Found out yesterday my great-great grandparents died in a pogrom in modern-day Ukraine in 1920. The violence lasted for 5 days and killed about 700 people.

I don’t know how to make goyim understand that when finding this out I was so devastated and yet unsurprised. I was unsurprised because when learning Jewish history, starting around the middle ages to modernity, I always feel as if it is “my history.” These events happened to my ancestors. Even if technically that isn’t true.

I did not realize until the start of my MA program in public history that it is not common for people to feel this close a connection to their ethnic/religious groups history.

This phenomenon is what I want goyim to understand. That feeling of when i found out the specific event of violence that killed my great-great grandparents felt more like a final nail in the coffin than an unexpected blow. Yes, it hurt and i cried as i always do when i found out the specifics of my families deaths to antisemitic violence. But it was not a surprise. Why would it be when since at least middle school I remember learning about jewish history and internalizing it as my own history that happened to my own family.

And this phenomenon is also why jews react so strongly when violent antisemitism is in the news. Yes, it has to do with intergenerational trauma but also this deep connection we feel to all of Jewish history. That we can see how this is just another atrocity in a long line of atrocities. That there is no tangible difference between the victims and ourselves. This is all of our collective history.

The Ukrainian Trident, an ancient emblem, has deep roots dating back to the pagan times of Kievan Rus.

It symbolizes the trinity of the universe: heaven, earth and the underworld.

It is also associated with the three main rivers that flow through Ukraine: Dnipro, Dniester, and Southern Bug.

One year ago russia blew up the Nova Kakhovka Dam.

A year ago, russian forces blew up the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River

This war crime caused a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster. Nearly 150,000 hectares were flooded in the Kherson region as a result of the dam explosion. The flood zone includes 80 settlements; most of them are on the left bank, which is occupied by russians. 2800 people in the Ukrainian-controlled region were displaced; 32 died and 38 are missing, and we don't even know how many people died in the occupied territory because there was no way to help them.

And the world was and is just silent.

Russia is committing genocide and ecocide.

Don’t you think that the public has forgotten about Ukraine and the genocide that is happening there?

Hi. That's a tricky question. If I answer yes, then people who do still care will be upset. When in frustration I write that no one cares, there are always people in the notes telling me that they do care very much. These people exist, of course. But most of them have either friends or family from Ukraine, or have Ukrainian roots themselves. There are always exceptions, but they are few and far between. It also depends on the country. I have the impression that people from the Baltic states and some neighboring countries still do care about Ukraine. It's a war close to their home, they risk becoming russia's next victim, and most of them have suffered from russia before.

The fact that fewer and fewer people care with each passing year is not surprising. The shock factor from seeing bombed apartments and flattened cities wears off quickly, it gets old, becomes a new normal. As we always knew it would. Since it's not news anymore, most of it doesn't make it to the mainstream media, you have to actively search for the war updates rather than seeing them everywhere.

Popular posts from the far-left where they compare Russia to Israel illustrate really well just how little people know about this genocide, about the russian invasion. How little they want to know. They write something like "imagine if russia did THIS in Ukraine, there would be immediate international outrage and brutal repercussions!!!", while in reality russia has been doing THIS and worse the whole time, not just since 2022, but much earlier, and not only in Ukraine. Some people close their eyes and cover their ears to live in this fantasy where russia can do no wrong, and if it did, it would have been punished for it. As a Ukrainian suffering from russian unprovoked aggression, this notion is really hurtful to see.

I'd say that being a Ukrainian on tumblr is even worse than being a Ukrainian on twitter. The genocide of your nation is mostly ignored here and if not, then often denied. (again, not by everyone, please don't take this the wrong way!)

While I was typing all this, I thought - why bother? You can simply look at my (or blogs similar to mine) recent posts about this genocide, look at the number of notes, but most importantly, see how many of those who reblogged are my fellow Ukrainians. The majority. It wasn't like that in the first six or so months of the invasion. So yes, people care very little, but I can't blame the whole world for that or else I'll go insane.

I have currently only a few hours of electricity a day and I waste the time answering depressing questions or thinking how to answer them. *sigh*

Mikhail Vinyarsky, {1955} Тень у пирса (The Shadow Near the Pier)

Zatoka, Odesa Oblast, Ukraine by Marina Alifanova

Two girls Maria and Olena in local folk costumes. Ukraine, Kyiv region, the village of Lubartsy.

Source: https://pinterest.com/pin/1070941986381024626/

Art by Liudmyla Semykina (1924-2021), artist, fashion designer, she was part of the Sixties movement and a friend of Alla Horska, Victor Zaretskyi, and Liubov Panchenko

Ieva Trinkūnaitė - Savannah, 2024 - Mixed media on canvas

❗Speak about Ukrainians in russian captivity❗

russian captivity kills