Copenhagen Conference on Ukrainian Jewry
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Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 22:09:00 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Copenhagen Conference on Ukrainian Jewry
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Tom Trier <[email protected]>
Copenhagen Conference on Ukrainian Jewry
Copenhagen Conference on Ukrainian Jewry - 21 February 1999
On 21 February 1999 the Association of Younger Jews in Denmark, in
co-operation with the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) in
Flensburg, Germany, will hold an international conference, Spiritual
Heritage And Cultural Renewal - Ukrainian Jewry at a Crossroads, on
contemporary identity and cultural/religious pluralism in Ukraine. The
languages of the conference are Russian and Danish. The conference is
an integrated element of a Study Tour for representatives of Jewish
minority organisations and government representatives from Ukraine
(see the attached programme for the Study Tour and the conference).
Twenty-five prominent representatives of Jewish communities and state
officials will be present in Copenhagen on this occasion and will
attend the conference. The Study Tour, including international
transportation and accommodation, is generously financed by the
Democracy Foundation (The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Further
information on the events can be found at the Internet at:
http://users.cybercity.dk/~dko1994/Ukrainekonference.htm
The main purposes of the conference are to encourage continued
inter-ethnic dialogue, the improvement of Jewish minority rights in
Ukraine, the development of European Jewish culture, and to raise the
international awareness of the problems of contemporary Ukrainian
Jewry. The conference will lead to the adoption of a set of
recommendations on combating anti-Semitism and on the promotion of the
spiritual heritage of East Central European Jewry in Ukraine. An
additional focus of the conference is to encourage continued
inter-confessional dialogue between Jewish communities and Christian
communities. This will be enhanced through the participation of a
prominent representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The
conference also aims at developing relations between the Jewish
communities of Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden and other countries in the
European Union whose representatives will also be invited.
Following the conference, the organisers will publish the major
presentations of the conference which will provide an overview of
current trends of Ukrainian Jewry. This status report aims to develop
the public and scholarly insight into the current status and future
prospects of East Central European Jewish cultural life, of which
little yet has been published in Europe.
Background
With the enlargement of the European Community, the Republic of
Ukraine will soon become an important new neighbouring state to the
European Union. The concept of the conference is that stability in
Europe is dependant on the development of pluralistic systems of
cultural values. The further integration of Europe is connected with
the resolution of problems in minority-state relations and the
respectful treatment of minorities, including the large Jewish
segments of Ukraine.
It is in Ukraine that the most numerous Jewish population in East
Central Europe remain in their traditional territory of settlement.
During World War II, the flowering Jewish culture of East Central
Europe was almost completely destroyed. Today, the Jewish population
of Ukraine, constituting some 450,000 people, is the largest
non-Slavic national and religious minority in Ukraine and the fourth
largest Jewish population in the world. During the last decade several
Jewish cultural and religious organisations have been formed, striving
to develop and preserve the unique character of East Central European
Jewry. The Ukrainian Jews today are challenged by contrasting
tendencies, such as assimilation, emigration, anti-Semitism and the
struggle to preserve and develop a Jewish presence in the country.
Nevertheless, the Ukrainian Jews constitute one of the last
significant concentrations of Jewish population in East Central Europe
on the edge of the European Union.
Based on these realities, the conference will be organised in the
spirit of Council of Europe Recommendation 1291 (1996) on Yiddish
Culture which, inter alia, emphasises the importance of the
development of Yiddish culture in Europe. The conference acknowledges
the important historical role of Yiddish culture and language,
although the intention of the conference is to illuminate the current
identity discourses among Jewish societies in Ukraine by placing it in
a broader cultural and geographical context.
PROGRAMME
Spiritual Heritage and Cultural Renewal - Ukrainian Jewry at a
Crossroads
International Conference in Copenhagen organised by the Association of
Younger Jews in Denmark in co-operation with the European Centre for
Minority Issues (ECMI), Flensburg, Germany.
Sunday, February 21th 09:00 - 18:00.
International conference at "Landstingssalen", the Danish Parliament.
Tentative programme
09:00
Welcome and Introduction. Mr. Dan S�rde, Chairman, Association of
Younger Jews, Dr. Priit J�rve, Senior Analyst, the European Centre for
Minority Issues (ECMI) and Mr. Tom Trier, ECMI Regional representative
for Ukraine.
09:30
Address by the Charg� d'Affaires of Ukraine to Denmark, Mr. Vasyl'
Yakovenko.
09:45
Jewish Religious and Cultural Identity in Ukraine - A Short
Introduction, by Professor Leonid Gittik, Kyiv.
10:15
Intermission
10:30
The Minority Policy of Ukraine republic and the Jews. By Mr. Raul
Chalachava, the State Committee of Ukraine for Nationalities and
Migration.
11:15
The Role of the Ukrainian Ortodox Church and Popular Attitudes towards
Jews in Ukraine. By Father Juryj Mytsyk, Ukrainian-Orthodox priest,
Kyiv.
12:00
Jewish Cultural and Organisational Life in Ukraine. By Mr.Vadim
Rabinovich, President of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress.
12:45
Lunch.
13:45
Panel 1: Minority-State Relation in Regard to the Jews in Ukraine.
Participants: Mr. Raul Chalachava, Deputy Chairman of the State
Committee of Ukraine for Nationalities and Migration, Mr. Mikhail
Djozefson, Vice President of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress and Mr.
Alexander Rosenfeld, Dean of the International Solomon University.
14:30
Panel 2: The Impact of Anti-Semitism. Participants: Ms. Irina
Lyutikova, MP, Green Party, Father Jurij Mytsyk, Ukrainian-Orthodox
Priest, and Mr. Vladimir Katsman, Editor in Chief, "Nezavisimost" and
the Jewish weekly "VEK"
15:30
Intermission.
16:00
Panel 3: Jewish Identities at a Crossroads: Assimilation, Emigration
or Cultural Revival? Participants: Mr. Vadim Rabinovich, President of
the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, Mr. Alexander Feldman, Chairman of
the Jewish Foundation of Ukraine and Ms. Tetyana Brayman, Jewish
Agency.
17:00
Adoption of a set of recommendations on the fight against
anti-Semitism and on the promotion of the spiritual heritage of East
Central European Jewry in Ukraine.
18:00
End of the Conference.
Moderator of the conference: Chairman of the Jewish Community in
Denmark, Professor Jacques Blum.
List of participants from Ukraine
1. Ms. Oksana Solopa, Director of the Interreligious Center, Lutsk.
2. Mr. Alexander Rosenfeld, Dean of the International Solomon
University, Kyiv.
3. Mr. Toviy Rivetz, Vice-President of the Volyn Jewish Community,
Vladimir-Volynsk.
4. Dr. Leonid Gittik, Professor and writer. The Inter-confessional
Association "A Step to Unity" and the Jewish Foundation of Ukraine.
5. Mr. Eduard Dolinsky, Director of Public Relations of the
All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, Kyiv.
6. Mr. Evgeny Smirtenko, Jewish Student and Youth Organisation
"Hillel".
7. Mr. Boris Zabarko, Political Researcher, Former Prisoner of the
Kyiv Ghetto, Kyiv.
8. Mr. Viktor M. Lombrozo, Chairman of "Krymtjakhlar" (Crymchaks),
Simferopol, Crimea.
9. Mr.Arkady Klimchuk, Lviv Jewish Community.
10. Mr. Lev Luzker, Chairman of the Transcarpathian Jewish
Cultural Society, Uzhhorod.
11. Mr. Viktor Rosenblit, President's Adviser on Social Affairs and
Kyiv Jewish Community, Kyiv
12. Mr. Oleg Mogeletsky, Luboml Jewish Community.
13. Ms. Tetyana Brayman, Jewish Agency representative, Kyiv.
14. Mr. Roman Shopshovich, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of
the International Solomon University, Kyiv.
15. Mr. Raul Chalachava, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of
Ukraine for Nationalities and Migration, Kyiv
16. Mr. Mikhail Frenkel, journalist at the newspaper "Nezavisimost"
and the TV programme "Yahad".
17. Mr. Vladimir Katsman, Chief editor of the weekly "Stolichniie
novosti" and the Jewish weekly "VEK", Kyiv.
18. Ms. Vera Riwits, Jewish Charity Service, Kyiv.
19. Ms. Darina Privalko, Kyiv.
20. Father Yurij Mytsyk, Ukrainian-Orthodox Priest, Kyiv.
21. Mr. Vadim Rabinovich, President of the All-Ukrainian Jewish
Congress, Kyiv
22. Ms. Irina Lyutikova, MP, Green Party
23. Mr. Alexander Feldman, President of the Jewish Foundation of
Ukraine, Kharkov.
24. Mr. Mikhail Djozefson, Vice-President of the All-Ukrainian Jewish
Congress, Kyiv.
25. Ms. Maria Djozefson, All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, Kyiv.
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