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Ukrainian Students Study Yiddish to Explore Jewish History
Confirmed
In Short: Ukrainian students are taking up Yiddish to explore the significant Jewish history in their region, despite the language's virtual disappearance in the country.
Ukrainian students are taking up Yiddish to explore the significant Jewish history in their region, despite the language's virtual disappearance in the country. Daryna Kahaniuk, a student at The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, said the course has helped her connect with Jewish history in Ukraine.
Kahaniuk, whose family is not Jewish, said her mother's interest in Jewish history and culture sparked her curiosity. 'How could it be that so many people lived there, and now there’s nothing that can tell us they were there?' she said, referring to the Jewish population in her hometown.
Professor Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, an expert in Ukrainian Jewish history at Northwestern University, noted that Ukrainian students today are several generations removed from the Holocaust and do not feel complicity in the genocide. Instead, they are reclaiming the region’s Jewish history after Ukraine’s independence.
The textbook used in the course provides insight into Jewish culture, including traditional Yiddish songs that explain what life was like for Jewish people. 'On the one hand, it was so funny and cheerful, but on the other hand, the meaning of the song, it was about how hard life was for Jewish people,' said one student.
Vera Szabo, one of the YIVO instructors, emphasized the importance of studying Yiddish. 'I think everybody should study Yiddish, and this is not just because I’m a Yiddish teacher,' she said.
The interest in Jewish history among Ukrainian students reflects a broader trend of multicultural studies in the region. 'It’s a brand new generation that is interested in multicultural studies, that does understand that there is kind of a lacuna in their knowledge of East European history if they do not include the Jews,' said Petrovsky-Shtern.
Professor Olga Moskalets, who has studied the history of Jewish communities in Galicia, noted that engaging with Jewish sources allowed her to see history from a completely new perspective. She is currently working on a book titled 'The Oil Shtetl: A History of Jewish Business in Boryslav,' studying the history of Carpathian Jews and rural communities in Galicia, and researching Ukrainian-Jewish cultural contacts.
What this adds
The renewed interest in Jewish history among Ukrainian students highlights the importance of multicultural studies in understanding the region's complex past.
What's confirmed
- Ukrainian students are taking up Yiddish to explore the significant Jewish history in their region, despite the language's virtual disappearance in the country. Daryna Kahaniuk, a student at The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, said the course has helped her connect with Jewish history in Ukraine.
- Kahaniuk, whose family is not Jewish, said her mother's interest in Jewish history and culture sparked her curiosity. 'How could it be that so many people lived there, and now there’s nothing that can tell us they were there?' she said, referring to the Jewish population in her hometown.
- Professor Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, an expert in Ukrainian Jewish history at Northwestern University, noted that Ukrainian students today are several generations removed from the Holocaust and do not feel complicity in the genocide. Instead, they are reclaiming the region’s Jewish history after Ukraine’s independence.
- The textbook used in the course provides insight into Jewish culture, including traditional Yiddish songs that explain what life was like for Jewish people. 'On the one hand, it was so funny and cheerful, but on the other hand, the meaning of the song, it was about how hard life was for Jewish people,' said one student.
- Vera Szabo, one of the YIVO instructors, emphasized the importance of studying Yiddish. 'I think everybody should study Yiddish, and this is not just because I’m a Yiddish teacher,' she said.
- The interest in Jewish history among Ukrainian students reflects a broader trend of multicultural studies in the region. 'It’s a brand new generation that is interested in multicultural studies, that does understand that there is kind of a lacuna in their knowledge of East European history if they do not include the Jews,' said Petrovsky-Shtern.
- Professor Olga Moskalets, who has studied the history of Jewish communities in Galicia, noted that engaging with Jewish sources allowed her to see history from a completely new perspective. She is currently working on a book titled 'The Oil Shtetl: A History of Jewish Business in Boryslav,' studying the history of Carpathian Jews and rural communities in Galicia, and researching Ukrainian-Jewish cultural contacts.
What's still developing
- “Even though I knew that there is a Jewish cemetery, a graveyard, in my hometown, I never thought about that,” said Blaha, who studies English language and literature.
- “People who spoke Yiddish in those areas, they borrowed a lot of vocabulary, similar to how English obtained a lot of words hundreds of years ago,” she said.
- Several years ago, Daryna Kahaniuk, a Ukrainian college student, visited a history museum in the western Ukrainian city of Volodymyr with her mother.
- The family jokes that she might have an unknown Jewish ancestor and should get a DNA test.
- “And, to be honest, it just made my mom happy because she was very interested.” The Soviet Union crushed Jewish communal life in Ukraine in the 1930s.
- In 2026, Moskalets joined the jury of Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize.
- In this interview, we discuss shared Ukrainian-Jewish heritage, the role of literature in reimagining the past, and why the history of Ukrainian Jewry is integral to the history of Ukraine.
- A significant portion of 19th-century Ukrainian literature portrays Jewish people in a very specific way.
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