In the Ukrainian village where the father of Yitzhak Rabin and writer Haim Hazaz were born, Putin’s soldiers looted an Israeli flag from the library, which was gifted to the village by the state of Israel.

Let’s think about the symbolism of this action: Russian soldiers take the flag of Israel as a trophy from a Ukrainian village.

Between the forests of the Chernobyl disaster zone, closed to visitors, and Bucha — the site of genocide perpetrated by the Russian army in the suburbs of Kyiv, lies the Ukrainian village of Sidorovychi, where the classic of Hebrew literature Haim Azaz and Nehemia Rabichev — the father of Yitzhak were born.

Original and full version of the article – (Eng) Ukrainian Jewish Encounter.

At the end of the 19th century, both the village and the entire region were often part of the “Pale of Settlement.”

In 1886, Nehem Rabichev was born in Sidorovychi. At the age of 18, he emigrated to the USA (1904) and there changed his surname to Rabin. After moving to the Land of Israel, he had his firstborn son – the future Prime Minister of the State of Israel Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995).

Nehemia Rabichev was a member of the Tel Aviv City Council for many years, one of the first employees of the Israel Electric Corporation, and a member of the Executive Committee of the trade unions.

Twelve years after Nehemia Rabichev’s birth, the famous future Hebrew writer Haim Azaz (1898 — 1973), the first laureate of the Israel Prize for Literature (1953) and a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, was born in the same village.

His father managed a sawmill, so the future writer’s childhood was spent in a small house in the middle of a dense forest.

This forest near the Ukrainian village became the setting for a dramatic plot and one of the natural characters in Azaz’s first novel “In the Forest” (1930, Tel Aviv). Descriptions of nature and forest life from this novel later became classics of Hebrew literature.

Return to the Roots

The connection between Israel and Sidorovychi was renewed in 2011, when, on the initiative of the head of the educational project “Limmud” Haim Chesler, a memorial plaque was installed in the village in honor of Nehemia Rabichev and his children.

A memorial plaque in honor of Nehemia Rabichev and his children

Nehemia’s grandson and Yitzhak’s son Yuval Rabin participated in the opening ceremony.

“My father, like me, was born in Israel. But echoes of the place where my grandfather was born resonated in our family. For example, my father loved Ukrainian borscht and dumplings. It is very touching for me to visit my grandfather’s homeland — I have returned to the roots,” Yuval Rabin told the press at the time.

Next to the memorial sign, the flag of Israel was installed, and books about Israel and works of Jewish literature were donated to the village library in the local House of Culture.

“It was very scary”

The House of Culture planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s birth on March 1, 2022. But it was not meant to be. Five days before this date, on February 24, 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

The village found itself in the path of the invaders on the way to Kyiv — the capital of Ukraine. Passing through the Chernobyl zone, Russian soldiers entered Sidorovychi on February 25. Thus began 35 days of brutal occupation.

“It was very scary. We were bombed and looted. Seven houses were completely destroyed, and 52 houses were partially damaged. The House of Culture, where many children went, was severely damaged. During the Russian occupation, all the windows were completely broken, and the roof and doors were smashed. The library was also severely damaged, and many books were lost,” says the director of the House of Culture in Sidorovychi, Tatyana Nikolaevna Mukhoid.

“Russian soldiers went from house to house looting. If they weren’t opened, they blew up doors and windows, stealing everything they could — household appliances and food. People lived in fear. Those who could, left the village. There was a shortage of food and even bread. Neighbors shared what they could. We lived without electricity and water,” Tatyana continues.

The memorial plaque in honor of the Rabin family was moved by local residents to the library, which became a shelter for that single commemorative sign symbolizing the international connections of this village.

A characteristic moment: Russian soldiers, before retreating from the village, stole not only washing machines from the homes of peaceful residents.

Putin’s soldiers stole the flag of Israel from the library, which was gifted to the village during the opening of the memorial plaque.

Let’s think about the symbolism of this action: Russian soldiers take the flag of Israel as a trophy from a Ukrainian village.

When the story of the village of Sidorovychi became known to the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, his reaction was immediate. On the ambassador’s orders, a flag of Israel was delivered to the village — to replace the flag stolen by the Russian occupiers; medicine was also delivered.

In the liberated Ukrainian village, which gave Israel such outstanding figures, there is now once again an Israeli flag.

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