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History of the Zionist ideas in pre-revolutionary
Russia and USSR (led by L. Kilimnik)
A special resea5ch on this topic was carried out by L.Kilimnik.
A set of posters "History of Zionism in Eastern Europe" was
prepared: History of Political Zionism, Jewish Communities of the world
at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century, Forerunners of
Political Zionism, Russian Jewish Community of the End of the 19th Century,
First Aliyah of 1882-1903, Early Russian Zionists, Theodore Herzl and
Creation of the World Zionist Organization, etc. The set of posters is
designed for Jewish schools, Midrasha Tsionit, and other Jewish institutions
as a manual on the course of Jewish history.
History of the Soviet Jewry (led by M. Mitsel, V. Grinevich)
This is one of the main focuses of the Institute. In 2003, preparations
were completed for the book of M. Mitsel “Jews of Ukraine in
1943-1953. Essays of Documented History”. In the beginning of 2004, this
book was published (“Library of the Jewish Studies Institute”, Duh i Litera
publishers, 2004).
Many other researchers of the Institute deal with this subject as well.
First of all, they were collected in materials for the Encyclopedia “Jews
of Ukraine”, articles of G. Aronov, M. Mitsel, Z. Kovba, V. Grinevich,
Y. Honigsman, A. Podolsky, V. Gusev, O. Bernstein, V. Melamed, and others.
Activities of “Joint” in Ukraine in the 1920-s – 30-s (led by
M. Mitsel)
The Institute posses unique archival documents and photographs on the
activities of “Joint” in Ukraine during that period of time. Most of these
documents were received from the archives of “Joint” in New York; there
are also documents from regional archives, materials of the Jewish Studies
Institute on oral history and documents from family archives. The Institute
is planning special research into this topic in 2004-2005 (led by M. Mitsel).
A special exhibition may be organized to show the assistance “Joint” provided
to the famine victims in the 1920-s. “Joint” is known for providing help
to both Jews and Gentiles during that time, saving dozens and hundreds
of thousands of people.
History of the Holocaust in Ukraine (led by Y. Smelyanska, V. Pokidailo)
à) Database on the history of the Holocaust in Ukraine.
Work continued on collecting materials and creating a database. The database
includes information on the following sections: documents on the Holocaust
in the territory of Ukraine according to Ukrainian archives (248 items),
documents on the Holocaust in Ukraine according to German archives (425
items), sites of shootings and mass burial of the Jewish population during
the German occupation of Ukraine (867 items), a database of anti-Semitic
articles in the periodicals of 1941-1943 in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian
archives (4087 items), sites of ghettos and concentration camps during
the German occupation (1043 items), documents on the Holocaust in Ukraine
according to the Memorial Holocaust Museum in the United States (290 items),
bibliographies of fiction and documentary books on the Holocaust in Ukraine
(188 items), organizations that study the Holocaust (22 items), oral memoirs
(191 items), etc. Work is being carried out jointly with the Ukrainian
Center for the Study of the Holocaust (led by A. Podolsky).
b)
Fates of the Jewish heritage of Galicia during the Holocaust
The objective of this project is search of information about artists,
sculptors, and graphic artists who worked on the Jewish topic prior to
the Second World War. Many of these artists died in the Holocaust. The
research that has been carried out for over 15 years by director of this
project, Galina Glembotska, has become the foundation for preparation
of expert description of the works of 40 out of 400 authors; biographical
materials on the others have also been collected. The Institute is planning
to put out an album «Artists of Galicia and Holocaust».
History of Jewish Self-Defense in Odessa, Yekaterinoslav and other
cities (led by Y. Tinchenko)
The subject of Jewish self-defense of the beginning of the 20th century
has not been studied much. Yaroslav Tinchenko is exploring this topic.
On the basis of the study of the documents in GPU-NKVD archives (Kiev,
Odessa, Yekaterinoslav), the author has prepared a number of essays on
Jewish self-defense in the regions of Ukraine. The first report on this
topic was delivered by the author at the Annual Conference of the Jewish
Studies Institute. The author continues his work and we hope he will write
a special monograph devoted to this subject.
History of Jewish Arts in Ukraine (led by B. Kozachenko)
à) History of the «Culture League», a famous cultural and
political association of Jewish artists of the 1920-s – 30-s. In 2003,
as a result of research, the following has been done:
- A list of artists that worked in the Culture League has been made;
- A list of publications illustrated by the artists of the Culture League
and published by the Culture League has been made;
- Collections of Culture League artists have been described that are kept
at Ukrainian museums, especially at the National Museum: collections of
Mark Epstein, Abram Manevich and others;
- Work continues on creating a catalogue album of the exhibition of the
arts of Jewish artists in Ukrainian collections;
b)
Works of Zinoviy Tolkachev (led by N. Drobyazko, Y. Shkolyarenko)
In 2003, a lot of work was done in description of the archive of artist
Zinoviy Tolkachev. A significant part of his works is kept at the family
archive of Tolkachev’s children. More than 3000 of his works have been
described (mostly graphics). The description covers his works in the National
Arts Museum of Ukraine, the Museum of History of Kiev, and the Literature
Museum. Books have been collected of reviews of the artist’s exhibitions
during the war «Flowers of Auschwitz» and «Maidanek», his personal documents
and correspondence (including correspondence with his wife during the
war – letters written in Yiddish and folded in small «triangles»), etc.
The Institute has already collected the largest collection of Zinoviy
Tolkachev’s documents and passed the lists of his works to the Yad Vashem
Museum per its request. The Institute is preparing for publication G.
Sklyarenko’s monograph «Zinoviy Tolkachev».
c)
Databank “Artists of Jewish Topic in Ukraine” (Y. Shkolyarenko, B. Kozachenko)
In 2003, work continued on creation of a databank of Jewish artists in
Ukraine. The databank consists of around 700 names. Apart from the already
named artists of Galicia, the databank also includes the names of the
artists whose works can be found in various museums of Ukraine and of
modern artists who are developing the Jewish topic.
d)
Works of Jewish Art in Museums of Ukraine (I, Klimova, B. Kozachenko)
Work continues on the description of the objects of Jewish arts and works
of Jewish artists in the museums of Ukraine. A significant part of the
collection of the National Arts Museum has been described, as well as
collections of the Museums and Western and Eastern Arts (Kiev), arts museums
of Nikolayev and Zhitomir, Vinnitsa and Simferopol, and the Ethnography
Museum in Lvov.
These museums have the works of Mark Antokolsky, Nathan Altman, Zinoviy
Tolkachev, Mark Epstein, Lazar Lisitsky (El Lisitsky), and Abram Manevich,
Rafail Falk, Alexander Tyshler, David and Abram Sternberg, and others.
Photographs have been made of the most significant works. A minimum catalogue
has been made for each museum.
History of the Jewish Cinematograph in Ukraine (Y. Morozov)
à) The album book of Yury Morozov and Tatiana Derevyanko “Jewish Cinematographers
in Ukraine in the first half of the 20th century” has been prepared for
publication. The book consists of two parts: the first part contains materials
on the pre-revolutionary Jewish cinematograph, while the second part contains
texts and illustrations on the post-revolutionary cinematograph. The book
is based upon the materials of the exhibition «Jewish Cinematographers
in Ukraine. 1910-45», which was demonstrated in Kiev on the fiftieth anniversary
of the Babiy Yar tragedy. The book will be published with the original
decorations of Pavel Fishel. Every page of the book is decorated with
quotations from newspapers, cinematographic magazines, and posters of
those times. The book presents photographs of actors and directors that
have practically never been published before.
b) Work continued on the film collection of the Jewish Studies Institute
«Jewish Topic in the World’s Cinematograph», which numbers more than 150
films today (led by V. Pokidailo).
History of Jewish Theaters in Ukraine (N. Drobyazko)
The object of the project is collection of information on the history
of the Jewish theater and plays on the Jewish topic in Russian and Ukrainian
theaters of Ukraine (20th and 21st centuries). In 2003, work continued
on this topic.
à) Description has been practically finished of the collection on the
history of Jewish theaters of the Museum of History of Theater of Ukraine
(around 40 Jewish theaters). Researchers continued to gather theatrical
posters, photographs and documents on the history of Jewish theaters that
worked in Ukraine in the 20th century;
b) Work was completed on preparation for the publication of Moses Losev’s
book. Losev is the last director of the Jewish GOSSET theater in Ukraine
who worked in Kharkov, Kiev, and Chernovtsy from 1925 through 1950. The
book will be published shortly;
c) Information has been gathered on 13 Jewish theatrical groups that are
currently working in Ukraine, as well as of 11 Ukrainian and Russian theaters
whose repertoire contains plays on Jewish topics.
History of Jewish Yiddish Lieteratue (led by
L. Drobyazko)
à) The Jewish Studies Institute has prepared for publication Chaim Beider’s
book «Sketches of Jewish Writers», which was partly printed in the «Forwards»
paper. The book includes more than 300 portraits of Jewish writers who
lived and worked in the 20th century (most of them were Soviet authors
who wrote in Yiddish);
b) Work continues on composing a reference dictionary “Jewish (Yiddish)
Writers of Ukraine of 1917 – 2002», (electronic version prepared by L.
Drobyazko). The dictionary contains biographic and bibliographic information
on these authors (more than a hundred names). Work continues on collection,
processing and systematization of the archives of the Yiddish authors
who have lived in Ukraine (more than 15 archives have been collected);
c) Work continues on translating Yiddish poetry of the 20th century into
Ukrainian and Russian (P. Markish, C.-N. Byalik). The author of translations
is V. Boguslavskaya. In 2001, P. Markish’s book “Selected Works” was published.
“Yehupets” almanac ¹ 12 (Kiev, 2003) published Chaim Hachman Byalik’s
poems in Ukrainian translation.
Encyclopedia «Jews of Ukraine»
Work continues on the “Jews of Ukraine” Encyclopedia. Preparation of texts
has been practically completed. All the articles have bee divided into
six sections: ancient times and middle ages; Jews in the Ukrainian lands
(end of XVIII – beginning of ÕÕ); First World War, revolution, and Civil
War (1914 – beginning of the 1920-s); Jews in the USSR, Poland, and Roman
between the two wars; Jews in Ukraine during the Second World War; the
afterwar years (1945-1991), the period of official anti-Semitism. The
total number of articles is 220.
Each section has been delivered for expert review. Work on the layout
and collection of illustrations is coming to an end. The Encyclopedia
is due to be published in the Ukrainian language in 2004.
Guidebook «Jewish Addresses of Ukraine» (led by M. Kalnitsky)
Work on the guide was terminated for a number of reasons. The guide contains
of seven sections: Kiev region, Podolye, Volyn, Novorossia, Crimea, Galicia,
and Bukovina. Special sections are devoted to big cities with the Jewish
heritage: Kharkov, Poltava, and Chernigov. The structure of each section
is the following: a review article on the region; general history of each
locality; a tour route about every populated locality.
Work has been finished on preparation of the whole body of articles. Articles
on the main sections have been edited – on Poltava, Zaporozhye, Kiev,
Kiev region, Zhitomir, Lutsk, Uman, Podolye, Odessa, Chernovtsy, Bukovina,
Kharkov, Vinnitsa, Lvov, Cherkassy, Belaya Tserkov, Boguslav, Shargorod,
Khmelnitsky, Gusyatin, Satanov, and Medzhibozh.
Work on this project is due to continue in 2004.
Seminar «Jewish Funds and Materials in Archives of Ukraine»
In March 2003, the Jewish Studies Institute, the Vaad of Ukraine, and
Sohnut organized a seminar for the workers of the archives of Ukraine.
Workers of state archives of different cities of Ukraine and researchers
of the Holocaust in Ukraine were invited to the seminar.
The seminar included roundtable discussions. The participants in the seminar
discussed projects and outlined possibilities of joint activities, assistance
in search for the necessary documents, and exchange of information.
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