“Documentaries with voices of heroes”

Why don’t we know the history of Ukraine? One generation was taught history in the USSR, the other one was taught according to the Soviet patterns. Only few people took interest in real history of the country. Den discovered it for Ukrainians since the very day it was founded. It is not without a reason that one of the series is entitled “Ukraine Incognita.” The difference of this history from the one written in textbooks is that it is written in a live language, but the words of our ancestors can be seen there.

New books in Den’s Library are a return of Ukrainians to themselves. Ukrainians feel this need each time sharper – proof of this is the fact that this year during the first days of the Publisher’s Forum Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25 was totally sold out, and the readers stood in line for the new books every day. Three books in the publicist series “Trap,” or A Case without a Statute of Limitations; I, an Eyewitness. Notes from the Occupied Luhansk; and Catastrophe and Triumph. Histories of Ukrainian Heroes under the overall edition of Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna – this is history, which is being created before our eyes. By our heroes and, unfortunately, Mankurts. To understand why and how today’s war started and who is responsible for human tragedies, one should read this trilogy. One of the books, “Trap,” starts a new series with an eloquent title “Contemporary History for Dummies.” This is a book about the Gongadze case. For the first time in 15 years such edition emerged on the shelves of Ukrainian bookstores.

But the root of this problem lies much deeper. While certain figures distort modern history, Russia is trying once again to rewrite the entire history of Ukraine, to destroy the Ukrainians as a nation. To understand that Russia is not Rus’, you should read the new book in the Ukraine Incognita Series – Return to Tsarhorod. Today we have faced a double challenge – other people want to misappropriate our old history, and our people are hiding the modern one. Therefore, we need “keys to our self-cognition and subjectivity,” according to Den’s editor-in-chief. The new books from our library can be these keys. Den asked about impressions those who have already bought the new books.

Olha DERKACHOVA, writer:

“In childhood my grandpa made me read documentary books about the World War Two. I was bored, skipped one or several pages, and didn’t understand why I had to read about people and events that have no relation to me. My grandpa answered, ‘To remember the people who are left after the war.’ But I denied in a childish manner, ‘But there won’t be any war again. People saw that it’s bad.’ At that time I did not know that society is divided into people and politicians. My grandpa sighed. He came from the World War Two with his leg amputated and with awards. He had had plans and a career, which were broken to pieces after the wound. He never told me about the war. Not a word. Only books. Documentary. With black-and-white photos.

“There are books that do not fall into any ‘must-read’ rankings, because… because this is not some shocking fiction with orgies in ruins, because its characters are not film stars or famous singers. This is a documentary book, with voices of ordinary people, ordinary heroes who have no time for sophisticated phrases. Most of them say that they are simply doing their work. Judging by the fact that I can calmly stay at home and write a review, it is done in the best way.

“Catastrophe and Triumph. Histories of Ukrainian Heroes is a book not about figures, not even about names. About people who found themselves in the worst spots. These are not just stories. These are voices. From there. Not paragraphs of facts in newspapers, but fragments of life, which will never be the same for the heroes of the book, as it was before the war.

“Five chapters: ‘Crimea. The beginning,’ ‘The War in the East,’ ‘Chaplains,’ ‘Medics. War of Their Own,’ ‘They Died for Us.’ Events of 2014-15. This is not even history. It’s the present day. It’s good that we are here and now, when these voices are heard. Because who knows whether these people will want to talk about the war later, in a year or two. Other people will tell about it as if it was an interesting journey and will arrange pompous presentations. But that will happen later.

“Now for the numerous heroes of this book (not characters, but real heroes) the war is still going on, and they say that this war is a war without rules, they tell about lies not only by the enemy, but also by those people whose patriotism is in ‘love to budget.’

“Sevastopol, Ilovaisk, Donetsk, Luhansk, Debaltseve. Military men, engineers, businessmen, teachers, poets, chaplains, doctors. A nation of heroes. And…

“Voices say in unison that ‘with coordinated and timely actions the trouble in the Donbas could be prevented.’ I don’t know, maybe we need to prepare a separate publication which would be called Traitors, about those who admitted, caused, and didn’t preserve.

“The voices that pronounce terrible things, which cannot be found in books: ‘I haven’t eaten any bread in the airport for 2.5 months. There were some moldy dry toasts. When we broke the corridor, and they brought the bread, we at first smelled it and felt dizzy’; ‘I think many people above were shocked that we survived’; ‘Children define the caliber of the mortar by the size of the shell hole’; ‘In dangerous situations guys put grenades on themselves, so that if they are taken prison, they could blow themselves up’; ‘I don’t have any photos from the trip to the war. I didn’t make them on purpose, so that there was no memory of the war, so that I forgot it the sooner the better.’

“The last chapter is the hardest. The voices here are different. These are the voices of memory, which prevent one from turning courage and death at war into ordinary statistics.

“I think that every news show must start not only with the statistics, how many people were killed or wounded. But with showing the photos of those who won’t return home, to their families. And give their names, age, profession, favorite music, films, and books. To name their close family who mourns over this tragedy. There is no such thing. Because it’s simple. Simply hide the pain beyond figures. But even hidden, it won’t disappear.

“The voices of commanders, doctors, mothers, wives about those who have not come back. They still don’t believe that they are dead. Because heroes don’t die.

“The compilers of the book do not offer any decisions or solutions. Only voices. From the Crimea, from the east, from the other world. This is the new history of Ukraine. Only later politicians will arrange these events in a way comfortable for them, and historians will write the ‘right’ history of Ukraine.

“One of the heroes of this book said about Ilovaisk, ‘For a very long time we will try to understand the complete picture of this tragedy. Many details, pieces, fragments, and episodes are lacking. These tens, hundreds, thousands of stories of direct participants and witnesses of these events will later help to make this picture. And not turn Ilovaisk into several paragraphs in a history textbook, several sentences, figures, and dates in the chronicle of this war.

“I want to believe that this war will teach us something. Maybe not the war, but books, such as Catastrophe and Triumph. And not about the war itself, but about the people who were there. Ordinary heroes whose job is to preserve the independence of Ukraine.

“I also want to believe that my granddaughter in 15-20 years, when I will make her read this book, will be carelessly leafing through it, like I did in childhood, and say, ‘Will this happen again? We Ukrainians have made conclusions. No such thing will happen again.’ And I want her to be right.”

Andrii TSAPLIIENKO, military journalist (1+1 channel):

“I took interest in your project ‘Contemporary History for Dummies.’ And the authors who compile your new publicist triptych are making us look at the modern history of Ukraine in a new way. It is unique time when we should pay attention to our history and literature. Because the war that is taking place on the territory of Ukraine, gives impetus to writing something new. On the whole readers take interest in Ukrainian production, which is written in Ukrainian.”