REPORT ON
JEWISH COMMUNITY LIFE
IN UKRAINE
(Dnipropetrovsk,
Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Kyiv)
A Visit in Late March
and April 2014
The writer visited Jewish communities in
Ukraine during a period of two and one-half weeks in late March and April, 2014.
She entered the country in Dnipropetrovsk on March 26, made a two-day visit to
Kharkiv and a daylong visit to Krivoi Rog (Krvyvi Rig) during a ten-day stay in
Dnipropetrovsk, and concluded her journey in Kyiv on April 11.
Ukraine is a country somewhat smaller in size
than the American state of Texas. It shares borders with seven other
countries: Russia to its east and north; Belarus to its north; Poland,
Slovakia, and Hungary to its west; and Romania and Moldova to its southwest.
Until February 26, 2014, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov alone formed its
southern border; in late February, Russian troops entered and occupied the
former Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea, thus adding Russia to the list
of Ukraine's southern neighbors.

Ukraine
is divided into 24 provinces or oblasts. The capital city of Kyiv has a
special status, as did the Crimean seaport of Sevastopol, the home of the Black
Sea naval fleet of Russia.
Map: Globe Turner, LLC. Retrieved June 4,
2014.
Ukraine in spring 2014 was a country in
shock, its government having been toppled by a spontaneous, leaderless, organic
uprising. The insurrection began on the night of November 21, 2013, when up to
2,000 protestors gathered on the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Ukr., Майдан
Незалежності; Independence Square)
in response to a government decision to suspend preparation for concluding an
association agreement with the European Union. The agreement would have
provided Ukraine with financial support for reforms in almost all aspects of
Ukrainian society and the subsequent loosening of political and economic ties
with neighboring Russia.
Spurred
by widespread use of social media, Maidan crowds swelled in the coming weeks
and months. The protesters expanded their agenda and railed against the
corruption that permeated Ukrainian life, the conspicuous greed of government
officials and oligarchs, and general economic mismanagement. They called for judicial
reform, modernization of the education system, better medical care, and greater
attention to ecology. Above all, they demanded a better future for their
children. Notwithstanding the great number of demonstrators, reaching 400,000
to 800,000 on weekends, the crowds remained orderly, the atmosphere was
peaceful and safe. Although the Maidan and Kreschatyk were lined with shops,
including expensive boutiques, no looting occurred.
Maidan
protesters are seen in this photo of early December 2013. The blue and yellow
Ukrainian flag predominates; many participants also carried the European Union
flag (blue with stars) and banners of political parties.
Photo: The Globe and Mail [Toronto], December
5, 2013.
Retrieved June 6, 2014.
Assisted by taxi drivers and subway workers,
demonstrators erected barricades and built encampments to accommodate a
continuing protest, hoping that their persistence over time would force the
government to resign. Financial support was sought and gained through
collection boxes and other means of local fundraising. Makeshift kitchens and
medical stations were built, all staffed by volunteers. Representatives of
international organizations attempted to act as intermediaries between protestors
and the Ukrainian government.
Government security forces initiated action
in mid-December to clear the square of demonstrators, barricades, and
encampments. Although injuries occurred, many protestors held their ground
and, in fact, some seemed re-energized by the police action. The government
took no measures to address the agenda of those in Maidan. Several small
rightwing groups among the demonstrators generated concern and spawned substantial
anti-Ukraine propaganda; local observers claimed that these groups were
marginal and without influence.
The first deaths occurred on January 22 when
three Maidan activists were killed on a nearby street in clashes with local police;
a fourth Maidan protestor, who had been kidnapped by unidentified forces one day
earlier, was found dead on January 22 on the outskirts of the city. Five
additional Maidan activists would be killed in the next several weeks. The
deaths generated protests in different cities throughout Ukraine, only to be
followed by five additional Maidan-related fatalities between January 25 and
February 13.
The
Maidan crisis peaked February 19-20 when well-armed snipers atop nearby
buildings shot at demonstrators, killing approximately 100 individuals and
seriously wounding many others (some of whom would die later).
On February 21, President Viktor Yanu-khovych left Kyiv, appearing in Kharkiv
on February 22 before fleeing to Russia. The Ukrainian parlia-ment declared
him unable to govern, and a temporary functional new government was installed
on February 28 until elections could be held in May.
Viktor
Yanukohvych as President of Ukraine.
Photo: NBC News. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
A few days earlier, on February 23,
pro-Russian protesters initiated rallies on the Crimean peninsula,
an autonomous oblast of Ukraine with a majority Russian population and home to
the Russian Black Sea fleet at a Russian naval base in Sevastopol. On February
28, the same day that the new Ukrainian government was installed in Kyiv,
Russian troops began to deploy at strategic locations in Crimea. On March 1,
the Ukrainian government stated that up to 16,000 Russian military were
positioned on the peninsula; Russia declared that its troops had entered the
territory at the request of Viktor Yanukhovych, already in Russia. Crimea's
parliament proclaimed on March 6 that the region wished to leave Ukrainian
jurisdiction and join Russia; after a controversial referendum on March 16, it
was stated that 97 percent of voters supported a proposal to unite with its
larger neighbor. Ukrainian troops subsequently withdrew from the territory.
Beginning
on March 1, Russian separatist demonstrations and subsequent occupations of
Ukrainian state buildings occurred in several large eastern Ukraine cities,
including Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv. Although some local residents were
among the participants, the instigators were believed to be Russians who had
crossed the porous border between the two countries. Notwithstanding the
reality that many local people are of Russian ethnicity and prefer the Russian
language, many also are bilingual and reliable Western-administered polls show
a strong majority of the population in eastern Ukraine favor continued union
with Ukraine and reject accession to Russia.
Pro-Russian
activists prepare to clash with Ukrainian police at a Donetsk regional
administra-tion building on April 6. Red/ blue flags are Russian, striped orange/black
flags represent the Russian Order of St. George.
Photo: news.kievukraine.info,
n.d.
Retrieved June 9,
2014.
In
contrast, another major city in eastern Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk was awash in
Ukraine blue and yellow flags and patriotic billboards, nearly all of which had
been paid for by local residents. Arriving in the city on March 26, the writer
saw no Russian flags or banners. Pro-Russian demonstrations had been few and
non-violent.
The
billboard at left was typical of many in Dnipropetrovsk. Set against the blue
and yellow flag of Ukraine, the sign reads in Russian (top) and Ukrainian, A Single Country, A United Ukraine. Smaller
wording under the main slogan says (in Russian) that the sign was placed on the
private initiative of Dnipropetrovsk residents.
Photo: the writer.
Unlike Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts,
Dnipropetrovsk oblast shares no borders with Russia. Infiltration of Russian
agitators was, therefore, more difficult. Further, although some of the same
'rust-belt' industries that dominate its eastern and southern neighbors also
can be found in Dnipropetrovsk, the economy of Dnipropetrovsk generally is better
balanced, reflecting more enlightened oblast governance and economic policy
that encourages private initiative and independent business develop-ment. Nonetheless,
economic growth in Ukraine had stalled during the past several years, seriously
affecting local individuals and institutions.
Throughout her trip, the writer heard accounts
of economic distress afflicting both individuals and institutions. Economic
conditions, already dire in 2013, had deteriorated even further in the past
year. Factories and service industries had closed, no new investment had
occurred. The Ukrainian currency (hryvnia) had declined substantially
in value and, accordingly, imports (including medicine) had become more
costly. Responding to increasing Ukrainian independence, Russia raised the
cost of natural gas exports essential to Ukraine. Inflation was 30 to 50
percent, depending on specific sectors of the economy. Unemployment was
growing.
Additionally, Ukrainians worried about rising
crime; although some in eastern Ukraine believed that local police were more
concerned about infiltrators from Russia than neighborhood criminals,
individuals in Kyiv attributed swelling crime to police fleeing their posts in
response to citizen hostility. Police under Yanukhovych were widely perceived
as corrupt, brutal, and too tightly aligned with the then-departed President.
Amidst this mounting hardship, Ukrainian Jews
with whom the writer spoke expressed solidarity with the new direction that
Ukraine had taken. They supported the Ukrainian turn toward Europe. They
spoke approvingly and gratefully of the financial and other assistance offered
by wealthy Ukrainian Jews to Ukraine as a country and nation.
Some found their new adversities overwhelming and feared for their own future -
and/or the future of their children - and spoke of emigrating.
At the same time, most said that their own identities had changed as a
consequence of Russian action; they now saw themselves not just as Jews, but as
Ukrainian Jews.
Responsible estimates of the size of the
Jewish population
in Ukraine range from 100,000 to 350,000, with the largest single number -
20,000 to 65,000 - residing in the capital city of Kyiv. Dnipropetrovsk is
believed to have the next largest concentration of Jews, probably between 25,000
and 40,000, followed by Kharkiv with a slightly smaller number of Jewish
residents. Odesa may be home to approximately 20,000 Jews. About 50 percent
of the Ukrainian Jewish population is believed to be elderly. The total Jewish
population has declined significantly in recent years, mirroring and exceeding
a decrease in the Ukrainian population in general.
The writer interviewed 76 individuals during
her travels in Ukraine, including five diplomats attached to foreign representations.
The diplomats are not identified by name or position in this report. The
writer also communicated with three additional individuals by telephone and/or
e-mail with reference to this report.
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