In Ukraine, people are faced with difficult decisions: should I flee or stay? Should I defend the country or my family?
Image: Kat Menschik
A conversation with the Ukrainian writers Tanja Maljartschuk, Katja Petrowskaja and the author Jurko Prochasko about civil courage in everyday wartime, Russian propaganda and the German affinity for Greater Russianism.
Jurko Prochasko, you live in Lviv. How is the situation?
Jurko Prochasko: I just got back from a – you can’t even call it a walk, but I was outside. Today is a very sunny, although quite cold day with sub-zero temperatures. There are a lot of refugees in the city. Apparently they don’t just want to see themselves as refugees, i.e. as depressed, declassed, delocalized people, but want to feel life in Lemberg. They go to cafés with their families and eat in restaurants, if any are still open. They obviously enjoy this big city with its cultural aura. When I saw that, I thought that this is not only the case for Ukrainian refugees here in western Ukraine, but certainly also for those who have gone abroad. They certainly don’t just want to feel like displaced persons there, but also as people who belong, who want to live and enjoy life. We are very dependent on the willingness to welcome, the courtesy and openness of the host companies. This is a very precious treasure. So please, don’t just see us as disenfranchised, but also as part of our common European culture – as people who want to and can live it.
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