On December 13, the “Bringing Den to eastern Ukraine” tour ended with a meeting in Sievierodonetsk. The newspaper’s journalists Valentyn Torba and Maria Semenchenko presented to local activists our publication’s unprecedented book project – a modern history-themed journalistic triptych including Ivan Kapsamun’s “The Trap,” or A Case without a Statute of Limitations, Torba’s I, an Eyewitness. Notes from the Occupied Luhansk, and Semenchenko’s Catastrophe and Triumph. The Stories of Ukrainian Heroes. All belong to Den’s Library book series and were published under the general editorship of Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna.
Torba’s book deals with dramatic events that unfolded in the author’s hometown Luhansk. He believes that the gradual occupation of Ukraine started back in the 1990s: “It was ethnocide when they gradually eliminated everything Ukrainian in us,” the author told us during the presentation. “It was in the 1990s that pro-Russian slogans began appearing in Luhansk. We have been blatantly manipulated ever since; our rulers want us to be exhausted, to have no time to think.” His Notes from the Occupied Luhansk offer not only facts, observations, and memories, but also historical parallels between modern Ukraine and the events that took place a quarter of a century ago.
Semenchenko told the audience about her collection of stories about modern Ukrainian heroes called Catastrophe and Triumph. “These are true stories from the front, allowing soldiers, doctors, chaplains, relatives of dead boys to talk to us. This book was published to prevent war losses from turning into mere statistics,” she stressed.
The two journalists also told those present about yet another book of this project, entitled “The Trap,” or A Case without a Statute of Limitations. Although the title seems to many people to be associated with the military events, actually its author Ivan Kapsamun tells the story of a political trap. Namely, he reveals the causes and consequences of our country’s current predicament, brought about by the “Kuchma system.”
The presentation was attended by activists, journalists, civic volunteers, and librarians. Some of the guests knew about the occupation as much as our authors, because they themselves had been forced to leave Luhansk. Thus, the theme of the meeting provoked a lively discussion.
Photo by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day
“The meeting was very informative! Many people are now interested in these books, because the Donbas is our topic, it is close to our hearts,” civic volunteer Liubov Kharuba shared her thoughts with Den’s reporter. “I wish that such meetings occurred more frequently: we lack this kind of information. We are left to ourselves here. It is important that people write about it.”
During the discussion, the authors and audience members repeatedly expressed the view that it is important to begin educating a new generation of Ukrainian patriots. It should start with young kids, with children who will not study history from Soviet textbooks and will not be ashamed of folk songs and embroidered shirts. Librarians of the Sievierodonetsk City Public Library agreed with it; after the presentation, they examined with great interest new packages of books and issues of our glossy supplement Route No. 1. They then gladly and gratefully added them to the library’s holdings.
“I totally agree with everything that I heard today from the authors,” shared his impressions a journalist who fled from occupied Luhansk [he asked not to be identified, because he uses another name in the Ukrainian-controlled territory. –Author]. “There is one obstacle to your plans, I mean the special nature of our region. I often talk to Luhansk residents, and due to it I doubt that people will be able to correctly perceive this message, even those who have moved out. This is an immensely difficult problem, for we need to return people from the Soviet past, from their usual way of life, from the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic. I mean the psychological and mental return, and not physical one! Even if as little as 10 percent of our people read these books, it will be a decent result.”
We were therefore very pleased to see that thanks to benefactors from the Charitable Foundation in Support of the Newspaper Den’s Initiatives, none of the meeting’s participants went home empty-handed, for people came to receive autographs which Torba and Semenchenko happily inscribed on flyleaves of their books. Books from Den’s Library series were also donated to local libraries and schools. In parting, the authors shared their plans to continue covering these nationally important topics. Moreover, thanks to our benefactors, the attendees were able to get free subscription for Den’s Friday issue. So, Luhansk region readers will now be able to get better acquainted with other projects of our publication as well.
Let us recall that earlier, Den’s journalists met with community activists in Kramatorsk and Artemivsk.
