2008 Woodie Awards
RSSDr. gives Holocaust lecture
By Kaitlyn Landers
Issue date: 10/30/07 Section: News
Dr. Omer Bartov discussed the effects of the Holocaust in western Ukraine in his lecture, "Erased: The Vanishing Traces of Jewish Galicia in Present-Day Ukraine," on Tuesday, Oct. 23.
Bartov is concerned about the consequences of the Ukraine government's decision to alter their nation's history. He said unless a nation is completely honest about their history, there will not be a rich understanding of the nation's culture.
Bartov took a particular interest in the history of his mother's hometown of Buchach, which began his journey of uncovering the damage the Ukraine government is wreaking upon the past of many of its people.
Before the Holocaust, most of Ukraine's cities were occupied by large Polish and Jewish populations, who were readily rounded up and destroyed by the Nazis. Directly following the war, Ukraine became apart of the Soviet Union, preventing the country from ever establishing a culture and history of their own.
Ukraine only nationalized and claimed sovereignty in the early 1990s and has since had the opportunity to invent a national identity by looking at the nation's history. Instead of recognizing the strong presence of the Polish and Jewish communities, the Ukrainian government has decided to blot that part of history out for appearances, Bartov said.
Bartov said this mistake will eventually be corrected, but by that time most of the historical artifacts that support and commemorate this piece of their history will be destroyed.
"Dr. Bartov's telling of the intricate details of local history demands that people understand the intricacies and the forgotten parts of their culture and nation's history. With a more honest approach from the past, future bloodshed and harmful nationalism could be avoided," Mark Dilsizian, '08, said.
Bartov is the first of many speakers who will be coming to Lehigh, on the initiative of the new Helene and Allen Apter Chair of Holocaust Studies, Professor Joanna Michlic.
"I greatly admire Dr. Bartov because he's not afraid to discuss the most difficult issues," Michlic said. "The memory of the Holocaust in Ukraine is a little researched subject, and he is a pioneer in the subject. It was very informative, and it showed the difficulties many Ukraine people had with the difficult past."
Dr. Michlic also specializes in the subject, and is working with a scholar at the University of Canada named John P. Himka on a comparative volume about the memory of the Holocaust in post-Communist Europe.
Bartov is concerned about the consequences of the Ukraine government's decision to alter their nation's history. He said unless a nation is completely honest about their history, there will not be a rich understanding of the nation's culture.
Bartov took a particular interest in the history of his mother's hometown of Buchach, which began his journey of uncovering the damage the Ukraine government is wreaking upon the past of many of its people.
Before the Holocaust, most of Ukraine's cities were occupied by large Polish and Jewish populations, who were readily rounded up and destroyed by the Nazis. Directly following the war, Ukraine became apart of the Soviet Union, preventing the country from ever establishing a culture and history of their own.
Ukraine only nationalized and claimed sovereignty in the early 1990s and has since had the opportunity to invent a national identity by looking at the nation's history. Instead of recognizing the strong presence of the Polish and Jewish communities, the Ukrainian government has decided to blot that part of history out for appearances, Bartov said.
Bartov said this mistake will eventually be corrected, but by that time most of the historical artifacts that support and commemorate this piece of their history will be destroyed.
"Dr. Bartov's telling of the intricate details of local history demands that people understand the intricacies and the forgotten parts of their culture and nation's history. With a more honest approach from the past, future bloodshed and harmful nationalism could be avoided," Mark Dilsizian, '08, said.
Bartov is the first of many speakers who will be coming to Lehigh, on the initiative of the new Helene and Allen Apter Chair of Holocaust Studies, Professor Joanna Michlic.
"I greatly admire Dr. Bartov because he's not afraid to discuss the most difficult issues," Michlic said. "The memory of the Holocaust in Ukraine is a little researched subject, and he is a pioneer in the subject. It was very informative, and it showed the difficulties many Ukraine people had with the difficult past."
Dr. Michlic also specializes in the subject, and is working with a scholar at the University of Canada named John P. Himka on a comparative volume about the memory of the Holocaust in post-Communist Europe.
