The first meeting in four years of the renowned Council of Jewish Sports Veterans, one of the respected informal institutions of the Dnipro Jewish Community, took place. The gathering was held in the conference hall of the administrative building of the “Golden Rose” Central Synagogue complex, with five council members currently in the city participating.
Addressing the meeting were council members Yevgeniy Gennadiyovych Chesnokov, Honored Coach of the USSR and Ukraine in rowing, who trained hundreds of prominent athletes, and Oleg Lvovych Tsvetov, Honored Coach of the USSR and Ukraine in swimming, who, at ninety years of age, continues to work and coach. They emphasized the importance of continuing the Council’s activities even under these difficult circumstances, when most of its members are forced to be outside of Ukraine and many have already passed away. Despite this, they stressed, the Council’s work to preserve the memory of the great contribution of Jews to the development of sports and the upbringing of worthy citizens of Ukraine must continue. The most important task facing the Council is to involve new members in its activities.
Given the current circumstances and its reduced numbers, the Council did not make a decision to elect a new permanent leader to replace Leonid Petrovych Horodnyi, who passed away. Instead, it entrusted the functions of chairman to the Council’s long-standing secretary, Zoara Pudykova, tasking her with maintaining contact with all members, determining the date and time of meetings, and managing all organizational documentation.
“Our organization has existed since 2003 and was founded by Eduard Lvovych Akselrod and Ilya Yefymovych Katsnelson. Initially, it was very large; we held lessons in schools and did extensive work; the presidium alone consisted of six people,” shared Zoara Pudykova. “Under the subsequent chairman, Chaim Levy Horodnyi, we even managed to secure the creation of a special exhibition in the third hall of our Jewish Museum, which tells the story of the achievements of Jewish athletes and coaches. We are confident that, relying on the support of the community and the care and attention of our dear Rebbetzin Chana Kaminezki, we must try to revive our organization. I call upon all Jews who were once involved in sports to contact me, join our Council, and together continue to spread information about the Jewish influence in sports and the sporting glory of the Jews of Dnipro.”
