Over the past 80 years, the history of Ukrainians was so mangled that even the scientists themselves often do not know what really the truth and fiction is

For decades, we were taught that Jews and Ukrainians are enemies who have nothing in common; Soviet propaganda identified individual perpetrators of this or that nationality with all the people. “Divide and conquer” - this principle has worked always and unconditionally: it is much easier to manage people, which has no roots, no friends, and is surrounded by enemies.

Today, the ideological propaganda works with no less success. Despite the huge number of the sources of information in the 21st century and an opportunity to compare and analyze the facts and events, we often tend to believe in already “processed” subjects. As a trivial example, on my page under almost each post there are 2-3 comments, in which they write something like this, “Jews are bad, they have seized power in Ukraine”… This is the case when the conclusion “bad \ good” is drawn on account of ethnic descent, with a few people are identified with the whole nation.

And yet, historically fates of Jews and Ukrainians have intertwined very closely and more evidence is being found. Recently, in Lviv, they have opened the exhibition, which represents the articles of Judaica and Jewish life from the collections of local museums. Among the rarities there is a unique exhibit - a decorative bottle, dating from the late 19th century. Inside it on a thin rod there is an artfully decorated egg: its shell is covered with text in Hebrew. The words of the text are the early and little-known version of the present Israeli anthem - Hatikva.

The text, which is now known to every Israeli and which is sung at all the official ceremonies and represents the State of Israel in the world, was written by a native of Zolochiv Naftali Imber in 1886.

The author of this work of art is microcalligrapher Jacob Dreizin from Ukrainian Oleksandriia. As a hobby, he chose the writing of Hebrew texts on a thin shell of chicken and pigeon eggs. After a hundred of years, we can admire his works.

Until now, many people, especially of the older generation, believe that Jews and Ukrainians have nothing in common except mutual hatred and hostility. But the facts are an obstinate thing. For centuries, Ukrainians and Jews lived side by side, and still continue to coexist peacefully. The more we know about it, the clearer our history will be for us, the more tolerant and patient we will be.