That chapter is being written in places like Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, a town with 25, 000 inhabitants on the rolling plains of central Ukraine.

ECONOMIST: The East European shtetl

Smela, two hours' drive south of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, used to be a shtetl.

ECONOMIST: The East European shtetl

Through local organisations such as the one in Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, the Joint, as it is universally known, is mounting a massive private relief operation in rural Ukraine.

ECONOMIST: The East European shtetl

Four years ago, a group of Jews in and around Korsun-Shevchenkovsky created the Association of Small-Town Jewish Communities, which links 2, 500 Jews in 19 towns of central Ukraine.

ECONOMIST: The East European shtetl