by Nicole Yurcaba
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukraine’s diversity has been a key topic for both Ukraine’s supporters and opponents. It has also become an area of key interest for those just now learning about and exploring Ukraine’s cultural and linguistic make-up. Initiatives like TOZHSAMIST’ strive to educate the public about diversity and equality in Ukraine. Along with such initiatives, books like Our Others: Stories of Ukrainian Diversity encourage readers to study Ukraine as a nation, but also to listen to the stories of the many and varied ethnic groups whose languages and cultures are preserved and maintained despite years of Soviet steamrolling.
Our Others is a unique book because it explores local histories and personal stories from fourteen minority ethnic groups in Ukraine. These groups include Czechs, Slovaks, Gagauzes, Meskhetian Turks, Jews, Vlachs, Poles, Crimean Tatars, Roma, Hungarians, ‘Liptaks,’ and Armenians. As Ukraine continues to strive toward EU and NATO inclusion and progresses down the path of social inclusivity, discussing these often overlooked identities is imperative, especially as the question “What does it mean to be ‘Ukrainian’?” continues to be asked and answered in a multitude of ways, not only by native Ukrainians, but also diasporic ones in the United States, Canada, and other parts of the globe.
However, Our Others does more than highlight the numerous and beautiful ethnic groups which contribute to Ukraine’s overall and broader identity. It also addresses Ukraine’s painful, fraught history as a land swapped, overrun, stolen, and ultimately freed. War is central to many of the personal, painful stories shared by Meskhetian Turks, Armenians, and Jews. In the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, these stories should be even more eye-opening for readers just now taking an interest in Ukraine’s history. They are also a gentle reminder that the historical events of (primarily) World War II are not so distant in the past after all. This is a concept with which many American readers may struggle, given that American society tends to lend itself to an out-of-sight-out-of-mind perspective regarding foreign countries, foreign affairs, and even multiculturalism. In its discussion about the wars which have permeated and shaped Ukrainian, and European, history, a discussion about peace also occurs. As Zakaria-aqa, a Meskhetian Turk, notes, “‘War has never brought anyone any good and never will. People should have peace over their heads.’” Zakaria-aqa’s sentiment is one that should resonate with any reader who is paying attention to global current events.
Other stories in Our Others offer anecdotes about how to be a more inclusive society overall. This concept particularly emerges in the section “Olha Petrivna, The Baron.” This section focuses on the Roma settlement in Toretsk, located in the Donetsk region. Olha Petrivna Rudenko is an inspiration to any community organizer or activist looking to help marginalized communities and voices move toward societal acceptance. Her work revolves around helping the Roma not only receive an education and integrate more fully into Ukrainian society; she also works to help dispel harmful stereotypes which the Roma have faced for generations. Petrivna asserts, “‘We need to stop being scared… They [the Roma need to be accepted and engaged with.’” Yaremchuk poses an even more powerful question: “It’s true: How can a community integrate into a society if it’s met with a) fear, b) disdain, and c) hatred?” This question is applicable universally, especially as minority groups around the globe continue fighting, figuratively and literally, for basic human rights.
As far-right American politicians like Marjorie Taylor Green continue pushing the Russian propaganda narrative that Ukraine is not a democracy, sections like “White Sun, Black Wine” become even more important. This section focuses on the Gaugazes, of whom 250,000 exist in the world. Of those 250,000 Gagauzes, 30,000 live in Ukraine. The Gagauzes are Orthodox, and their language is related to Turkish, and as Yaremchuk points out, “The Gaguazes, like Ukrainians, have few reasons for fondness toward the Soviet Union.” Nonetheless, despite Soviet oppression, Ukrainian Gagauzes have been offered, and have seized, every opportunity for the history, language, and traditions to flourish. Gagauz Ivan Kapsamun encourages open communication between the Gagauz and Ukrainian communities, stating, “‘There’s no need to worry about some sort of separatist movements here. Yet it behooves the Gagauzes and the Ukrainians to not forget to listen to one another.’” Olha Kulaksyz states that “everything pertaining to Ukraine” is important to the Gagauzes. These testaments shatter the alt-right’s dangerous propaganda which accuses Ukraine of being an oppressive state.
Kapsamun and Kluaksyz’s statements are echoed in “Solitude Amidst Walnut Trees,” the book’s final section. In it, readers meet Antonina, an elderly lady living in Kuty, located in Ukraine’s Hutsul region. Antonina makes a powerful point necessary in the context of today’s battle against Russian propaganda and disinformation fueling much of the alt-right’s anti-Ukraine narrative in America. She states, “‘They say Ukrainians attacked the Armenians. But it wasn’t Ukrainians. It was evil people.’” She continues, “‘Ukrainians had nothing to do with it.’” Antonina’s story reminds readers that the Russian propaganda regarding Ukrainians is just as malicious as the Soviet propaganda peddled against them during World War II.
Our Others is a book of great responsibility. In it, Olesya Yaremchuk painstakingly captures the voices of the overlooked and the oppressed. The stories Yaremchuk brings to the forefront are not only stories of survival; they are stories of what can be accomplished when communities work together and allow and encourage one another to thrive. The lessons these stories hold are priceless, especially at a time when Ukraine’s people are not only fighting for their individual and national survival, but also for their collective cultural heritage–a heritage that, beneath its initial surface, is truly a mosaic at which to pause and marvel.
Nicole Yurcaba (Ukrainian: Нікола Юрцаба–Nikola Yurtsaba) is a Ukrainian (Hutsul/Lemko) American poet and essayist. Her poems and essays have appeared in The Atlanta Review, The Lindenwood Review, Whiskey Island, Raven Chronicles, West Trade Review, Appalachian Heritage, North of Oxford, and many other online and print journals. Nicole teaches poetry workshops for Southern New Hampshire University and is a guest book reviewer for Sage Cigarettes, Tupelo Quarterly, Colorado Review, and The Southern Review of Books.
