Collective Memories of a Lost Paradise

Author’s Visits to Ukraine Inform History and Inspire a Memoir

In 2011, Robert Belenky set out on a trip for the Ukraine. His goal was to record the memories of Jews who lived through one of the most tumultuous times in history, the era spanning post Revolutionary Russia, the Holocaust, and World War II

His interest in the subject is lifelong, an unintentional gift from his father, Max Belenky, a Russian Jew who, barred from the land, wanted to be a farmer. He emigrated to the United States and, after the Revolution returned as a consultant to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He was instrumental in bringing tractors to Jewish collective farms. And, as head of a tractor team, Max also taught people how to use this new farm equipment.