A word regarding the title of my blog

Some readers may be wondering why the title of my blog is "My Fulbright Scholarship at EUNU - Luhansk, Ukraine" when I am no longer at V. Dahl East Ukrainian National University.

I thought about changing the title of my blog to reflect my current location in Vinnytsia, but I ultimately decided keep the current title, because my work here is a continuation of my work in Luhansk.  I would not be in Vinnytsia today, if it had not been for Olga's ambitious and important project at V. Dahl EUNU.

Secondly, I am leaving title intact as a tribute to the wonderful students and professors in Luhansk.  Sadly, V. Dahl EUNU no longer exists.  The war put an end to that great university, and this is my small way of honoring the hard work and incredible successes of Olga and her colleagues who made it possible for deaf and hard of hearing students to attend the university for the very first time in 2011.  I don't want the university or their pioneering work to be forgotten. 

Gorky Park Revisited

In an earlier post (Gorky Park), I related a sad conversation I had with a dear friend born during the reign of Josef Stalin.  She mentioned that thousands people had been murdered and then buried in an area that is now Gorky Park.  Reading Bloodlands, an exceptional but very sad book by Timothy Snyder, I have since learned that the Soviet NKVD (secret police) dug at a minimum 87 mass graves in and around Vinnytsia.  My mind cannot fathom that deed, and I would like to remind readers that this figure is only for Vinnytsia.  The NKVD did it's murderous work in many, many cities throughout Ukraine and the Soviet Union.