Kostiantyn Tkachuk Lectures on The Travel of Israel Friedlander and Bernard Cantor in Ukraine

This lecture, delivered on June 1, 2026 explores the story of Israel Friedlander—a world famous scholar, member of the JDC Board, and head of the JDC Committee on Russia (including Ukraine)—and Bernard Cantor, a rabbi of the Free Synagogue in Flushing, New York and JDC volunteer assigned to Eastern Galicia in 1920. Both men were brutally murdered in Ukraine in July 1920 during their humanitarian mission to aid Jewish victims of the post-WWI crisis, famine, and pogroms in Eastern Europe. The talk explores issues of historical memory surrounding the “Friedlander—Cantor mission.”

Kostiantyn Tkachuk is an independent researcher and the recipient of the 2025 Ruth and David Musher/JDC Archives Fellowship.