ABOUT THE BOOK

Jewish Ludmir is the history of the Jewish Community of Volodymyr Volynsky and the surrounding area, currently in Ukraine, from 1171 to current times. It was written in Ukrainian by the present head of the Jewish Community, Volodymyr Muzychenko, and published in Ukraine in 2011. It was translated by Marta Daria Olynyk and published by Academic Studies Press, Boston, in hard cover in 2015 and paperback in 2016. Antony Polonsky, Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, wrote the Introduction to the English edition.

The Jewish community of Volodymyr Volynsky was originally composed of Jews from Kyiv, the Khazar Khanate, and other eastern communities. When the community became an important stop on a trade route from western Europe to the east, Jewish merchants from Northern France and Germany passed through and some settled there. By the late 13th century the Jewish community included well-known rabbis. The Jewish community expanded and contracted according to economic opportunities and the level of violence in the region. Jewish Ludmir explains the organization of the Jewish community over time, its tax and legal system, its religious groups and traditions, and its influence in larger regional Jewish institutions. It includes material on important residents such as Shelomoh of Karlin and Khane-Rokhl Werbermacher (The Maid of Ludmir). Through eyewitness accounts of Jewish survivors and Christian residents, the book details the devastation that occurred during the Nazi-led occupation of WWII.

Jewish Ludmir includes 169 historical images, family photos, and maps. There is a glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish terms as well as an extensive bibliography. This book would appeal to those with an interest in the long history of the Jews of Eastern Europe.

The author of Jewish Ludmir, Volodymyr Muzychenko, will be a panelist at the book presentation scheduled for April 19th, 2017 at the Davis Center at Harvard. Also on the panel are Antony Polonsky, Serhii Plokhii, Marta D. Olynyk, and Harvey Budner. The presentation is sponsored by the Davis Center and the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and is part of the series of programs on the the Jews of Russia/Eastern Europe.