Babyn Yar in the history of Ukraine: how to overcome the Soviet legacy of indifference
At the end of September 2024, when Ukraine commemorated the 83rd anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy, the Suspilne Kultura channel, as part of the project With Our Own Essentially, hosted a discussion about the horrific events of the Nazi occupation of the Ukrainian capital (1941-1943), the total murder of Kyiv Jews by the German occupiers, and other victims of Nazi crimes in Babyn Yar.
The discussion was attended by Anatolii Podolskyi, PhD , Head of the UCHS, and Roza Tapanova, Director of the National Historical and Memorial Reserve Babyn Yar. The programme was hosted by a well-known Ukrainian journalist Lisa Tsarehradska. In general, the discussion revolved around complex questions about the memory and understanding of one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Ukraine - the mass shootings at Babyn Yar. Is this a Jewish tragedy alone, or is it a common pain for the entire nation? What is the role of the state in commemorating this tragedy? How to overcome the Soviet legacy of indifference and create a strategy of national memory.
Announcements
MoreLatest News
-
Research Team Meeting for the Project “One Stone - One Life: 80 Stumbling Stones for Kyiv”
On 13 December 2025, the first in‑person meeting of school research teams took place in Kyiv. These teams are currently studying the biographies for new Stumbling Stones. Five teams from Kyiv and one from Odesa - history teachers working together with their students - are each conducting their own research.
[More] -
Mnemonika NGO Held a Workshop on Holocaust Remembrance and Related Educational Practices
On 5-6 December 2025, Mnemonika NGO held a workshop in Rivne that brought together educators from across Ukraine to explore Holocaust remembrance, the local history of Sosonky, and contemporary approaches to teaching sensitive topics.
[More] -
Educational and Methodological Seminar for Ukrainian Educators at Yad Vashem (Jerusalem)
On 23–29 November 2025, a seminar for Ukrainian history teachers was held at the Yad Vashem Memorial. After a six‑year break, the Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies resumed its annual teacher‑training programme in Jerusalem, one of its longest‑running educational initiatives, launched in 2006.
[More] -
The “Remembrance in Dialogue” Educational Project for Ukrainian Teachers
On 19 November 2025, within the framework of the Remembrance in Dialogue project organized by Insha Osvita and Austausch, a workshop was held for school history teachers dedicated to researching and teaching local Holocaust histories. The project focuses on preserving the memory of the Holocaust during Russia’s war against Ukraine.
[More] -
Blasphemy, Indifference, and Russian Propaganda: The Story of the Failed Creation of the Babyn Yar Museum
The Museum of the History of Kyiv has published a study by well-known Ukrainian historian Vitalii Nakhamanovych on the history of attempts to create a museum in Babyn Yar, the struggle for historical memory of this crime and tragedy in the history of Ukraine during World War II, a struggle that continues to this day.
[More]




