front honored during the war with the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Hero of Socialist Labor. On the hill beneath the museum, traditional flower shows are held. The sword of the statue was cut because the tip of the sword was higher than the cross of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.[2]

Background

Shield of the monument showing the state emblem of the Soviet Union

In the 1950s a plan circulated of building on the spot of the current statue twin monuments of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, nearly 200 m (660 ft) tall each.[3] However, this did not go ahead. Instead, according to legend, in the 1970s a shipload of Communist Party officials and Soviet sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich looked across at the hills by the Lavra and decided the panorama needed a war memorial. Vuchetich had designed the other two most famous giant Soviet war memorials, The Motherland Calls in Volgograd and the Soviet soldier carrying German infant constructed after the war in East Berlin. However, Vuchetich died in 1974, and the design of the memorial was afterwards substantially reworked and completed under the guidance of Vasyl Borodai.

Final plans for the statue were made in 1978, with construction beginning in 1979. It was controversial, many criticised the costs involved and claimed the funds could have been better spent elsewhere. When director of construction Ivan Petrovich was asked to confirm the costs of 9 million roubles, he responded that this was a conservative estimate. The statue was opened in 1981 in a ceremony attended by Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev.

In modern-day Kiev, the statue remains controversial, with some claiming it should be pulled down and its metal used for more functional purposes. Financial shortages mean that the flame, which uses up to 400 m3 (14,000 cu ft) of gas per hour, can only burn on the biggest national holidays, and rumours persist that the statue is built on unstable foundations, something strongly denied by the Kiev local government.[4][5]

In April 2015, the parliament of Ukraine outlawed Soviet and Communist symbols, street names and monuments, in a decommunization attempt.[6]But World War II monuments are excluded from these laws.[7]

In popular culture

A scene in the 2006 novel World War Z depicts a Ukrainian tank commander and his surviving men fleeing in their vehicles from an abandoned and burning Kiev under the watchful gaze of the Rodina-Mat.

The monument is prominently featured in the music video for the song “Get Out” by the band Frightened Rabbit.[8]

Lavra

Audio from the service

Audio Player

 

Video

Kiev Pechersk Lavra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kiev Pechersk Lavra (Києво-Печерська лавра)
National Historic-Cultural Sanctuary / Monastery
2005-08-15 Pechersk Lavra seen from river Dnepr Kiev 311.JPG
Riverside view of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra
Landmarks Great Lavra Belltower,Gate Church of the Trinity (Pechersk Lavra),Church of the Saviour at Berestove,Near Caves

Kyiv Pechersk Lavra[3][4] (UkrainianКиєво-Печерська лавра, Kyievo-Pechers’ka lavraRussianКиeво-Печерская лавра, Kievo-Pecherskaya lavra), also known as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery which gave its name to one of the city districts where it is located in Kiev.

Since its foundation as the cave monastery in 1051[5] the Lavra has been a preeminent center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Eastern Europe. Together with the Saint Sophia Cathedral, it is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[6][nb 1] The monastery complex is considered a separate national historic-cultural preserve (sanctuary), the national status to which was granted on 13 March 1996.[8] The Lavra is not only located in another part of the city, but is part of a different national sanctuary than Saint Sophia Cathedral. While being a cultural attraction, the monastery is currently active. It was named one of the Seven Wonders of Ukraine on 21 August 2007, based on voting by experts and the internet community.

Currently, the jurisdiction over the site is divided between the state museum, National Kiev-Pechersk Historic-Cultural Preserve,[9] and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) as the site of the chief monastery of that Church and the residence of its leader, Metropolitan Onuphrius.

Arsenalna

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Arsenalna (Kiev Metro)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arsenalna
KyivMetroLogo.png Kiev Metro station
Arsenalna metro station Kiev 2010 01.jpg

The Station Hall
Coordinates 50°26′40″N 30°32′44″ECoordinates50°26′40″N 30°32′44″E
Owned by Kiev Metro
Line(s) Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line
Platforms 1
Tracks 2
Construction
Structure type underground
Depth 105.5 m (346 ft)
Platform levels 1
Other information
Station code 121
History
Opened 6 November 1960
Electrified Yes
Services
Preceding station Kiev Metro Following station
Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line
toward Lisova

Arsenalna (UkrainianАрсенальна) is a station on Kiev Metro‘s Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line. The station was opened along with the first stage and is currently the deepest station in the world (105.5 metres).[1] This is attributed to Kiev’s geography where the high bank of the Dnieper River rises above the rest of the city. Also unique is the station’s design which lacks a central concourse thus similar in layout to stations on the London Underground.

Although Arsenalna (architects H.Hranatkin, S.Krushynsky, N.Shchukina) appears as a pylon trivault, the “Pylons” along with their portals are all purely cosmetic decoration. Pink marble walls with bronze grills (that feature metallic artwork on Soviet themes) is all that is present in the portal. Instead the station has a small lobby which is directely connected to the escalator tunnel. The ride on the escalators itself is one of the longest totaling up to five minutes.

Surface vestibule (2007)

The layout of the stations has reasons, as the cosmetic pylons were planned to be real. The main one comes from the tough soils of the location and the problems with hydroisolation which forced the builders to conserve the design. Similar problems happened on the first stage in Moscow however later the stations Lubyanka and Chistye Prudy were completed. In Kiev this never was to happen. Originally built as an interim on a long track before the line crossed the Dnieper and continued into the left bank residential districts, it was never to have a large passenger traffic to justify a complex and costly reconstruction. Nor was the station ever planned to be a transfer point (unlike the Moscow stations, which ultimately was the reason for them to be rebuilt). Thus with the Kiev Arsenal Factory, for which the station was named, being the only human source of passengers, this station is likely to remain as it is permanently.

Decoratively, apart from the spoken portals, the station is monochromatic in its appearance. The plastered vault ceilings, ceramic tiled walls and the marbled “pylons” all are of white colour. A large sculptural artwork depicting revolutionary events that took place in the Arsenal factory in 1918 graced the wall of the main lobby hall until it was removed in the early 1990s.

The station’s large surface vestibule is situated on the square leading onto Ivana Mazepy, Moskovska and Mykhailo Hrushevsky streets. Behind the station is a service bay that is used for nighttime stands and minor repairs to the railcar park.

Overnight train to Lviv

 

 

Podil & Walking Up The Descent!

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Podil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Podil (UkrainianПоділ) is a historic neighborhood in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods of Kiev, and the birthplace of the city’s trade, commerce and industry. It contains many architectural and historical landmarks, and new archaeological sites are still being revealed. It is a part of the city’s larger administrative Podilskyi District.

The Podil Synagogue

Inside The Synagogue

Great Choral Synagogue

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Great Choral Synagogue
Синагога на Подолі вул. Щекавицька, 29 в Киеве 2.jpg
Basic information
Location Schekovytska 29, Podil
UkraineKievUkraine
Affiliation Orthodox Judaism
Status Active
Leadership Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich
Architectural description
Architect(s) 1895 – Nikolay Gardenik
1915 – Valerian Rykov[1]
Architectural style Moorish Revival
Completed 1895

The Great Choral Synagogue of Kiev, also known as the Podil Synagogue or the Rozenberg Synagogue, is the oldest synagogue in KievUkraine. It is situated in Podil, a historic neighborhood of Kiev.

History

The Aesopian synagogue was built in 1895.[2] It was designed in Neo-Moorish style by Nikolay Gordenin. Gabriel Yakob Rozenberg, a merchant, financed the building.[2] In 1915 the building was reconstructed by Valerian Rykov. The reconstruction was financed by Vladimir Ginzburg, a nephew of Rozenberg.

In 1929, the synagogue was closed. During the German occupation of Kiev in World War II, the Nazis converted the building into a horse stable.[3]

Since 1945, the building has again been used as a synagogue. In 1992, Yaakov Bleich was appointed rabbi of the Jewish community of Kiev and chief rabbi of Ukraine.

Yaakov Bleich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2012

Yaakov Dov Bleich (born 19 October 1964) is an American-born rabbi and member of the Karlin-StolinHasidicdynasty. He has been widely recognized as Chief Rabbi of Kiev and all of Ukraine since 1990[1] and has served as vice-president of the World Jewish Congress since 2009.[2]

He graduated from Telshe Yeshiva High School in ChicagoIllinois where he began his rabbinical studies. From 1984-1986, he studied at the Karlin Stolin Rabbinical Institute in Jerusalem, and received his Rabbinical ordination (semicha) at Yeshiva Karlin Stolin in Brooklyn.

In 1990, Bleich was appointed by his Karlin-Stolin community as Chief Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine. Since his arrival in Ukraine, Bleich has been instrumental in founding the Kyiv Jewish City Community, the Union Of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine, the first Jewish day school in Ukraine, the first Jewish orphanage and boarding school in Ukraine, the Chesed Avot welfare society of Kyiv, the Magen Avot social services network of Ukraine, and a host of other organizations.

In 2005 he was one of three contenders for the role of chief rabbi, alongside Chabad Lubavitch appointees Azriel Chaikin (appointed 2002) and Moshe Reuven Azman (appointed 2005).[3] There is also a Progressive (Liberal/Reform) Chief Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine, Alexander Dukhovny. But Rabbi Yaakov Bleich has always been recognized by the government as chief rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine.

In 2008, Kievan weekly magazine Focus named Bleich among the most “powerful foreigners” in the country.[4]

Personal

Rabbi Bleich grew up in Borough Park, Brooklyn. In 1987, he married Bashy Wigder of Monsey, New York.History of the Jews in Kiev

History of the Jews in Kiev

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The history of the Jews in Kiev stretches from the 10th century CE to the 21st century, and forms part of the history of the Jews in Ukraine.

Middle Ages and Renaissance

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Entering Kievby Mykola Ivasiuk.

The first mention of Jews in Kiev is found in the 10th century Kievian Letter, written by local Jews in ancient Hebrew. It is the oldest written document to mention the name of the city. Jewish travelers such as Benjamin of Tudela and Pethahiah of Regensburg mentioned the city as one with a large Jewish community. During the Mongol occupation the community was devastated, together with the rest of the city, but the community revived with the acquisition of the city by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During Polish–Lithuanian rule, Jews were allowed to settle in the city, but they were subject to several deportations in 1495 and again in 1619.[1]

During the Khmelnytsky Uprising in 1648 most of the Jews in the city were murdered by Zaporozhian Cossacks, along with most of the Jews in Ukraine. After the Russian occupation in 1654, Jews were not allowed to settle in the city. This ban was lifted only in 1793 after the Third Partition of Poland.

Modern history

Percentage of ethnic Jews in Kiev’s districts according to the 1919 municipal population census

Brodsky Synagogue around 1970; then used as a puppet theatre and currently used as a synagogue[2][3]

In the 19th century the Jewish community flourished and became one of the biggest communities in Ukraine. In that period many synagogues were built including the city’s main synagogue, the Brodsky Synagogue. Jewish schools and workshops were built all around the city.

The community suffered from a number of pogroms in 1882, and again in 1905, when hundreds of Jews were murdered and wounded. The Beilis trial, in which a local Jew, Beilis, was accused of the ritual murder of a child, took place in the city in 1903. Beilis was found innocent.

During the Russian revolution and the Ukrainian War of Independence the city switched hands several times with new pogroms against the Jews. After the establishment of the Ukrainian SSR the Jewish population grew rapidly and reached approximately 224,000 people in 1939.[1]

At the beginning of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union most Jews escaped from the city. The remaining 33,771 Jews were concentrated in Babi Yar, and were executed by shooting on September 29-30th 1941, in an act that became one of the most notorious episodes of the Holocaust. Another 15.000 Jews were murdered in the same place during 1941-1942.

After the war the surviving Jews returned to the city. On September 4–7, 1945 a pogrom took place and [4] around one hundred Jews were beaten, of whom thirty-six were hospitalized and five died of wounds.[5] In 1946 there was only one operating synagogue in Kiev. The last rabbi to officiate in Kiev was Rabbi Panets, who retired in 1960 and died in 1968; a new rabbi was not appointed.[1] After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, most of the Jewish population emigrated from Kiev. After Ukrainian independence there was a revival of Jewish community life, with the establishment of two Jewish schools and a memorial in Babi Yar, where an official ceremony is held every year.[6]

Today there are approximately 20,000 Jews in Kiev, with two major religious communities: Chabad (rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman); and Karlin(rabbi Yaakov Bleich). Тwo major synagogues, the Brodsky Choral Synagogue and the Great Choral Synagogue, servе these communities.[7]

Antisemitism

Ukrainian Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman called on Kiev’s Jews to leave the city and the country if possible, fearing that the city’s Jews will be victimized in the chaos during Ukrainian revolution of 2014: “I told my congregation to leave the city center or the city all together and if possible the country too… I don’t want to tempt fate… but there are constant warnings concerning intentions to attack Jewish institutions”.[8]Moreover, the CFCA (the Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism) reported more than three antisemitic incidents occurred in Kiev since the 2014 Crimean crisis.[9] Both the pro-Russian Ukrainians and the Ukraine-government supporters blame each other in the exacting situation of the Jews of Kiev. Leaders of Ukraine’s own Jewish community have alleged that recent anti-Semitic provocations in the Crimea, including graffiti on a synagogue in Crimea’s capital that read “Death to the Zhids,” are the handiwork of pro-Russian Ukrainians. Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, who presides over Ukraine’s Jewish Federation, signed a letter asking Russia to end its aggression, and compared the current climate in Crimea to that of pre-Anschluss Austria.[10] The memorial Menorah in Babi Yar was desecrated twice with sprayed swastika, during Rosh Hashana and a couple of months later. [11] [12] During June 2015 there was an explosion in a Jewish-owned shop in Kiev. An extreme right-wing organization claimed responsibility for the incident.[13] Later that month, the memorial Menorah in Babi Yar was desecrated again.[14]

 Walking around Podil

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Up Andriivs’kyi Descent past St Andrew’s Church to Saint Sophia’s Cathedral

St Michael’s Monastery to Maidan Square

Activities along Khreschatyk Street

Videos

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