“…my worst fear has come true: I am inside the new Executed Renaissance.
“As in the 1930s, Ukrainian artists are being killed, manuscripts are disappearing, and memory is being erased.
“Times seem to merge and freeze in anticipation of the decision: I am looking into the black soil for Slobozhanshchyna Not only for the notes of one of us but for all the lost Ukrainian texts at once: Part Two of “Valdshnepy” by KhlovyKulich plays StossHis last poems are diaries holodomor times, the Ukrainian incunabula burned in the Kiev library in the year 64. All our losses, from incunabula to Volodymyr’s Diaryappear as one wonderful text that can never be read again … “
This is what the Ukrainian poetess wrote Victoria Amelina In the preface to the found and published memoirs of Volodymyr Vakulenko …
Volodymyr Vakulenko He was kidnapped, tortured and killed by the Russians at the start of the war. His body was found in a mass grave after the evacuation of Izium – 447 bodies were found and exhumed from many mass graves. Vakulenko was identified through DNA analysis.
Victoria Amelina found and published Vakulenko’s diaries kept during the occupation.
It was Victoria Amelina He was killed in a Russian terrorist attack. She died on July 1 in Dnipro, in the Mechnikov Hospital. She was a Ukrainian writer and public figure, who was the thirteenth victim of the horrific Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk.
A member of the Ukrainian PEN, as well as a director of documentaries on war crimes in the Truth Hounds organization, Victoria was in Kramatorsk on June 27 with a delegation of Colombian journalists and writers. While they were having dinner at the RIA Lounge downtown, a Russian precision Iskander missile hit the building. Victoria was seriously injured. Paramedics and doctors in Kramatorsk and Dnipro did everything they could to save her life, but unfortunately, the injuries proved fatal.
Writers, activists, journalists, and supporters of her work have all been Write an obituary and publish it In memory of Victoria. I have been reading their love letters, their reminiscences, and their expressions of immense sadness, admiration and gratitude for this amazing woman.
“Vika left on July 1. On the birthday of Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was executed by the Russian occupiers, she herself searched for and published his memoirs.
“Yes, as if Volodymyr was calling her. As if his strength – his story – was not enough to testify before heaven and earth to posterity about the new Renaissance. Vika was the first to all of us who knew about this new elitist extermination, to name it – in the same preface to Vakulenko’s memoirs quoted by everyone today “.
Oksana Zabuzhko, an outstanding Ukrainian writer, poet, essayist and thinker, wrote:
“And now, Vika Amelina’s unwritten works are in the same row. And she is right there among them: Kulish, Pidmohelny, Khvilovy, Zherov, Simonenko, Khorska, Stoss … And Volodymyr Vakulenko is the last in the row.
“May she have the highest heaven in the highest platonic banquets.
“And to all of us – strength to revenge until victory.”
Victoria was known for her generosity, immense talent, and sense of humor. She was also admired for her remarkable moral compass and unwavering dedication, which were buttressed by her quiet and profound courage. Her loss has left an indescribable void in the hearts of countless people both in Ukraine and around the world. Her widespread love and admiration was a testament to her importance as a cherished Ukrainian personality.
Victoria has been collecting The Hague material since the spring of 2022: trips, meetings with people, taped and unrecorded interviews. After the Russian invasion in February 2022, she trained as a war crimes researcher. This has required her to venture into active conflict zones and witness first-hand the horrific scenes of extreme violence and immense suffering.
I have already Written about our implemented renaissance. A very dark place in our history. The term was first proposed by the famous Ukrainian literary critic Yuriy Lavrinenko (who was also repressed in his time), and used it as a title for a collection of the best texts of poetry and prose from the 1920s and 1930s. But what does this term mean?
Translating “Rozstriliane vidrodzhennia” to “Executed Renaissance” in English. Refers to the literary and artistic generation of the 1920s and early 1930s in Ukraine, which produced highly artistic works that impressed the world with their novelty. Unfortunately, this generation was suppressed by the Stalinist totalitarian regime in a short period.
The Soviets did everything they could to eradicate the Ukrainian identity at that time. The Russians are doing everything they can to eradicate Ukrainian identity now.
Time and time again, the Ukrainian people had to overcome the darkest chapters. I had no doubt that we would win again.
But the price we pay is unbearable.
Victoria Amelina knew the lists of targeted activists and intellectuals, but she had to be there, she had to help, to set an example for others.
She was an amazingly gifted writer, war crimes investigator, lovable wife, and mother and daughter. She was also a wonderful Ukrainian. DM