- August 19, 2025
- 1:52 pm
- Israel
The exhibition “Ukrainian-Jewish Century” will travel through Israel, showcasing archival photographs and contemporary works.
The exposition combines archival interviews, unique photographs and modern Centropa projects.
Date and Venue
On August 26, 2025, at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center (Jerusalem, Sh. A. Nakhon St, 6) the opening of the exhibition «Ukrainian-Jewish Century: Photos and Stories from the 1920s to 2025» will take place. Start at 19:00.
Speakers:
- Yevgen Korniychuk, Ambassador of Ukraine to the State of Israel;
- Herzl Makov, President of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center;
- Edward Serotta, Director of Centropa.
Exhibition Content
As the organizers note, the main idea of the exhibition is to show the history of Jewry in Ukraine throughout the 20th century through the prism of photos and oral history, to reveal the lives and experiences of people.
The exposition, which took 10 years to prepare, contains photographs starting from the 1920s to the present day. An analogy is drawn between the destinies of people who survived the Holocaust, World War II, and today’s Russian-Ukrainian war. A special feature of the exhibition are photos and stories of the current tragic war in Ukraine.
The first part is based on the results of 260 interviews collected in seven Ukrainian cities between 2001–2007. As part of the work, more than 3000 family photographs were digitized, each accompanied by a personal story.
The topics include:
- work and professions;
- study and school years;
- leisure and family portraits;
- separate blocks: Babyn Yar, evacuation, Holodomor, “The Ones I Lost”.
The entire Centropa archive was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
The second part is devoted to modernity.
an American filmmaker, journalist, photographer specializing in the study of Jewish culture and history in Central and Eastern Europe Edward Serotta
It includes photographs taken by Edward Serotta, an American filmmaker, journalist, photographer specializing in the study of Jewish culture and history in Central and Eastern Europe, in 2022–2025 in Jewish communities of Lviv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kharkiv.
Edward Serotta first visited Ukraine in 1997 and since then collected interviews with 1200 Jews in Ukraine, digitized 25,000 of their family photos, known as the “Centropa Collection,” transferred to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. Edward Serotta has filmed many documentaries about Jews who survived the Holocaust in Ukraine, and was the director and producer of well-known short documentary films.
Edward Serotta still actively works on his research in Ukraine, particularly after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, and expresses sincere admiration for the courage and heroism of the indomitable Ukrainian nation.
Additionally, works of photographers Maksym Levin (ז״ל) and Taras Kovalchuk are presented.
What is Centropa
Centropa is an international non-governmental organization headquartered in Vienna, Hamburg, Budapest and Washington. It preserves the memory of Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe through oral interviews, family archives and educational projects.
Since 2023 Centropa has been actively working in Ukraine. During this time, 7 seminars for teachers were held, attended by 210 educators. About 200 more applications remained unfulfilled due to limited space and conditions in war shelters.
Global significance of the project
- 260 interviews collected in Ukrainian cities;
- more than 3000 photos digitized;
- the archive transferred to the Holocaust Museum in Washington;
- 210 Ukrainian teachers trained in Centropa seminars.
Support and Patrons
The exhibition was made possible thanks to the support of donors and Jewish families from the USA:
- Harry and Carol Saal (Palo Alto);
- Ken and Teri Hertz (Los Angeles);
- Judy Levin (Los Angeles);
- Michael Haas and Raquel Flatow Haas (Cleveland);
- Deborah and Stephen Lebowitz (Los Angeles);
- Diane and Howard Schilit (Bethesda, MD);
- James D. Golden (Houston).
The exhibition «Ukrainian-Jewish Century: Photos and Stories from the 1920s to 2025» will travel through Israel, showcasing archival photographs and contemporary works.
NAnews – News of Israel note: this event combines memory, documents and educational initiatives, preserving the heritage of Jews of Ukraine and making it accessible for future generations.
