Jewish-Ukrainian Relations Two Solitudes

Consists of two essays prepared for two conferences in 1982 by the authors (a Jew and a Ukrainian), both professors of political science, which examine the perceptions of Jews and Ukrainians towards each other in an attempt to further understanding between the two groups. Surveys the history of Jews in the Ukraine, and Jewish-Ukrainian relations. In the view of Ukrainians, Jews were associated with alien rulers from the 17th-18th centuries when they fulfilled administrative and financial functions for the Polish ruling class; thus, they were caught in the middle during the Chmielnicki uprising in 1648. Jews tended to view Ukrainians as primitive peasants, and did not understand their national aspirations. Jewish-Ukrainian relations were best during 1917-1920 when the independent Ukrainian government granted Jews national autonomy. Concludes that "only when the conditions of foreign domination are eradicated, for both Jews and Ukrainians, many of the problems in Jewish-Ukrainian relations may be resolved".