The poems were selected and translated by the famous German poet Petro Osipov. Ukrainian Alla Bapkauskas studied under him and knows about Osipov's passion for the German and Ukrainian languages. "When I heard about the book, I immediately thought of the city library," says Alla Bapkauskas, who works at the Volkshochschule Salzgitter.

"Bilingual literature in Ukrainian and German is always in demand and the stock has been significantly expanded since last fall, both in the area of children's literature and for adolescents and adults," reports the head of the city library. "Each of these books enriches our collection and is a piece of home, especially for refugees from Ukraine. That's why I'm particularly pleased about this book gift, because it bridges the gap between classic German literature and the Ukrainian language and allows old texts to be rediscovered," Sylvia Fiedler continues.

The timing of the presentation was also deliberate: Ukrainian professor Petro Osipov is celebrating his 80th birthday these days. Alla Bapkauskas and other Ukrainians in Salzgitter wanted to surprise him and make him happy with the gift to the city library and a short film they made about it.