Khrystyna, Lviv region, 21.03.22

Dear…,

I am sending you my witness account.

How do you remember the beginning of the war? – I asked this question during the oral history interviews with the witnesses of the World War 2.

Topically, before the narrators would first describe their everyday life before the war – it was important to understand how it was BEFORE. What was normal and the people were not getting ready and did not think about the war. And then there was a turn. AFTER. The moment when they found out about the war and the moment when they personally met the war.

BEFORE

I taught for the students of the Ukrainian Catholic University, had many plans and ideas.

I very well remember the 13rd of February as the last day of normal life.

On the 23rd of February, I planned to start a new job as of March 1st – it was supposed to be a bright page of my life, and on the 24th I was going to buy a gift for my godson.

'Wake up, the war has started'

Could I ever imagine that I would have to answer the question of 'how do you remember the beginning of the war' …

Although, of course, we had already lived in the times of the war over the last 8 years, but I have to admit that most of us were just watching it, because it was far away. Not it is close. It is here.

The full-scale invasion of Russian in Ukraine is accompanied by unimaginable destruction, violence and pain.

I read a lot about the war, listened to the witness accounts, watched documentaries, and it is only now, when I am researching it, I understand what the war is. And it is only now that I understand the need for justice and court trials for the ones who are responsible for this. And that the dialogue and reconciliation will not be on our focus for a long time. I hope, you understand it too. Those who are just watch the war. For who this war is far away.

For a long time I could write to my friends and acquaintances that I am in a relative safety, because I am in [...]. But not now, because Russian missiles hit [...]. And the whole city could feel the pain.

Nevertheless, I still feel that I have privileges, as I am not writing these lines from a bomb shelter, instead I am writing form my workplace. Where I have my bookshelves – The Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald, They Would Never Hurt a Fly by Slavenka Drakulich…

Did we learn the lessons of the 20th century?

The Ukrainian society, it appears, have learned then, because for the 30 year of our independence, 7 presidents have been in power. All of them are alive. We were not happy with all of them, this is why we rose up to the revolutions and went to the elections.

How many presidents did Belarusians and Russian elect over these 30 years?

We are not Russia, and not Belarus.

We fight against dictatorships.

My generation, which was born in the independent Ukraine, will preserve and carry on this independence. I cannot even think otherwise.

31.03.2022

Вітання,

Андрію!

1) дуже добра інціатива - треба доносити до цих авдиторій та закликати бути активнішими.

2) молодці!

3) чи хтось з моїх студенітв щось надсилав? ще раз їм нагадаю про цію інціативу.

пришпилю свої короткі щоденникові записи:

Росіяни знищують нашу культурну спадщину.

Окрім іншого, я весь час думаю про унікальну колекцію 'червоних образів', яку зібрав пан Іван [...].

Минулого року записувала з ним інтерв'ю. Іван [...] 1929 року народження..Пережив війну, маму та сестру радянська влада насильно депортувала, активний у русі за Незалежність...і зараз він, сидячи на санях, має досвідчувати нашу нову війну на захист нашої незалежності.

Написала очільниці музею УКУ - каже, що запакували і зробимо все можливе, щоб зберегти.

Долучаю тут свою фотографію з однією ікон. Нових селфі не роблю.

'Бозе, захисти мій дім, дядя бека мій дім пі-піу нє'

Домініка, от-от 4 рочки.

Моя похресниця

Діти мають говорити з Богом, але не такі молитви.

Перше фото, яке зробила у часі війни.

Після того, як бомбили [...], недалеко від [...] .

Після того, як бомбили моє місто [...].

Коли писати 'я у безпеці, бо я у [...]' вже не дуже чесно. Хіба для заспокоїння тих, хто питає.

Я сиділа в офісі і побачила котика сусідів, який виліз погрітися на весняному сонці. На моєму ноутбуці - постійні вістки про війну.

І тільки подекуди проминають фото закордонних знайомих, які п'ють коктейлі на літніх майданчиках. Інші пишуть, що варто мати діялог з росіянами та білорусами.

А мої друзі пишуть, що загинув наш товариш, який став на захист своєї батьківщини.

Як дослідниця Голокосту, я сподівалась, що у час такого швидкого доступу до інформації люди зможуть швидше реагувати та ставати на захист тих, кого намагаються вбити. Це точно не так.

Цей кіт - це перше фото. І добра емоція. І я її мусила зафіксувати для себе.

Христина [...], викладачка культурології УКУ

Фото пришпилюю.

4) якщо треба буде допомага з контактами акторів - людей з поставленими голосами у Львові, то зможу спробувати допомогти.

Прямих контактів та зв'язків зі студіями я не маю, хіба прицільно шукати.

5) якщо треба й студентсво, то можу теж спробувати залучати.

6)

[...] Христина [...],

Дякую,

Тримаймось!

Greetings, Andrii!

1) A very good initiative – we need to bring the information to those audiences and encourage them to be more active.

2) Good job!

3) Did any on my students send anything? I will remind them about this initiative.

I will send you my short diary notes:

Russians destroy our cultural heritage.

Among other things, I think about the unique collection of 'red images', which Mr. Ivan collected. I recorded an interview with him last year. Ivan […] was born in1929. He lived through the war, the Soviet government forcefully deported his mother and sister, he was active in the independence movement… and now he, almost on his deathbed [literally: 'sitting on a sleigh,' a Ukrainian idiom, meaning 'soon to die'], has to witness our new war for the defense of our independence.

I wrote to the curator of the Ukrainian Catholic University museum – she says that they have packed it and we will do everything to preserve it.

I attach my photo here with one of the icons. I am not taking new selfies.

'God, protect my home, uncle beka my home pi-piu no'

Dominika, my goddaughter.

Children should talk to God, but the prayers should not be such.

This is the first photo I took in the times of the war.

After they bombed […], not far from […].

After they bombed my city of […]

When I write 'I am in safety as I am in […]', it is no longer a full truth. It is just to appease those who are asking.

I was sitting at the office and saw my neighbours’ cat, who crawled out to warm up in the spring sun.

On my laptop – there are constant news about the war.

And only sometimes I see the photos of my foreign acquaintances who are drinking cocktails at patios. The others write that we should have a dialogue with Russians and Belarusians. And my friends write that our friend, who stood up to defend his motherland, was killed. I, as a Holocaust researcher, was hoping that at the time of such quick access to the information, people could react faster and defend those who are getting killed. This turned