The Untold Story of Ukraine's Cultural Legacy -- "Shchedryk," Known as Carol of the Bells

[ancianita]

from Timothy Snyder...

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has now been underway for nearly four years. This winter’s most spectacular performance of Shchedryk was in Paris where, sadly, the Ukrainian origins of the song were all but invisible. It is wonderful that we cheer ourselves up with this song. But we might, at the same time, acknowledge the debt to other people.

This is the fourth winter that Ukrainians have spent fighting a horrible war in horrible conditions. Ukraine resisted Russia’s invasion, and keeps resisting. In countless ways, this helps the rest of us to live normally: to treat Christmas conventionally, to sing songs unmindfully, to take for granted that spring will follow winter. The Ukrainians, to us, are the generous ones. It seems that the least that we could do is remember them while we sing their song.

https://snyder.substack.com/p/o-generous-one?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#media-c7f95c5f-54b7-457b-ae95-7847119ca208