CEDAR PARK, Texas — The Ukrainian war has brought up a lot of emotions for the Jewish community. The conflict between Russia has deep roots with the Holocaust and antisemitism in the region.

What You Need To Know

  • Historians say the war in Ukraine has a dark history with the holocaust and antisemitism

  • Russian troops have bombed several cultural sites in Ukraine, including a Holocaust memorial

  • President Putin uses “denazification” to justify attack on Ukraine, despite its Jewish president

  • The border city of Uzhhorod in Ukraine was part of many different countries, including the former Soviet Union

One of the more recent examples is the bombing of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial in Ukraine. Nazis shot and killed over 30,000 Jews there, one of the deadliest mass shootings in history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also used “denazification” to justify his attack on Ukraine, although the country’s president is Jewish and there is no evidence to suggest any Nazi activity in Ukraine.

The Jewish community in Texas is pointing out that this repeated erasure of history is why it’s so important to remember our past.

Ashley Aycock is part of that community. She spends a lot more time catching up on the news. Watching coverage on the war in Ukraine is almost a daily routine.

The native Texan has ties to the region. Her family on her mother’s side were from the Western Ukrainian border town of Uzhhorod. Almost everyone but Aycock’s grandparents, Robert and Eda Landes, were killed in the Holocaust. They were visiting the U.S. when their family was sent to the concentration camps.

“Hitler invaded and they couldn’t go back,” Aycock said.

Uzhhorod has been through a lot of changes. First it was part of Hungary, then Czechoslovakia. After Germany invaded the city in WWII, the Soviet Union annexed it to become part of Ukraine today.

But as Aycock knows all too well, antisemitism has been part of Ukrainian history long before World War II. 

“Where my grandfather’s from, they didn’t even count Jews in census,” she said. “They weren’t even counted as people that lived there.”

Aycock says her grandparents didn’t like to talk about the past. For many Jewish people, the conflict with Russia and Ukraine is a reminder of their painful history.

“How awful. We did this already, we’ve done this already,” Aycock said.

Holocaust historians in Texas say the attack of cultural sites like Babyn Yar in Ukraine is Putin’s attempt to erase the past and distort the memory of the Holocaust.

“The current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, like much of contemporary politics, follows in the fault lines of the past,” Dr. Nils Roemer, The Ackerman Center for Holocaust studies director at UT Dallas said.

But pain isn’t the only emotion Aycock is feeling watching the war. She’s also proud to see the resiliency and strength of Ukrainians fighting for their homeland, just like her ancestors did.

“My mom always said, ‘Remember where you come from,’” she said.

Uzhhorod has now turned into a hub for humanitarian efforts and a sanctuary for refugees.

“We’re not going to sit there in silence and let you destroy our people just because they’re different than us,” Aycock said.