- May 11, 2026
- 10:23 pm
- Ukraine
On May 10–11, 2026, in the city of Balta, Odessa region, the Days of Jewish Culture took place — an event that brought together the community, museum workers, educators, librarians, city guests, and everyone who considers the Jewish history of Odesa not an archival reference, but a part of living memory. The first day of the festival started on May 10: the program included the transfer of books, a fair, the opening of the Balta Jewish History Museum, and the screening of the film “Shtetl.” Details were reported by “Suspilne Odesa”.
For the Israeli audience, this story sounds especially close. Balta is not just a small town on the map of Ukraine. It is a place where the Jewish past was part of the urban fabric: synagogues, crafts, families, language, holidays, cemeteries, memories of pre-war life, and the pain of the Balta ghetto.
The event was held within the framework of the UNESCO project in Ukraine with the support of the European Union. This detail is important: it was not just about a local initiative, but about preserving cultural heritage in a country that continues to live under war conditions while trying to maintain a connection with the multinational history of its cities.
Balta opened the festival with books, music, and Jewish cuisine
The first day began with a ceremonial opening and the transfer of books to the Balta community. According to “Suspilne Odesa,” 22 libraries received 180 books by Jewish authors translated into Ukrainian. This was reported by the project coordinator and head of the board of the charitable foundation “Memory. Dignity. Freedom” Alisa Shevchuk.
This is not just a beautiful gesture.
When books by Jewish authors enter Ukrainian libraries, memory ceases to be just a community affair. It becomes part of school reading, urban conversation, family interest, cultural space where anyone can come.
Festival organizer Pavel Kozlenko explained that for him, Balta is a personal place of memory. His mother was born here, and his great-grandfather and great-grandmother were killed in the Balta ghetto. Therefore, the idea of doing something for the city was not a formality for him, but an internal duty to his family and history.
After the opening, a fair began. Participants presented six Jewish holidays, with “Haman’s ears”, kosher wine, juice, and nuts on the tables. The program was accompanied by songs in Yiddish, performances by Balta musical groups, and children’s workshops dedicated to Jewish traditions.
This format is important for its liveliness. Jewish culture here was shown not as a closed museum showcase, but as a language, taste, music, children’s curiosity, and urban meeting.
Program for May 10
According to the program of the Days of Jewish Culture, on May 10 at 11:00, there was a ceremonial opening and presentation of gift books by Jewish authors in Ukrainian translation to the Balta city territorial community.
From 12:00 to 15:00, there was a fair of Jewish cuisine, performances by Balta city groups, and songs in Yiddish performed by Yulia Chebanova. This was one of the warmest blocks of the day: through music and food, the festival brought history closer to people.
From 14:00 to 15:00, there was a tour of the synagogue and the ceremonial opening of the Balta Jewish History Museum.
At 15:30–17:30, guests watched the film “Shtetl” — a Ukrainian-French war drama from 2022. After the screening, a meeting with the lead actress Anisia Stasevich was planned.
Museum in the synagogue: why the opening became the main event
One of the central moments of the festival was the opening of the Balta Jewish History Museum. It was located on the third floor of the local synagogue. The head of the Jewish religious community of Balta Vadim Vinyarsky said that once there were 23 or even 25 synagogues in the city, and Jews made up a significant part of the population. According to him, the synagogue building was purchased in 2015, after which the idea to create a museum of the Jewish shtetl appeared.
This detail changes the scale of the event. It is not about a one-time exhibition, but an attempt to return the city to its own memory — not invented, not decorative, not convenient, but real.
The museum’s exposition covers the period from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century. The earliest materials date back to 1768, and the exhibition ends with exhibits from the Second World War. For Balta, this is almost three centuries of history gathered in one space: from the life of the Jewish shtetl to the catastrophe that changed the fate of all of Europe.
For Israel, there is a separate nerve here. Many families in Israel have roots in Ukrainian cities and shtetls — in Odesa, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Chernivtsi, Podolia, Bessarabia, in Odesa. Sometimes these connections are preserved in surnames, sometimes in old photographs, sometimes only in a family phrase: “ours were from there.”
That is why such events in Ukraine should not be perceived as purely local. They concern a large Jewish map of memory, on which Balta occupies its place.
In the middle of this story, it is important to see the modern media meaning. For NAnovosti — Israel News | Nikk.Agency, the festival in Balta shows that the Ukrainian-Jewish theme is not limited to diplomacy, war, or political statements. It lives in libraries, synagogues, school quests, films, museum exhibitions, and in people who come there not for protocol, but because they feel a personal connection to the past.
“Shtetl”: the film as a conversation about war, memory, and support
The first day of the festival ended with the screening of the film “Shtetl.” This is a Ukrainian-French war drama presented in Balta by the lead actress, Odesa native Anisia Stasevich. According to her, the film breaks stereotypes about the confrontation between Ukrainians and Jews and shows their mutual support.
Separately, “Suspilne Odesa” clarifies that for filming in the Kyiv region, decorations of a Jewish shtetl were built, which have been preserved to this day. An international team from Ukraine, France, and the USA worked on the film.
Today, this plot is perceived especially acutely. The story of the disappearing Jewish shtetl sounds not only as a look into the past. Against the backdrop of the Russian war against Ukraine, it becomes a conversation about the fragility of home, culture, language, human security, and normal life.
Second day: ghetto, school quest, and conversation with teachers
On May 11, the program was more focused on memory and education. From 10:00 to 10:30, participants visited the memorial to the prisoners of the Balta ghetto and the Righteous Among the Nations.
This was one of the most important points of the entire program. Without the memory of the ghetto, the history of Jewish Balta would be incomplete. Culture, music, cuisine, and books give life, but the memorial reminds why this life needs to be protected from oblivion.
From 11:00 to 12:00, a quest “Jewish Balta” was held for schoolchildren, and the winners were awarded. This format helps children not just hear a set of dates, but walk in the footsteps of urban history, see it as part of their space.
From 13:00 to 14:00, there was a meeting of a representative of the author team for developing textbooks for schoolchildren with history teachers of the Balta city territorial community. Gifts were also presented. This is an important educational layer of the festival: memory becomes sustainable only when it enters schools, lessons, textbooks, and conversations between generations.
At 14:30–15:30, the ceremonial closing of the Days of Jewish Culture took place.
How festival guests reacted
According to “Suspilne Odesa,” visitor Frida, who came to the festival with her friend Irina, said that such events help preserve historical memory because Jewish culture is directly connected with the history of Balta. She especially liked the performance of Jewish songs.
Balta resident and English teacher Larisa noted that about 20,000 Jews once lived in the city. According to her, the festival gave her a sense of calm and positive emotions.
Among the guests was also a foreign writer, volunteer of the organization Bake for Ukraine Felicity Spector. She said that her grandmother and grandfather came from Dnipro and probably left there around 1905 during the pogroms. Her presence added another layer to the festival — the connection of Ukrainian Jewish history with emigration, family memory, and today’s interest in roots.
Balta in these two days showed that Jewish heritage cannot be held by a single memorial plaque. It needs books, a museum, language, songs, films, excursions, school routes, an honest conversation about the ghetto, and people ready to do this work not once a year, but constantly.
For Odesa, this is a reminder of its own multinational foundation. For Ukraine, an example of how during the war you can not only protect the present but also restore the complex memory of the past.
For Israel, this is another signal: in Ukrainian cities, they continue to return Jewish history to the public space. Not perfectly, not without pain, not without complex questions, but lively and truly.
That is why the Days of Jewish Culture in Balta do not look like a small regional festival, but as part of a big conversation about who remembers, how they remember, and what they will pass on.
