The ‘Memory Treasure’ project aims to re-affirm the positive image of elderly Jewish community members, to highlight their achievements and unique life experiences, but primarily – to connect the younger generations of the local Jewish communities to their grandparents in a creative and inspiring way.

1. with
the support of
The project was implemented in association with
Kharkiv Jewish Day School ‘Or Avner’ and
Bila Tserkva Jewish School ‘Mitzva-613’
proudly presents
The Memory Treasure
a tribute to our Grandparents

2. An ancient Jewish proverb says: ‘When you have a grandchild, you have two children’.
At JUSI we believe it’s also true the other way around – having grandparents is much like having more parents
to care for you.
The Jewish tradition is very direct and clear when it sets the basic principles of intergenerational communication
– respect, tolerance, understanding and care. In the Jewish culture age has always been associated with certain
positive qualities, such as wisdom and fairness, responsibility and experience.
In the framework of rapid development of local Jewish communities in Ukraine we are witnessing a general ten-
dency that successful communities are those that provide for maximum integration of all their members. This
proves the necessity of intergenerational, inclusive programs and actions that empower the most vulnerable and
socially isolated members, elderly being the most numerous group.
The ‘Memory Treasure’ project aims to re-affirm the positive image of elderly Jewish community members, to
highlight their achievements and unique life experiences, but primarily – to connect the younger generations of
the local Jewish communities to their grandparents in a creative and inspiring way.
The works – paintings, drawings, collages – listed in this album, as well as the accompanying texts were created
by Jewish kids aged 6-16. Sometimes the parents helped them write the text properly - in other words some
works are pieces of collective family art.
The participating youth was very vaguely asked to creatively contemplate their vision of grandparents and share
it with the world. Some of the kids referred to history, some focused on their grandparents’ hobbies, while others
chose to be more emotional. The project resulted in over a hundred artworks, the most peculiar of which are in-
cluded in this album.
We hope that these pages will serve as a gentle reminder of the true values in our lives to some, and be a source
of insights and inspiration to many.
Please, experience the ‘Memory Treasure’.
Foreword
Vladimir Vysotskyi
Director
CF JUSI

3. My granny’s father Aaron Hazan was a very courageous man - under the peril of
death penalty he conducted chuppahs not only for his own children, but also for other
Jews. The children in the Hazan family has always been actively involved in holiday
and chuppah preparations. They were responsible for bringing water from the well -
and even though they were only 10 years old, the kids eagerly carried the heavy buck-
ets of water. My grand-grandmother was always responsible for chuppah cooking,
and she was a master-chef people said. She told my parents that during chuppas people
used to play on self-made instruments consisting of cans and forks.

4. My grandmother’s name is
Liliya. She is 79 and the best
way for her to relax is knit-
ting. That is why she took on
knitting again – after losing
her beloved husband she
very much needed to calm
herself. It was important
for her to ‘switch on’ to
something else. When we are
looking through family pho-
tographs Granny shares her
memories with me. Recently
she told me of a strange
dream she had that reminded
her of the day she met my
grandfather. The story of
their falling in love and the
events that followed was
very exciting for me to hear.
Still, it seems that when she
is alone, Granny’s thoughts
are wandering somewhere in
her memories.

5. My Granny is one of the
most beautiful and talented
women I know. She is 71
years old. She is a remark-
able handmade artist, espe-
cially keen on knitting. Her
home is full of different
handmade objects and art
pieces. Granny is also great
at cooking – when I visit her
she I always amazes me with
some delicious treats. I think
it’s time I started noting
down her recipes.

6. My Grandmother’s name is Galina. She has a very big and very kind heart. It is so big
that it holds amazing amounts of love – for her husband (my grandfather), for her
children, for her grandchildren, and also the birds, the animals, the flowers…
My granny lives in a cottage and has a farm – so she takes care of the house, of the
plants and farm animals and, of course, of us. Everything she does is filled with inner
warmth. Every moment she gives her love to the world, and receives it back.
I thank you G-d for the miracles you bless me with! Thank you, my dear Granny, for
the care, for the warmth, for the attention and joy, for the delicious pies, for your
smile and the shining of your weary eyes, for reading poetry, for playing football with
me, for my childhood.
Please, be healthy and live long!

7. My grandmother’s name is
Faina. Unfortunately, I
haven’t had the chance to
meet her – she passed away
before I’d been born. But my
parents tell me a lot about
her. She was an extraordi-
nary woman, and managed to
achieve success in so many
things. She worked at a fash-
ion workshop and was a very
hard-working tailor. She was
industrious and diligent in
everything she did. She was
also very demanding of her-
self. My Granny was a beau-
tiful woman. I guess she is my
role-model and a perfect
image of a woman. The por-
trait of her I drew, in my
opinion, reflects her inner
strength and determination.

8. My Granny’s name is
Lyudmila. All her life
she’s been a teacher, a
pedagogue, and gave
knowledge, raising sev-
eral generations of
youth. Now that she is
retired she devotes all
her spare time to her
two favourite hobbies -
reading and cooking.

9. Director
This is my Grandmother. Her name is Nadezhda, which
means ‘hope’ in English.
My Grandmother is very fond of cooking. I
enjoy trying her new dishes, because she
always knows how to make it tasty for
me.
My Granny is still working. She is a secretary and
has to sit in an office. She is very responsible and I
can always count on her.
My Grandmother loves my Grandfather very
much! I feel very happy when we are all to-
gether!

10. Grandmother is the only person who is always
there for your complains about your parents.

11. Good day to you, my grannies and grandpas! I hope that every day
the sun shines for you! I love your careful hands, I love your calm-
ing and dear voice that sings to me. I love your tales of true frien-
ship and love, of eternal good and beauty. I wish your life was
always full of flowers and lasted forever. I love you, my grannies
and grandpas, so please have a good day!

12. My grandfather was born before
the WWII in a poor Jewish fam-
ily. At the time their life was
hard and full of trouble. The
family basically struggled for
survival every day. Due to lack
of food he was forced to leave
home at the age of seven. He was
wandering through cities, sleep-
ing at railway stations, in kip
houses and boarding schools.
Once he was so hungry and des-
perate that he stole two pieces
of bread at a local market, and
got caught by the police. He
went through trial and was sent
to a colony to serve his sentence.
After several months of impris-
onment he got out, but not for
long – very soon he was in jail
again, this time by mistake.
(continued on next page)

13. After several years of hardships
– hard work, poverty, rambling
and pressure from the authori-
ties, my granddad found himself
in a disciplinary battalion. With
his comrades in arms he was sent
to defend the heroic city of Se-
bastopol. Soon enough in one of
the battles he was taken into
captivity by the Romanian armed
forces. He was sent to a POW
camp, but escaped. He and sev-
eral other runaway prisoners
were captured, beaten almost to
death and brought back to the
camp. Being a person of strong
and free will, grandpa ran away
again. Out of their group of 42
refugees only he and his friend
managed to reach the Soviet
troops. They were then sent to
the frontline, where my grandpa
served until the end of war.

15. By conducting intergenerational community-based
projects CF ‘Jewish-Ukrainian Social Initiative’
strives to enable active Jewish youth and families
with children to reach out to lonely Jewish elderly
and foster their socialization. The elderly are in the
meantime empowered to engage in creative and learn-
ing experience with the youth, which enhances their
productivity and feeling of belonging. Thanks to the
kind support of The Dutch Jewish Humanitarian
Fund, we were able to reach over 100 elderly and
more than 80 children and youth.

16. The interviews and workshops were carried out in
several Jewish communities, including Kharkiv and
One of the workshops took place
during a large 3-day intergenera-
tional summer camp that was or-
ganized by Kharkiv Jewish youth
volunteers for local Jewish eld-
erly. The event took place in a
beautiful natural resort and fea-
tured stress-relief creativity ses-
sions, health promotion and
community building.
smaller towns like Bila Tserkva, Boyarka and Obukhiv. The
project involved two Jewish schools - one in Kharkiv and
one in Bila Tserkva - where children were actively engaged
in the project. The project reached out to over 100 Jewish
elderly, of which at least one third are Nazi victims. The
participants’ feedback shows that there is a persistent need
for similar initiatives, and that this need is only necessi-
tated by lack of socialization and self-realization opportu-
nities for elderly.

17. My grandfather, Romer Vyacheslav Ivanovych, was born on September 22nd 1940 in Vilshanka village in Vinnitsa
region, in a family of cultural worker. From his early years he was fond of reading, loved to learn and was
always there to help his parents around the house. His family were good friends with a well-known Ukrainian
writer Mykola Trublaini, who lived nearby.
Grandpa finished school in 1957. After school he went on to study at a technical college to become a tractor me-
chanic.
He was very good with all sorts of machines, always knew how to fix things. It seems he had some sort of con-
nection with technics.
He was also very good in household repairs. Basically, Grandpa was a real jack-of-all-trades.

20. In 1961 Grandpa was called to the army. He served in Berdychiv and was a tank mechanic. One day he and his mil-
itary friends were oredered to take part in a peacekeeping mission on the Island of Liberty - Cuba. There he was
wounded during a fire inside of a tank - only thanks to his friends he got out of it alive. He himself was also very
brave - he never hesitated risking his life for saving a friend.
After returning from Cuba he was stationed in Bila Tserkva, where he worked as a unit commander in a military
construction battalion involved in the building of a local military airfield. Then in 1981 he served in Afghanistan,
and in 1986 he took part in the Chornobyl disaster liquidation. After 36 years of service and being a colonel
Grandpa retired in 1988.
Self-education has always been Grandpa’s main learning rule. When I grow up I want to be as clever, as caring
and as kind-hearted as he is.

21. This is my nanny, Natalia.
I decided to tell a little
bit about her because for
me she is just like a grand-
mother and I love her vey
much.
She’s been with me since I
was a baby. We played
games, read books,
painted... She taught me so
much!
Her favourite thing to do
is cooking and baking cook-
ies. And also she loves tak-
ing care of children.

22. Hello! My name is Karolina and
this is my beloved Grandma
Rita. She lives in Israel. Every
dummer I come to visit her
there. She always gives a lot of
presents, often takes me for a
walk, even thougn her legs ache
lately. I love her very much.
And she loves me very much as
well.
She is very kind and fun to be
with with. Everytime we are
strolling in the park she demon-
strates me to her friends. And
everyone then says: “What a
nice grand-daughter you have,
Rita!”
That’s my Grandma!

23. My creative Grandma.
My Grandma is 52 years old. She is very creative and active. Firstly, she attends a dancing class. Secondly, she
plays football and chess. Thirdly, she is great at Domino, UNO and other intellectual card games.
Sunday is her grandson day, when she spends time with me. Saturday is her hobbie day - on that day she sews and
knits.
My Grandma has a special skill - she creates costumes for performances and carnivals. All these costumes are
made by my Granny from scratch. She is the developer, the designer and the tailor at the same time. Grandma
draws inspiration from famous fairy-tales, cartoons and fashion magazines.
I am very proud of my Grandma and wish her lots and lots of health!

24. This is my Grandfather - Anatoliy.
He is 75 years old. He is very kind,
strong and wise.
I love him very much!

29. Copyright © 2015 by ‘Jewish-Ukrainian Social Initiative’, ‘Jewish Dutch Humanitarian Fund’.
All rights reserved. All paintings are works of Jewish kids - pupils of Kharkiv Jewish Day School ‘Or
Avner’ and Bila Tserkva Jewish School ‘Mitzva-613’, used with the permission of respective authors.
Charity publication. Not for sale.
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