It brought together 24 students from across Ukraine and took place in Kryzhopil and Zhabokrych (Podolia).
For most participants, this was their very first encounter with Jewish cultural heritage, and especially with Jewish cemeteries.
Throughout the camp, participants attended lectures and workshops on the region’s multicultural heritage, its Jewish past, and its surviving Jewish heritage. They learned how to read Hebrew inscriptions on matzevot, interpret epitaphs and dates on Jewish gravestones, and explored a unique collection of Yiddish folk songs recorded in this region in the last century and translated into Ukrainian especially for the camp. They then put these newly acquired skills into practice at the Jewish cemetery in Zhabokrych, which ESJF fenced last year. At the cemetery, participants had the opportunity to meet local resident Valentyna Bondar, whose family has cared for the cemetery for many years.
The programme also included guided tours of Jewish Zhabokrych, Kryzhopil, and Vinnytsia, and a visit to the Museum of the History of the Jews of Bratslav. In total, participants visited three Jewish cemeteries, including those in Bratslav and Kryzhopil.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our lecturers Yuliia Smilianska, Olena Kolb, Anna Shternshis, and Alexandra Fishel.
We are truly inspired by our participants, their curiosity, enthusiasm, initiative, and commitment throughout the camp. Their engagement gives us great hope for the future of Jewish heritage preservation in Ukraine. Following the success of this pilot camp, ESJF plans to further develop and expand this format.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Kryzhopil Settlement Council, especially Valentyna Chaikovska; the staff of the Kryzhopil Centre for Culture and Leisure, particularly Alla Maliutiak; the staff of the Kryzhopil Public Library; Olena Prysyazhniuk from Zhabokrych, and our guides Yevhen Horodovyi, Taisiia Chepil, Faina Baiek, and Tetiana Rybak for their invaluable support.
The camp was organised by ESJF European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative in cooperation with the Kryzhopil Centre for Culture and Leisure, the Kryzhopil Public Library, and the International Interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Jewish Studies.
The event was made possible with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office.