Ukrainian Jewish Heritage: Moisei Fishbein 1946-2020

Jews and Ukrainians alike recently lost a great advocate for social unity and harmony. On 26 May 2020, distinguished Ukrainian poet and translator Moisei Fishbein died in Kyiv. He was 73.

While his poetry was influenced by the Jewish experience, Fishbein lived with considerable ease in both the Ukrainian and Jewish worlds. He had a natural ability to fuse the two identities and patriotisms.His life’s work illustrated his depth of understanding of the tragic events of WWII, the Holocaust, and the Ukrainian fight against tyranny from east and west.

While he did not ignore the reality of anti-semitism in Ukraine, neither did he consider it worse than anywhere else in the world. He preferred to focus on what united the Jewish and Ukrainian people. He was shrewd in spotting outside attempts at creating discord and division between Ukrainians and Jews.

Full transcript at the Nash Holos website.

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