 Common folks were not safe from his shenanigans, either, but usually got off lightly.He is also remembered by Ukrainian gentiles as something of an ethnic folk hero, who could take on establishment forces much larger than himself with nothing but his humor.While his exploits have been mythologized over the years, the character of Hershele is based on a historic figure, who lived in what is today Ukraine during the late 18th or early 19th century.