“This is a chance to recall it and experience it again”

This is not the first month when Den sends its newspapers to the soldiers in the front. The immediate responses are thankful and approving, because the servicemen are almost cut from the peaceful world and lack information. However, not only Den is informing, but also supports the morale. The photo album People of the Maidan. A         chronicle which has recently been launched at the Publishers Forum in Lviv has gone to the front. Six copies were given to Ukrainian servicemen who are defending our independence in the east as a present from the newspaper. One of them, the first sergeant Viktor from the 80th Airmobile Brigade from Lviv, has been to hell.

“I’m fond of the photo album People of the Maidan. A chronicle. This is a chance to recall and experience it again, an opportunity to switch from today’s war,” First Sergeant Viktor Pavliv from the 80th Airmobile Brigade from Lviv shared his impressions. “My battery and I have looked it through several times, recalled those moments, and every time revealed something new, which was at the same time so close to us. It turned out that we did not see many scenes. The people who were present there told how they worked and shared their feelings. We were mostly impressed by the photos of the beatings of the students, which were actually the thing which raised Maidan: many people have forgotten about it; and the second thing we will never forget is the shootings in February. Most of the boys weren’t present in Maidan at that time, and this album became for them a guide to the Revolution of Dignity.”

The letters from the front are especially valuable items in the correspondence of the editorial office. One of them was sent by senior officer of HR department of the ATO in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, Lieutenant Colonel Viacheslav Kovalenko from battalion Aidar who is now on the territory of Luhansk oblast:

“We very much like to read. It is a pity that we lack time for his. But during the breaks between the shootings we sometimes have an opportunity to have rest and leaf through our favorite book. Books make our lives interesting, versatile, and give us what we lack during the war. They often show us a way out from a difficult situation and inspire us to be firm and courageous, especially during the armed conflict with the contractors of the Russian Federation.”

“The book edited by Larysa Ivshyna People of the Maidan. A chronicle is one of the books which connect the recent protest of real patriots in the center of Ukraine with today’s armed conflict in the east. There are people among us who took part in the events of the Revolution of Dignity in Maidan Nezalezhnosti and tried to find themselves in the photos.

“The contributors to the photo album captured the most difficult and the most painful period of the modern history of Ukraine, namely from November 21, 2013 to February 22, 2014. Namely the period of the protest of people against the corrupt top of criminals is brightly shown on the pages of the photo album. Professional journalists and photographers, and simply amateurs were able to convey all feelings and moods, and these are namely the moments to which you don’t pay attention. Leafing through the book, we felt as we were near the people in Maidan again and went through those events in the same way.

“The photos of modern days are very aptly combined with quotations from the past. They so aptly depict the events depicted in the photo that we were impressed. The boys liked very much the following captions to photos: Vitia, we are here!, Your rule will finish badly, Don’t beat. But most of all the boys like the words of Oleksandr Oles:

Spirit of Knight, bring us

Along a free path of life and movement

To quiet water,

To bright stars,

And in this great and terrible hour

Unite entire Ukraine

“This book inspires us and encourages to new victories in the eastern front. We are very thankful to the editorial office of Den and Larysa Ivshyna for finding an opportunity to send this book namely to our battalion. Hopefully, there will be an opportunity to distribute the copies of this book to other units.

“With great gratitude and respect, Staff of Battalion Aidar.”

“MAN, I CAN SEE YOUR DEEDS!”

Many people remember that during the many-thousand Sunday viches in Maidan, during the clashes in Hrushevsky St. on February 18 near Verkhovna Rada people were always followed by the eyes of God – from the painting of monumental artist Oleksandr Melnyk, Man, I can see your deeds! Oleksandr is one of the heroes of our photo album; we have recorded him several times in Maidan – after the crucial moments of the Revolution of Dignity. Today Oleksandr MELNYK tells about his impressions from our album, the photo works which brought him back to those winter events.

“After the annexation of Crimea, the battles in the east of Ukraine, the events of the Revolution of Dignity stayed in memories, in history. Not only the first peaceful protests were recalled all the rarer, but also the bloody beatings of the young people which raised the sleepy country, bringing to Maidan Kyiv bourgeois who were disillusioned after the Orange Revolution and didn’t care about politics. The unique atmosphere of spiritual unity of hundreds of extremely different people, united in their unbreakable resoluteness to wipe the garbage of cynic power of bandits out of their way. May the light souls of the Heavenly Sotnia forgive me, but we recalled their sacrifice all the rarer, because they were followed by many other hundreds,” the artist says, “And suddenly I received a        priceless present from Den, the photo album People of the Maidan. A chronicle. It seemed to me that I got out to Maidan again, to Hrushevsky and Instytutska streets. I saw the people I didn’t see before: the bell ringer from St. Michael Cathedral Ivan Sydor (photo by Ivan Liubysh-Kirdei) and people I will never see again: Serhii Nigoyan (photo by Ruslan Kaniuka), and surrealistic image of a person in a gas mask in the smoke in Hrushevsky St. on January 23, 2014 (photo by Mykola Tymchenko).”

According to Melnyk, “every photo is impressive, both in terms of content, information, spirit, mood, and artistic value.” “I bow low before Den’s photo masters, not only as professionals, but also courageous people: in many incidents it is clear that they were close to those who were killed. To convey the spirit of Maidan in such a way, we must be spiritually united with our people. Spirituality is stressed in the publication, it rises above the poetry of classics, which was written for many centuries, but as if about this Maidan. Of course, it will become one of my desk books, so that I could regularly look into the happy, suffering, hopeful, and resolute eyes of heroes of Maidan, which are more expressive than the eyes of God I depicted. Now they will say to me, ‘I see your deeds, man!’ And I want to repeat to all People of Maidan who with their participation, the values of their lives created this miracle in our history. You’re wonderful! I love you!” the participant of Maidan sums up.

Regular readers of Den/The Day shared their impressions from the new publications, in particular. Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25.

“THROUGH THESE TEXTS WE CAN SEE THE CONTINUITY OF OUR HISTORY IN PROBLEM JOINTS WE CAN FEEL NOW”

Roman YATSIV, art historian, professor, pro-rector of Lviv National Academy of Arts:

“I couldn’t but buy the new publication from Den’s Library, Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25. This book is especially valuable for me as a professional. Above all, as an author of the project ‘Ideas, meanings, interpretations of pictorial art. Anthology of Ukrainian thought of the 20th century.’ I must note that every publishing project of Den is very well motivated ideologically, because the newspaper always reacts to the challenges of social and cultural-ethic character, giving adequate answers to demands that arise literally in a blink of an eye.

“I believe that the choice of authors and texts in Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25 is very symbolical, because through these texts one can see the continuity of our history in complicated and dramatic collisions and manifestations, the problem joints that we recall now in the events that are taking place in Ukraine.

“It is very fortunate that the newspaper turns to such names as Serhii Krymsky and James Mace. My way to these names was special. In particular, the way to James Mace lied through tiny remarks from his publications in the newspaper Den and from several formulations I understood how great this person was. The book presents four texts by Mace which refer to fundamental questions of our history, our mentality as seen by a foreigner who practically became a Ukrainian, even on a gene level – through understanding of our heart and soul.

“I very much like the fact that the volume includes the materials which refer to external reception of Ukraine by foreigners: Mace has materials about journalists who wrote about Ukraine in some or other period. This became a revelation for me: in particular, I didn’t know about Lancelot Lawton. The thing is when I study the artistic process, I find many interesting personalities among Germans, Poles, French who were supporters and consistent sympathizers of Ukraine under condition of stateless existence of our country, supported Ukrainian initiatives, delivered speeches at various forums in the 1920s-1930s. For me namely this name published in Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25 became a revelation.

“As for Lina Kostenko’s work ‘The Principle of Spirituality of the 21st century,’ I know this and remember this because I delivered a lecture about it to my students earlier.

“So, in my opinion, the book Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25 should create the new quality of a citizen of Ukraine, because we cannot live only through emotions and spontaneous reaction to what is going on. We must become stronger, more motivated and responsible for how the state is going to be built, because our political audience so much lacks culture that as a result we can overcome problems through anger, rather than building through love and ability to honor the deep experiences that were created by outstanding people (both Ukrainians, and foreigners) who continue to live.

“So, I will repeat myself, Den’s publishing project is very well-timed and it will have a great prospect to create a different generation of Ukrainians who will change the entire Ukraine.”

“THIS IS THE EVIDENCE OF TIME”

Dmytro HOLOVENKO, head of the publishing department “Keys” of Volyn Eparchy of the UOC KP”:

“The books from the library of the newspaper Den are regularly present in the shop of our publishing house, which is located in the center of Lutsk, thus being available to those who come here on business. Moreover, only we in Lutsk provide the following service: a person can take the book to read for a small pay. Because books today are not cheap, and you can’t buy all of them. If a person says, ‘I    don’t have 100 hryvnias for a book,’ you can believe this. But you always have 10 hryvnias in your pocket. You pay it and borrow the book to read for as long as you like, we don’t have time limits. But I know that people will return the book, by rare exception. The person wants impression, s/he is overwhelmed with emotions, therefore s/he will give the book to read to his or her neighbor and relative. This is the way a decent book is preserved in a home library.

“The books from the series “Subversive Literature,” “Armor-Piercing Political Writing” are in a special demand. Today I have bought Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25. Why does our publishing house buy Den’s books? Because there is literature of one day, and there are works that will serve more than one generation. I always say that even purely newspaper texts published in a year time could make a separate book and it will be read as evidence of a certain period of time. A distinguishing feature of Den is that its authors are specialists in a certain sphere. These are excellent specialists, and a person who thinks today wants to read contemplations of a specialist.”

Prepared by Maria SEMENCHENKO, The Day; Natalia MARCHENKO, Tetiana KOZYRIEVA, The Day, Lviv; Natalia MALIMON, The Day, Lutsk