Helmet, dear friend!
My name is Lina Shkyler. I am 75 years old. I was born and raised in Kharkov, but I have been living in the USA for 23 years. More than 3 years ago, while browsing the Internet in search of information that interested me, I accidentally came across the site "Krasylov Evreisky" that interested and surprised me. The fact is that my parents are from these places: my father is from Krasylov, and my mother is from Starokonstantinov. I was surprised by the name of the site, because I knew for sure that, by the irony of bitter fate, there are no Jews in Krasilov. I met the editor of the site. It turned out to be Nikolay Pekarsky, a young man from Krasylov, who set his goal to revive the memory of the life and culture of the Jews who historically lived here for several centuries. I found out that a large number of people from all over the world, who have historical roots with Krasilov, are in lively correspondence with Nikolay. And this is not surprising. Nikolay turned out to be a very informative, sincere, interesting person, devoted to his voluntary work. The good memory of our ancestors forced many people to unite around this bright person and his site. The tragic events of World War II could not be touched upon in the course of our communication. We learned that the only last but bitter evidence of the presence of Jews in Krasylov and in this region are 3 graves of Jews shot by the fascists and their collaborators in 1942. and located near the village. Manivtsy and Rosolovtsy. Between 4,500 and 4,800 innocent people were shot. Nikolay visited these graves and provided us with a photo of the appalling state of the monuments erected in the late 1940s.
So, gradually, among our community, the idea of restoration or replacement of monuments arose for us, the last generation, which still remembers and knows firsthand about the horrors of the war and the tragedy of the Jewish people. This question was initiated by a former prisoner of the ghetto village. Kulchyny, one of the few who managed to avoid execution during the Holocaust, and now a resident of Khmelnytskyi A.P. Weiner, who turned to the relevant city structures for help and, even in 2013. wrote a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merlel in which he asked for material assistance. Unfortunately, the help was refused. However, this did not stop us, the idea of restoration of the monuments has already firmly taken hold of our minds. In August 2014 N. Pekarsky received official permission from Kyiv for the reconstruction/replacement of 2 monuments near Manivtsami. A fundraising appeal was published. A young businessman from Kyiv, Mikhail Vulakh, was involved in the case, and he opened a special account for this purpose. It was incredible, but by the spring of 2015. money for two graves was collected. In July 2015 the graves were visited by the director of the Khmelnytskyi charity foundation "Hesed Besht" I. Ratushny, who discussed with N. Pekarsky and A. Weiner the possible features and options of the project and became the coordinator of the upcoming works. He also obtained permission to replace the 3rd monument near Rosolovtsy, which will be replaced in the future. The question arose about the immediate supervisor and executor of the work. Due to the remoteness of his residence (Kyiv) and the presence of his own business, M. Vulakh could only be the treasurer.
Photos and materials on the topic of writing can be seen here.
I believe that we are extremely lucky that in this situation Nikolay Pekarsky took responsibility for the implementation of the restoration plans. He was the one who found the executors of the work, steadfastly attended the construction site, provided it with the necessary materials, being in the conditions of limited material possibilities and overcoming various small, and not very, conflict situations. Through your newspaper, I would like to convey our great gratitude to this person, without whom, I am sure, it would never have been possible to realize the huge amount of work that was carried out. I was constantly in contact with Nikolay and I know how he sincerely worried about the success of the restoration works, how he tirelessly monitored their progress, how he regularly reported on the funds spent. I bow before his sincere desire to pay a debt of remembrance to the innocent victims of fascism, to those shot people, whose graves still call for memory and justice
On behalf of our entire community, thank you very much, Nikolay, for your selfless work, energy and time, given to our idea, and I bow to you!
Sincerely Lina (Gita) Shkyler.
Zhanna Freiberg (Israel), Marina Raskina and Alexander Shkyler (USA) are happy to join my opinion.
