Exploring Jewish History and the Holocaust in Ukraine through Research and Documentary Filmmaking by Dr. Yurii Kaparulin
Thursday, February 1, 5:30pm-7:00 pm JMC Library, 332 Case Hall (3rd floor)
The lecture will provide an overview of the Soviet government’s policy toward the Jewish population in Soviet Ukraine. In particular, attention is drawn to the process of resettling Jews to rural areas and attempts to involve them in collective farms. One of the central themes is the fate of the Jewish population after the German invasion of the USSR in the summer of 1941.
The lecture will be followed by a screening of the Documentary Kalinindorf and a discussion with directors: Yurii Kaparulin, Les Kasyanov. Duration: 29 min. Year: 2020.
In the middle of the steppes of Kherson region lies a railway station called Kalinindorf. In 1927 the “all-Union elder” Mikhail Kalinin came here to establish the Jewish national district. To honor this event the inhabitants of Velyka Seidemynukha renamed their village to Kalinindorf. In 1924 the Soviet government launched a campaign for resettlement of the Jews to the steppes of Southern Ukraine. Restoration of Yiddish language and the new proletarian philosophy were in the limelight of the Ukrainian Jewish kolkhozes which got ideological names. In Southern Ukraine five Jewish national districts were created where more than 100,000 Jews were employed. On August 27, 1941, Kalinindorf was occupied by the German army and the Nazis began executing Jews. After the WWII the Kremlin made sure that in reports about the crimes of the Nazis any record of Jews were deleted. Only ruins of the ancient synagogue remind us of Jewish collective farms. As well as the director of the local museum, who keeps preserving the history of these lands.
Yurii Kaparulin is a historian, PhD, professor at the State University of Kherson, head of the Raphael Lemkin Center for Genocide Studies. He has been researching the history of Jewish agricultural settlements in southern Ukraine for the past five years. For the film Yurii acted as producer and researcher.
Les Kasyanov is a photographer and filmmaker who has been working with the French historical organization Yahad-In Unum since 2011 collecting evidences about the Holocaust. Les was responsible for principal photography, sound and editing.
10 мар 2024
