Priest Methodically Reveals Ukrainian Jews’ Fate

Title: A Priest Methodically Reveals Ukrainian Jews’ Fate
Source: New York times
Author: By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Date of Publication:  October 6, 2007

Vocabulary:

underwrite
verb [T] underwrote, underwritten
1 If a bank or other organization underwrites an activity, it gives it financial support and takes responsibility for paying any costs if it fails.

2 SPECIALIZED If a company underwrites an insurance policy, someone’s property, etc., they have an agreement to pay out money in cases of damage or loss.

underwriter
noun [C]

ravine
noun [C]
a deep narrow valley with steep sides

hut
noun [C]
a small, simple building, usually consisting of one room:
a mountain hut

writhe
verb [I]
1 to make large twisting movements with the body:
The pain was so unbearable that he was writhing in agony.
She was writhing around/about on the ground.

2 INFORMAL to experience a very difficult or unpleasant situation or emotion, such as extreme embarrassment:
relent
verb [I] SLIGHTLY FORMAL
to act in a less severe way towards someone and allow something that you had refused to allow before:
Her parents eventually relented and let her go to the party.
The security guard relented and let them through.

relentless
adjective
continuing in a severe or extreme way:
relentless criticism/pressure
relentless heat

relentlessly
adverb
She has campaigned relentlessly for her husband’s release from prison.

perish
verb [I]
1 to die, especially in an accident or by being killed, or to be destroyed:
Three hundred people perished in the earthquake.
He believes that Europe must create closer ties or it will perish.

2 UK If material such as rubber or leather perishes, it decays and starts to break into pieces:
Sunlight has caused the rubber to perish.

perishable
adjective
describes food that decays quickly:
It’s important to store perishable food in a cool place.

perishables
plural noun
items of food that decay quickly

stint (PERIOD)
noun [C]
a fixed or limited period of time spent doing a particular job or activity:
He has just finished a stint of compulsory military service.
Perhaps her most productive period was her five-year stint as a foreign correspondent in New York.

(from Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)

Summary:

During the WWII 1.5 million Jews of Ukraine were shot and buried. During all these years, the location of the collective graves has been unknown for most of the people, and the issue forgotten. Rev. Patrick Desbois has been the responsible of recording witnesses’ stories and founding unmarked graves, with his research he has contributed to the persistence of memory and history of Ukraine. It is remarkable the response of the witnesses, they have found relief in finding a legitimate person to tell their stories, stories which they never told. As a Christian priest- who comes from a secular family- he enhances the Christian-Jewish mutual understanding.

Personal Reaction:

It is remarkable what Rev. Debois has been doing, his work undertakes that of a journalist, listening and recording people’s stories. He has been able to reach to everyone, and witnesses of mass slaughter found relief in talking about the past. Genocide has been hidden from Ukraine public knowledge, first by the Nazis, then by the Soviets. This person, Rev. Patrick Debois, knows the importance of history and true facts. For me, it is an invaluable work that must continue.