Celebrating Women’s History Month: Rare Images of the Winter War by Photojournalist Thérèse Bonney

In the Autumn of 1939 Thérèse Bonney traveled to Finland to photograph preparations for the Olympic Games in Helsinki to be held the following year. Instead, she became a war correspondent. With World War II already underway, Bonney was one of few photographers in Finland as tensions with the neighboring Soviet Union grew. Bonney photographed Finnish military training operations leading up to the Soviet invasion on November 30, 1939. Throughout the ensuing Winter War she photographed civilian evacuations, relief operations, and meetings of Finnish leaders — work for which she was awarded the White Rose of Finland medal. The event would change the trajectory of her photographic career. Previously focused on French art and design, Bonney would go on to photograph throughout World War II, leaving an important record of the effect of war on civilian populations. Additional images of Bonney’s work in Europe during WWII can be seen in these previous postings: Wrapping up Women’s History Month: Selections from the Thérèse Bonney photograph collection at The Bancroft Library and Thérèse Bonney: Art Collector, Photojournalist, Francophile, Cheese Lover.

Still more is available via the Library’s Digital Collections site and the Finding Aid to the Thérèse Bonney Photograph Collection.


War is not an answer: Ukraine 2022

In the face of unfolding horrendous tragedy in Ukraine, I was remembering my “families and friends” in Kyiv, Minsk, and Moscow. There was this Soviet saying- Znanie Sila (Knowledge is power). In face of this tragedy, as a librarian, I was thinking of doing my part by presenting the readers of this blog with some choices on information sources.
I have been thinking about presenting some items from UC Berkeley Library’s collections that speak to Ukraine’s rich yet nuanced history. All histories are nuanced, and I am trying to avoid my implicit biases and opinions about the current tragedy unfolding in Ukraine. Ukraine was never a state until the Bolsheviks created the Ukrainian SSR is as problematic as cutting the long-standing intertwining of Russo-Ukrainian histories. However, the post-Soviet Ukraine is an independent modern European nation-state whose sovereignty and freedom to chart its destiny matter to humanity.

I remember today Gogol‘s Cтрашная месть or A Terrible Vengeance. This story is a part of a larger collection with the title: Vechera na khutori︠e︡ bliz Dikanʹki Mirgorod

Please think a minute about Ivane and Petro! And I refrain from discussing the modern-day Oligarchs from both sides.

History of UkraineRus

Hrushevsʹkyĭ, Mykhaĭlo, 1866-1934, author.; Грушевський, Михайло, 1866-1934, author.; Pasicznyk, Uliana M., editor.; Poppe, Andrzej, editor.; Sysyn, Frank E., editor.; Frost, Robert, editor.; Fedoruk, I︠A︡roslav, editor.; Raffensperger, Christian, editor.; Skorupsky, Marta, translator.; Wynnyckyj, Andriy, translator.; Press, Ian, 1947- translator.
1997-2021

Below are some subject-based links that will allow you to browse our catalog for additional resources on Ukraine.

Here is an article about some classics of Ukrainian Literature that might provide some cursory information about the rich literary tradition of Ukraine. Have you read Lesya Ukrainka‘s works or Serhii Plokhii’s contemporary works? War is not an answer!