“I have read ‘The Trap’ in one breath...”

We continue to publish our readers’ reviews of the new books published by Den. Those who haven’t bought them yet should hurry, because the number of available copies is decreasing fast. Only a month has passed since the launch of our new books, the historical book Return to Tsarhorod and publicist triptych “The 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, at the Publisher’s Forum in Lviv, but the most part of the pressrun has been sold out. People are especially actively buying and sharing their impressions about the book Return to Tsarhorod. This is an important signal for all of us – in this difficult time the Ukrainians not just read, but choose guideline books for themselves. No less remarkable is the fact that the pressrun of the book compiled by the editor of the Den’s politics department Ivan Kapsamun about the Gongadze case has been sold out as well. Fifteen years have passed, but people continue to take interest in this case, which gives hope that it will be brought to the end, not dropped. Besides, it is a demonstrative example of readers' search for the answer to the question, when the war began and how. And unless we know when and why the war began, there won’t be an answer to the question, when it will end and what should be done for this. And the great demand among the readers for the new books published by Den is an additional emphasis for the process of looking for the answers.

Andrii TASHCHY, employee of the Internal Policy department at the Odesa City Council:

“I ordered ‘The Trap,’ or A Case without a Statute of Limitations. Its compiler is Ivan Kapsamun, my old-time university friend. I even bought two copies – one for me, and the other as a birthday present to our common friend. I had read it in one breath, though this was the first book in Ukrainian language ever, which I had read from the beginning to the end. Usually, I read only science books and anthologies in Ukrainian. And thanks to ‘The Trap’ I became acquainted more deeply with the problems which our society has almost forgotten. I am impressed that Den newspaper has a person who is working in that particular direction – the Gongadze-Podolsky case.

“I liked the book’s contents, so I ordered the two other ones from the trilogy. I want to fully comprehend the newspaper’s viewpoint on the events that are happening in our country. I was interested the most in the third book – Catastrophe and Triumph. Histories of Ukrainian Heroes, which tells of our soldiers on the frontline.

Photo courtesy of Andrii TASHCHY

“I learned about Den newspaper in general when I was still at university, when Larysa Ivshyna visited us in the Maxim Gorky Library. I was also invited to the Ostroh Club, for Ivan Kapsamun had been talking much about it. Unfortunately, I was not able to participate then. I follow the journalists of the Den newspaper on Facebook and read their articles.”

Interviewed by Natalia BEZVOZIUK, Odesa

“The Trap” is a cure for the society’s amnesia

Some politicians of today would really want Ukrainians never to remember the events of 15 years ago

“The Trap,” a new book from the Den’s Library is the one I would call a cure for amnesia of the Ukrainian society. Fifteen years has passed since the murder of Georgy Gongadze – and this gruesome event is just being forgotten now. Many other events happened in our newest history: the Orange Maidan, The Revolution of Dignity, the war for real independence. The fifth president has now come to power, but the crimes of the second are still unanswered for. Given that fact, how can we make the fourth responsible for his crimes? Will it be too long before his turn comes?

I have my own memories of September 2000, because it was the time of a campaign for freedom of journalists, organized by Express, Lviv newspaper. The rally was directed against the pressure that was being put on the independent press via lawsuits. As you know, this action was supported by Georgy Gongadze as well. My colleagues from Lviv, among whom were Svitlana Martynets, now famous for her high-profile investigations, including the one after “Dr. Pi,” and Dmytro Dobrodomov, now MP, were joined by journalists from leading newspapers of Volyn and Rivne areas. The Journalists went to Kyiv on carts in order to draw the attention of parliament to the grave situation with freedom of speech in Ukraine. And just before the morning when we had to enter the capital, Georgy Gongadze disappeared. The shocking news was reported by Svitlana Martynets. With great difficulty the caravan of three carts had broke through and traveled to the parliament in Kyiv, and we all know very well what happened next...

But those things are becoming forgotten nowadays. Therefore, we need a cure for this amnesia, which, as we know, can be partial, when the memory drops only particular pieces of knowledge or ideas. However, retrograde amnesia is more widespread in our society, which tries not to remember the events from a certain period of time. Some politicians of today would really want Ukrainians never to remember the events of 15 years ago.

Hence, “The Trap” is precisely a bitter, but very useful potion that makes the memory come back and compels us never to allow the perpetrators’ good sleep and safe retirement.

In a sense, “The Trap” is also a document of the era, which is still going on. However, I am an optimist and I do hope that we will prevail; a fair trial will call those people who had dragged Ukraine into this “trap” to justice, and the criminals will see the appropriate verdict...

And yet, regrettably, the history of Ukrainian lawlessness has not come to an end. I am certain that Den is yet to prepare the new issues in the future – about the current “Roshen” government.

Kost Harbarchuk is editor of the media, authorities, and local self-governance department of Volyn-Nova newspaper, Lutsk