DROKACADEMY · The F.I.L.T.E.R.± Case Books
Читати українською (Read this page in Ukrainian)
What power took, what people kept.
POWER − CARE = F.I.L.T.E.R.±
The F.I.L.T.E.R.± Case Books are a 29-book series on how empires sorted, deported and silenced the peoples of Ukraine, and how families, faith, language and memory carried them through. Each case is read twice: what power took (−) and what care kept (+).
Fifteen first editions are out in English, three of them also in Ukrainian, and fourteen are in writing. This page grows as each new book comes out.
The main book: start here
The Main Book: POWER − CARE = F.I.L.T.E.R.±
How Empires Filter a People, and Why Ukrainians Refuse to Disappear
Who Ukrainians are, what empire did, and why they resist. The main book reads F.I.L.T.E.R. (Faith, Intelligentsia, Land, Tongue, Educators, Resistance) across three eras: the Russian Empire, Soviet occupation and today’s war.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Land, hunger and heritage
Book 1: KOLOS− and KOLOS+
The Holodomor, 1932–1933: The Grain Power Took, the Memory People Kept
The Holodomor, 1932–1933. Kolos (колос) means “ear of grain.”
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 12: BLACKOUT− and LIGHT+
Chornobyl, Kakhovka and the War on Ukraine’s Land, Water and Light
Chornobyl, Kakhovka, land, water and power.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 13: LOOTED− and ARCHIVE+
Ukraine’s Looted Heritage: Museums, Churches, Archives and Those Who Saved Them
Museums, churches and archives taken.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Captivity, defence and return
Book 14: CAPTIVE− and FREED+
From the Gulag to Prisoner Exchanges: Ukrainians Held by Moscow and Brought Home
From “enemies of the people” to today’s captives.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 15: BANDIT− and DEFENDER+
Armed and Civic Resistance in Ukraine, from the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic to Today’s Defenders
Ukraine’s army, from the UNR (Ukrainian People’s Republic) to today.
In writing (working title)
Book 24: UNSEEN− and ACCESS+
Disabled, Older and Deaf Ukrainians Kept Out of Sight, and the Barrier-Free Access, Rehabilitation and Peer Support People Build
Disability and veterans.
In writing (working title)
Deported and displaced
Book 4: OST− and REFUGE+
Ostarbeiter and Displaced Persons: Forced Labour, Forced Return, New Homes
Ostarbeiter (German, “eastern workers”), displaced persons, forced return.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 5: EAST− and BACK+
Operation West, 1947: The Night Trains East and the Road Back
Operation West, 1947.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 7: VISTULA− and VATRA+
Operation Vistula, 1947: Lemkos, Borderland Ukrainians and the Voices They Kept
Operation Vistula, 1947. Vatra (ватра) means “bonfire, hearth fire” in Lemko and Carpathian speech.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 8: SÜRGÜN− and VATAN+
The Crimean Tatar Deportation of 1944, the Return Home and Crimea under Occupation
The Crimean Tatar deportation and return. Sürgün is Crimean Tatar for “exile, deportation”; vatan means “homeland.”
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 6: CHILD− and HOME+
Ukraine’s Deported Children and the People Bringing Them Home
Ukraine’s deported children.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Voice, faith and memory
Book 3: MUTE− and ECHO+
The Executed Renaissance: Ukraine’s Silenced Writers and the Words That Came Back
The Executed Renaissance.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 10: RUSSIFY− and RIDNA+
Three Centuries of Banning Ukrainian, and the Voices That Spoke It Back
Language bans, and the language spoken back. Ridna (рідна) means “one’s own, native,” as in ridna mova (рідна мова), “mother tongue.”
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 9: SOBOR− and VIRA+
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: Outlawed by Moscow, Kept Underground
The suppressed Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Sobor (собор) means “cathedral; church council”; vira (віра) means “faith.”
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 11: LABEL− and WITNESS+
Punitive Psychiatry in the Soviet Union and the Witnesses Who Refused
Soviet psychiatry used against dissent.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 17: ERASED− and YIZKOR+
Babyn Yar, the Holocaust in Ukraine, and the Memorial Books of Lost Jewish Towns
Babyn Yar and the Holocaust in Ukraine. Yizkor is Hebrew for “may He remember,” the memorial prayer.
In writing (working title)
Peoples, neighbours and diaspora
Book 2: ENEMY− and NAMES+
Ukrainian Internment in Canada, 1914–1920, and the Names That Came Back
Internment in Canada, 1914–1920.
Published first edition · PDF e-book, CA$12.99
Book 20: FOREIGNER− and HROMADA+
The Labels Ukrainians Met in Every Country They Settled, and the Communities They Kept
The diaspora around the world. Hromada (громада) means “community.”
In writing (working title)
Book 16: UNRELIABLE− and NEIGHBOURS+
The Peoples of Ukraine Deported as “Unreliable”, the Peoples of Its Borderlands, and the Streets They Shared
Peoples labelled “unreliable.”
In writing (working title)
Book 18: MARKED− and PATRIN+
The Roma Genocide in Ukraine, the Silence After It, and the Trail Signs Left for Those Who Follow
The Roma. Patrin is Romani for a trail sign left for those who follow.
In writing (working title)
Book 19: MALOROS− and KLYNY+
Ukrainians in Russia and the Neighbouring States, and the Communities They Built
Ukrainians in Russia and neighbouring states. Maloros (малорос), “Little Russian,” was an imperial label; klyny (клини), “wedges,” names the lands Ukrainians settled far from home.
In writing (working title)
Society today and tomorrow
Book 21: SHADOW− and PROZORO+
Corruption, Collaboration and Reform: What Can Weaken Ukraine from Inside, and What Protects It
Corruption, collaboration and reform. Prozoro (прозоро) means “transparently.”
In writing (working title)
Book 22: FRAMED− and FOOTAGE+
Media as a Filter: What Coverage Leaves Out, Disinformation, and Who Kept Recording
Media, coverage and disinformation.
In writing (working title)
Book 23: UNSUNG− and KOBZA+
Music as a Filter: Kobzars, Silenced Composers and Singers, and What Songs Keep
Music and silenced songs. Kobza (кобза) is a lute-like folk instrument.
In writing (working title)
Book 25: ARTICLE− and DIGNITY+
The Soviet Criminal Article against Sex between Men, Its Stigma, and LGBTQ+ Rights and Visibility in Ukraine
LGBTQ+ Ukrainians.
In writing (working title)
Book 26: SHAROVARY− and VYSHYVANKA+
Ukrainian Culture Reduced to Costume, and the Living Tradition People Kept
Folk culture, dance, craft, food. Sharovary (шаровари), “wide folk trousers,” stands for the stage cliché; vyshyvanka (вишиванка) is the embroidered shirt.
In writing (working title)
Book 27: CLAIMED− and RECLAIMED+
Ukrainian-Born Scientists and Artists Counted as “Russian” or “Soviet”, Their Work Named Again, and Ukrainian Science Today
Science and art claimed by others.
In writing (working title)
Book 28: SIDELINED− and FAIR PLAY+
Sport as a Filter: Ukrainian Athletes Counted as Soviet, Athletes and Coaches Killed in Russia’s War, and Sport as Resilience
Sport.
In writing (working title)
How to read this series
Every case is read through two lenses:
- Social G*R*A*C*E*S*: 126 dimensions of a person’s position. Each dimension is a circle, not a ladder, and each is read at the personal, cultural and structural levels.
- HROMADA (громада, hromada, “community”): 37 pillars of community life.
Accessible by design
Every book is set in Atkinson Hyperlegible Next, a hyperlegible font, with Source Sans 3 for Cyrillic. The PDFs are tagged, every figure and photo carries alt text, and every page is portrait, so an e-copy reads without turning the screen.
Ukrainian editions
Three books are out in Ukrainian:
The Main Book: СИЛА − ДЯКА = F.I.L.T.E.R.±
(SYLA − DIAKA; syla, “power”; diaka, “thanks, gratitude”)
Як імперії фільтрують народ і чому українці не дають себе стерти
Book 1: КОЛОС− і КОЛОС+
(KOLOS− i KOLOS+; kolos, “ear of grain”; i, “and”)
Голодомор 1932–1933: зерно, яке забрала влада, і пам’ять, яку зберегли люди
Book 2: ВОРОГ− і ЗГАДКА+
(VOROH− i ZGHADKA+; voroh, “enemy”; zghadka, “remembrance”)
Інтернування українців у Канаді 1914–1920 років і повернені імена
The other books are being translated.
Help write the second editions
Co-authors and reviewers with lived experience are welcome for the second editions. Each first edition stays the author’s own edition. Where co-authors see a matter differently, each view is shown with its sources.
To take part, write to sasha@drokacademy.ca.
About the author
Dr. Oleksandr (Sasha) Kondrashov, founder of DROKACADEMY, a healing and writing space, and a social work educator who currently teaches at Thompson Rivers University.
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