“Solid. The Life-Saving Footwear Factory” by Yuriy Skira receives “Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize”

“Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize” for 2024 has been presented to Yuriy Skira for his nonfiction work, “Solid. The Life-Saving Footwear Factory” (Choven Publishing House, 2023). The annual award recognizes outstanding writing that fosters Ukrainian-Jewish understanding and celebrates Ukraine’s multi-ethnic society. 

“Solid” tells the little-known story of Lviv’s Solid footwear factory, where Studite Brethren, with the blessing of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, hid Jews during the Holocaust. It is the story of Father Josef Peters, “Lviv’s Schindler,” a monk and priest who set up a successful venture to become the epicenter of a rescue operation organized by the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. During 1942-1944, the cellars of the factory turned into a hideout for Jewish men, women, and children condemned to death by the Nazi regime. There, along with monks, through searches, disease and malnutrition, they survived until the end of the occupation. 

Skira is a Ukrainian historian and religious scholar who holds a Ph.D. in historical sciences. His academic interests focus on issues related to the rescue of Jews during the Holocaust with the help of Ukrainian Greek Catholic clergy and monks. His book, “Beckoned: Studite Monks and the Holocaust” (Dukh i Litera, 2019), was short-listed for the 2021 “Encounter” prize in the nonfiction category.

The “Encounter” award is given in two categories: fiction (prose, poetry, drama) and nonfiction (historical works, biographies, memoirs, journalism, essays). This year’s winner was selected in the nonfiction category.

One of the jury members, Olexander Scherba, announced the winner: “I read these books with admiration. After each one, I thought, ‘This is the winner.’ Ultimately, we unanimously chose this book, as it tells a story Ukraine must know.” 

According to Iuliia Bentia, chief editor of the journal “Krytyka” and one of the jury members, this year the jury evaluated a diverse and professional range of books including literature, history, local studies, artistic publications, and autobiographical prose.

The nonfiction category finalists were: 

• Roman Myhalchuk, “Death and Survival During the Holocaust: The Terrain of Modern Rivne Region” (Rivne: Volynski Oberehy Publishing House, 2022)
• Petro Rykhlo, “The Plucked Strings of a Loud Lyre…”: German-Jewish Poets of Bukovyna (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2023) 
• Yevheniya Senik, “Because It Hurts” (Brustury: Discursus, 2023) 
• Yulia Stakhivska, “Sonya and the Game of Colors” (Kyiv: Dukh i Litera, 2022) 

The winner will receive a monetary prize of 6,000 euros: 4,000 euros for the author and 2,000 euros for the publisher. The four finalists will each receive a prize of 250 euros. 

The press conference was attended by Oleksandra Koval, director of the Ukrainian Book Institute; Natalia Fedushchak, communication director of the Ukrainian-Jewish Encounter Foundation; Ukrainian diplomat and publicist Olexander Scherba; “Krytyka” editor and jury member Iuliia Bentia; and historian, ethnopolitical scientist, museum curator, and public figure Vitaliy Nakhmanovych. 

Oleksandra Koval emphasized the significance of “Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize”, stating, “This award is crucial for fostering intercultural dialogue and combating Russian propaganda, which has long exploited the narrative of Ukrainian-Jewish hatred and misunderstanding.” Koval noted that since Ukraine gained independence in 1991, the country has overcome antisemitism at both the state and societal levels.

Natalia Fedushchak emphasized that eligible books should be written in Ukrainian, be printed in Ukraine, and preferably be original works. However, she noted that translated literature is also considered, as it’s equally important. “Ukrainians need to discover writers who wrote in Ukraine but remain unknown to both younger and older generations, as well as to the Ukrainian diaspora,” she said.

“The core idea of this award is to address the main problem hindering the healthy development of Ukrainian-Jewish relations: building a shared vision of the future,” added Vitaliy Nakhmanovych.

The jury included: 

Olexander Scherba — Ukrainian diplomat, publicist, former ambassador of Ukraine to Austria (2014–2021) 

Iuliia Bentia — Ph.D. in Art Studies, senior researcher at the Institute of Contemporary Art Problems, National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, and chief editor of the journal “Krytyka” 

Alexander Motyl — professor of political science at Rutgers University, Newark, as well as a writer and artist 

“Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize” was established by the Ukrainian-Jewish Encounter Foundation with the support of the NGO “Forum of Publishers.” As previously reported, the award was first presented in 2020 in the fiction category to Vasyl Makhno for his novel “The Eternal Calendar”. In 2021, the laureate was Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern for “The Anti-Imperial Choice: The Rise of Ukrainian-Jewish Identity”. In 2022, the award was not presented due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. In 2023, Sofia Andrukhovych won the award with her novel “Amadoka”.

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn