Nadene Goldfoot
Of all the eastern European countries that is so ironic, is that Ukraine treated the Jews the worst in World War II and even before that. Jews suffered from horrible pogroms, and it seemed like many Ukrainians helped the Germans round up Jews for the slaughter.
Ukraine has had the reputation as being a newer country for the Jews, less religious as countries like Lithuania which was home of some outstanding rabbis.
Jews in Ukraine suffered from severe massacres during the Chmielnicki and Hsaidamak uprisings in the 17th and 18th centuries.
In the 19th century the main influxes were from Galicia and White Russia. Ukraine was always an anti-Semitic center. In January 1918, a regime of national autonomy was established in the Ukraine. Jewish economy and their culture suffered under Soviet rule. About half of Soviet Russia's 3 million Jews lived there before World War II, but under Nazi rule, the Jewish inhabitants who had not fled to Russia were wiped out by the Germans and Ukrainians in 1941 and 1942.
The Last Jew in Vinnitsa, the 1942 photoraph showing a Jewish man near the town of Vinnytsia about to be shot dead by a member of Einsatzgruppe D. Also present are members of the German Army and the German Labor Service.
"Total civilian losses during the war and German occupation in Ukraine are estimated at four million, including up to a million Jews who were murdered by Einsatzgruppen units, Order Police battalions, Wehrmacht troops and local Nazi collaborators. Einsatzgruppe C (Otto Rasch) was assigned to north and central Ukraine, and Einsatzgruppe D (Otto Ohlendorf) to Moldavia, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus."
It's amazing that there were Jews who remained or returned to Ukraine after the war. There are reasons for that; age, business, family ties. So it's ironic that we find Ukraine with a Jewish president, Zelensky.
So here they are, Ukraine being attacked by Russia and having an extremely brave President Zelensky at the top position, leading the people. This is ironic. Why?
Zelensky was born to Jewish parents in the industrial metropolis of Kryvyy Rih in southern Ukraine.
When he was a small child, his family relocated to Erdenet, Mongolia, for four years before returning to Kryvy Rih, where Zelensky entered school. It's Siberia that has been known as the place where people are sent by Russia as a punishment. Mongolia is nearby. In fact, in DNA studies, some male Jews with the Q haplogroup are found to have originated some 20,000 years ago from Mongolia, Siberia and parts of Turkey. Like many people from Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, he grew up as a native Russian speaker, but he also acquired fluency in both Ukrainian and English. In 1995 he entered Kryvyy Rih Economic Institute, the local campus of Kyiv National Economic University, and in 2000 he graduated with a law degree. His wife is not Jewish but is of course, Ukrainian.
The Ukrainians have turned it around in their attitude towards Jews and have even elected a Jew as president who had no background of being a politician or ever having held a government office. He was a lawyer and a comedian, very common known Jewish occupations. He was known as a TV personality who could portray governmental follies in a humorous way that made people laugh. From 1945 to 2021, 76 years and people have changed their position. That's 3 generations and we have a changed, very democratic society who are giving their lives to keep their country democratic not be under the thumb of the Russians and communism. Now most of it lies in rubble.
There is hope in the world if a country like Ukraine has changed. I'm so sorry that attention to this is caused by their destruction from Russia. We can't lose our humanity to the enemies of peaceful living which includes deciding for themselves what politics they can live under. Russia is ruthless, hateful, bloodthirsty, slaughtering Ukrainians left and right for no reason. The world stands in shock and disgust of what has been happening.
Israel has to be very careful about helping Ukraine. Russia is in control of Syria, their neighbor. Russia has allowed Israel to go after terrorists attacking Israel from Syria. If Israel is out and out against Russia now, Russia will turn on Israel along with the terrorists. It's been a conundrum. India is in a similar position but with other reasons. So Israel had been doing other things for Ukraine like sending doctors, setting up medical aid units and such.
From my cousin Denise in South Africa, something to share for Passover, which we're about to embark on this Friday evening:
Who Knows One? one of our songs at this time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZHQqIkPlk8
Resource:
The new Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Ukraine
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Volodymyr-Zelensky#ref343799
No comments:
Post a Comment