Matza from Ukraine

Each year, Chabad of South Dakota distributes hundreds of lbs. of matzah to the local Jewish community. Usually, we like to purchase these matzahs from a bakery in Israel. It's the eternal Jewish homeland, and the holy place we pray for every day. But this year, I will be giving every Jewish home in SD matzah. . . that was baked in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.
Ukraine is home to a large Jewish population, by some estimates as many as 400,000 Jewish people. Today they are facing unprecedented war, hunger and a refugee crisis. And if the Midwest is known as America's breadbasket, Ukraine is Europe's breadbasket. So I was not surprised to learn that Ukraine also exports some fine matzah.
There is also very significant historic and spiritual relevance to matzah from Dnipropetrovsk. The Rebbe's father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878 – 1944), was the chief rabbi there for over thirty years. As the leader of the community, he unapologetically stood up to the communist regimes, and risked his life to ensure that even under their oppression the matzah baked in Ukraine would be kosher to the highest standard. His ironclad commitment to his people and faith, led to his persecution and arrest at the hands of the KGB. He was imprisoned, tortured and interrogated and eventually died in harsh circumstances while in Soviet exile. Years later the KGB would apologize.
This year, as we celebrate our freedom, and the blessings we are fortunate to have living in America, let us remember our brothers and sisters in Ukraine who baked these matzahs. Let us hope and pray that they too, will be able to enjoy their matzah in true freedom.
Maybe this will also stand as a testament to the dedication and ultimate self-sacrifice of the Rebbe's father, and the original Ukrainian matzah.